Aerial Shot Shot taken from a camera mounted in an airplane, helicopter, or similar conveyance. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
All-platform journalist A person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own).
Analog The video output of nondigital cameras and tape decks that convert or store light rays to electrical signals rather than 1’s and 0’s. A quality loss occurs with every generation. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Anchor Debrief The question-and-answer period between an anchor and on-set reporter immediately after the reporter’s story has aired. (Improving Performance in Field Reporting—Appendix B)
Aperture An adjustable iris inside the camera lens that controls how much light enters the camera. (Shooting Video: The Basics—Appendix A)
Apparent Authority The authority of an individual that can be reasonably assumed to be sufficient for a reporter to enter someone’s premises or other property, as in the case of permission from a police officer to enter an apartment in the building owner’s absence. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Aspect Ratio The ratio of width to height in a television image. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Assignment editor Selects, develops, and plans reporting assignments, whether news events or feature stories, to be covered by reporters. (How to Improve Your Storytelling Ability)
Axis Line An imaginary straight line projected from the tip of the camera lens through the center of the subject and beyond. If the photographer shoots on both sides of the axis line, false reverses in the action may result. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Backlight A light placed opposite the key light and shined down on the subject from behind. Also called a “rim light.” (Writing with Light)
Backpack journalist A person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own)
Backpack reporter A person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own)
Barndoors The hinged metal doors used on light heads to block or direct light. (Writing with Light)
Bidirectional A microphone pickup pattern in which sound is picked up in front and back, but not to the sides of the microphone. (The Sound Track)
Blue Eye A live television report that consists solely of a reporter talking on camera from a remote location, without supporting video or prerecorded interviews. See also “Naked Live” and “Thumb Sucker.” (Live Shots and Remotes)
BOPSA A term used to describe boring scenes normally shot at meetings and luncheons that show a “bunch of people sitting around.” (The Assignment Editor and Producer)
Bounce Light Light is reflected off a surface to make it appear more soft and natural. (Writing with Light)
Broadlighting The lighting pattern that results when the key light illuminates the side of the subject’s face closest to camera. (Writing with Light)
Butterfly Light A variation of top lighting in which the main light is placed high and slightly in front of the subject, resulting in a butterfly-shaped shadow beneath the subject’s nose. Also called “glamour lighting.” (Writing with Light)
CG Character generator, a computer device that electronically produces words to be superimposed over a live or recorded image. (Live Shots and Remotes)
Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) A solid-state chip that converts reflected light directly to electrical signals. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Circles of Confusion Light rays that register as overlapping circles of light on the film plane or target surface, rather than as pinpoints of light that produce crisp focus. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Close The closing shot of the story; the ending toward which the rest of the story builds. (Video Script Formats; Writing the Package; Live Shots and Remotes)
Close-Up (CU) A shot that fills the screen with the subject or with only a portion of the subject, as for example the face of a person or the full screen shot of a wrist watch. (Telling the Visual Story; The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Cold Cut A cut in which an outgoing shot and its accompanying sound end simultaneously, only to be replaced at the splice line by new picture with new sound. The effect can destroy a story’s otherwise smooth, fluid pace. (Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Color Temperature An expression of the proportion of red to blue light that the light source radiates. As color temperature increases, the light becomes progressively more bluish. (Writing with Light)
Combination Shot Camera follows action until a new moving subject enters frame, then picks up the new subject and follows it. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Command Post A temporary headquarters established at the scene of emergencies to control the flow of information, and to help reporters and photographers obtain access to the scene. (Live Shots and Remotes)
Commitment A declarative sentence that identifies the story to be told. The journalistic equivalent of the terms theme, story line, premise, or point of view as commonly used in literature and theater. See also “Focus.” (Telling the Visual Story; Writing the Package; How to Improve Your Storytelling Ability)
Composition The placement and emphasis of visual elements on the screen. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Contrast The proportion of white tones in a scene in relationship to black or gray tones. High contrast results when objects in a scene are white and black, with few intermediate gray tones. Low contrast results when objects in scenes are white on white, black on black, or mostly medium gray. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Cookies Opaque panels with cutouts that create patterns of light and shadow on backgrounds. See also “Flags.” (Writing with Light)
Crossroll Prerecorded video or interviews that roll on air following the reporter’s live, on-camera introduction in a remote field report. (Video Script Formats; Live Shots and Remotes)
Cut The point in edited video at which audience attention is transferred instantly from one image to the next. See also “Edit Point.” (Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Cutaway A shot of some part of the peripheral action, such as a clock on the wall or football fans in a stadium, that can be used to divert the viewer’s eye momentarily from the main action. Commonly used as an editorial device to help eliminate jump cuts and to condense time. See also “Motivated Cutaway.” (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Cut-In Shot A shot such as a close-up or insert that emphasizes particular elements of the action in a master shot. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Cutting at Rest Editing together scenes of matched action at points in which the action has momentarily stopped. (Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Cutting on Action Cutting out of a scene as the action progresses and continuing the action without interruption at the start of the incoming scene. (Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Decibel (dB) A measure of sound intensity that corresponds roughly to the minimum change in sound level that the human ear can detect. (The Sound Track)
Defamation Any statement that damages a person’s name, reputation, or character. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Demonstration Standup The reporter addresses the field camera while engaging in an activity that helps visually prove and reinforce the story being reported. (Improving Performance in Field Reporting—Appendix B)
Depth of Field (DOF) The range of acceptable focus in a scene. Normally, about one-third of the total range of depth of field occurs in front of the subject or focus point, and two-thirds behind the subject. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Digital Information is recorded on video, disk drive, computer, or other medium as a series of 1’s and 0’s. No quality loss occurs during duplication. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Digital Manipulation The practice of altering original still, video, or motion picture images by cropping, adding, removing, changing, substituting, or otherwise manipulating elements within the image or scene. (Journalistic Ethics)
Digitize The process of transferring pictures from tape to disk, where they reside in final form as digital data. (Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Dissolve A scene optically fades to black on top of another scene, which optically fades from black to full exposure. The effect is a melting of one scene into the next. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Distancing The feeling that a news happening is remote or even unreal, which can overcome photographers as they watch events unfold in the camera viewfinder. (Shooting Video in the Field)
Distortion Any signal that unintentionally sounds or appears different on output from a transmission or recording device than it did on input. (The Sound Track)
Dolly Shot A shot made from a camera mounted on a wheeled conveyance that is moved either toward the subject or away from it. See also “Tracking Shot.” (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Double-System Film Editing A process in which film scenes and multiple sound tracks are manipulated independently of one another, in full synchronization. (Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Dropouts Temporary interruptions in transmitted or recorded sound or picture. (The Sound Track)
Dynamic Microphone A rugged, handheld microphone often used in news applications. (The Sound Track)
Editing The editing of video and its attendant sound is the “conscious and deliberate guidance of viewer thoughts and associations.” The editor strives both to create illusion and to reconstruct reality, as well as to guide viewers’ emotional responses. (Telling the Visual Story; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Editing in the Camera The practice of shooting sequences and overlapping action in generally the same order in which they are to be aired. (Shooting Video in the Field; Live Shots and Remotes)
Edit Point The point at which one shot is surrendered and a new shot begins. See also “Cut.” (Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Electronic journalist A person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own)
Electronic reporter A journalist using digital media, or a person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own)
Establishing Shot Used to introduce viewers to the story’s locale or to the story itself. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Ethics A philosophy of what is right and acceptable as it governs the rules of living and conduct that impact on professional deportment. (Journalistic Ethics)
Exterior Shot A shot made outdoors. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Eyewash Pictures whose meaning has little to do with the main point of the story being reported. See also “Wallpaper Video” and “Generic Video.” (Introduction)
Fade The scene fades to black (fade-out) or fades from black to full exposure (fade-in). (Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
False Reverse A subject moving in one screen direction is seen in the next shot to be moving in the opposite direction. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art; Shooting Video in the Field)
Feather A technique used in zooming and panning shots, in which the artificial camera movement begins almost imperceptibly and builds to the intended speed, then slows and again ends almost imperceptibly. The technique reduces audience distraction by eliminating the abrupt and obvious beginning and ending of artificial camera movement. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Fill Light A secondary light source set to produce illumination approximately one-fourth to one-half as intense as the key light. (Writing with Light)
Filmic Time The representation of time in motion picture media as an elastic commodity. In television and film, time can be compressed or expanded far beyond the constraints of real time, which is inelastic. (Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Filter A colored glass or optical gel used in photography to control exposure, contrast, or color temperature. (Writing with Light)
Filter Factor A measure of the amount of light that is lost when a filter is used in photography. Each factor of 2 cuts the original amount of light in half. (Writing with Light)
Flags Opaque panels used to block light from certain areas. See also “Cookies.” (Writing with Light)
Flash Cut Brief fragments of shots are cut to exact rhythm against a musical beat or sound. Also called “rapid montage cutting,” (Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Flat Light A flat, uninteresting light with little sense of depth or modeling which results when the primary light is mounted on the camera or very near it. (Writing with Light)
Focal Length The designation of a camera lens and its angle of view as determined by measuring the distance from the optical center of the lens to the front surface of the CCD chip in television cameras. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Focus (of the story) A simple, vivid, declarative sentence expressing the heart, the soul, of the story as it will be on air. See also “Commitment.” (Telling the Visual Story; Writing the Package)
F/Stop An aperture setting expressed as a fraction. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Futures File A collection of story ideas, notes, and news releases about upcoming events. (The Assignment Editor and Producer: Architects of the Newscast—Appendix C)
Generic Video Visuals from file video or similar source originally shot for one purpose, then later used haphazardly to “illustrate” a script. Often the pictures are inappropriate to the message being communicated. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Gray Scale A printed scale of contrast values ranging from black, through the various shades of gray, to pure white. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Great Depth of Field The term used when a scene appears to be in focus from quite near the camera to and including the background. See also “Maximum Depth of Field” and “Shallow Depth of Field.” (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Gyro-Lens A lens that electronically compensates for unintentional camera motion and vibration to produce a smoother, steadier shot. The lens is especially useful to smooth out aerial shots and handheld shots made on long-focal-length settings. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Hatchet Light Side light that appears to “split” the subject’s face in half. (Writing with Light)
Head-On Shot Action in the shot moves directly toward camera. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Heat The emotional or intellectual intensity often present in the most spontaneous and believable sound bites. (Shooting Video in the Field)
Hertz (Hz) A unit of frequency expressed as one cycle per second. See also “Kilohertz.” (The Sound Track)
High-Angle Shot A shot taken with the camera high and looking down at the subject. High angles tend to diminish the subject and give viewers a sense of superiority. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
High-Definition Television (HDTV) A digital transmission system that allows many more times horizontal and vertical resolution that allows many times more resolution than standard definition televisions provide. Screen sizes can exceed six feet in width, with an aspect ratio similar to theatrical movie screens. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
High-Pass Filter An audio filter that diminishes the low frequencies where most wind and some equipment noises originate. (The Sound Track)
HMI Light Short for Hydrargyrum Medium Arc-Length Iodide, HMI lights produce a soft, natural look with the color temperature of sunlight while using only about a fifth the energy of quartz lights. (Writing with Light)
Illustrative Video Separate shots of video keyed to each sentence or paragraph of script, with little regard for continuity in subject matter or consecutiveness from one shot to the next. (How to Improve Your Storytelling Ability)
Impedance A characteristic of microphones similar to electrical resistance. (The Sound Track)
Insert Shot Close-up, essential detail about some part of the main action. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Internet A global network of cables and computers encompassing thousands of smaller regional networks scattered throughout the world. See also “World Wide Web (WWW).” (Law and the Video Journalist)
Internet Reporting Digital reporting via an organization’s web site using web updates on breaking news stories, original video shot for web streaming, video provided by citizens with video phones, news scripts converted to web articles, anchor and reporter blogs, podcasts, video reports from traditional newscasts streamed to the web, and interview material not originally broadcast on air. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Invasion of Privacy Any act of intrusion, including trespass and publication of embarrassing facts, even if true, that violates an individual’s reasonable expectation to privacy. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Inverse-Square Law of Light The law of physics stating that at twice the distance from a subject, artificial lights provide only one-fourth their original level of illumination. (Writing with Light)
Iris An adjustable aperture inside the camera lens that can be regulated to control the amount of light entering the camera. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Jump Cut An action that is seen to jump unnaturally into a new position, shape, or color on the screen. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Key Words or graphics electronically inserted into the video scene. (Live Shots and Remotes)
Key Light The primary or dominant light that illuminates a subject. (Writing with Light)
Kilohertz A unit of frequency equal to 1,000 cycles per second (kHz). See also “Hertz.” (The Sound Track)
Lavaliere Microphone A miniature microphone that can be clipped to or hidden beneath the speaker’s clothing. (The Sound Track; Live Shots and Remotes)
Law The rules and principles of conduct enacted through legislation, and enforced by local, state, and federal authority, that dictate how the affairs of a community or society are to be conducted. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Lead The first shot in a news package. Its purpose is to telegraph the story to come instantly. (Telling the Visual Story)
Lead-In The anchor copy that introduces the story and sets up the video package or prerecorded audio report in radio and television newscasts. To best serve audience understanding, the lead-in should instantly reveal the story rather than act merely as the introduction to a package still to come. The term lead-in also can refer to the sentence of copy that leads into a sound bite in a radio or television report. (Writing the Package)
Libel The use of factual information, as opposed to opinion, that holds someone in hatred or contempt, subjects the person to ridicule, or otherwise lowers one’s esteem for the individual. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Lighting Ratio The difference between the most brightly illuminated areas of a subject and the areas of least exposure. (Writing with Light)
Limited Invitation A principle that holds that even in public places, such as restaurants and supermarkets, photography may be prohibited and the reporter’s conduct limited to the primary activities of the business in question—in this example, dining or shopping. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Long Lens See Telephoto Lens.
Long shot (LS) A full view of a subject. (Telling the Visual Story; The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Low-Angle Shot A shot taken with the camera low and looking up at the subject. This shot tends to make the subject more dominant and to reduce the viewer’s sense of control or superiority. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Macro-Focusing An adjusting lever permits the front lens element to be extended beyond the limit for normal focus in order to produce larger-than-life images. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Master shot A single camera is used to record a continuous take of the entire event from one location and generally at one focal-length lens setting. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Matched Action The action of a subject in an edited sequence appears to flow smoothly and without interruption from one shot to the next. See also “Overlapping Action.” (Telling the Visual Story; The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Maximum Depth of Field The maximum or deepest range of depth of field, or what appears to be in focus in a scene, available in a given shot at a particular focus setting, focal length, and aperture setting. See also “Shallow Depth of Field.” (Shooting Video: The Basics—Appendix A)
Medium Shot (MS) Brings subject matter closer to the viewer than a long shot and begins to isolate it from the overall environment. (Telling the Visual Story; The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Live Shots and Remotes)
Mike Flag A small, four-sided box imprinted with the station logo and attached to handheld microphones. (The Sound Track)
Motivated Cutaway A cutaway that contributes desirable or essential new information to the story. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Moving Shot The camera swivels on a tripod or other fixed base to follow action. Different from a pan because the photographer’s motivation is to follow action, rather than to show a static object in panorama. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Multidimensional Reporting An attempt to heighten the viewer’s sense of experience by addressing as many of the five senses as possible in a report, and by allowing viewers to see the reporter think, interpret, and react to the story. (Improving Performance in Field Reporting— Appendix B)
Multi-platform journalist A person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own). Also see Multimedia Journalist.
Multimedia Journalist A person shoots, writes and edits stories alone, and also writes and produces content for the web, creates and updates blogs, assembles computer slide shows, “Tweets” on Twitter, and writes other content for social networking sites such as Facebook. (Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own)
Multi-platform reporter A person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own.) Also see: Multimedia Journalist.
Naked Live A live television report that consists solely of a reporter talking on camera from a remote location, without supporting video or prerecorded interviews. See also “Blue Eye” and “Thumb Sucker.” (Live Shots and Remotes)
Nats Natural (nat) sounds from an environment that help communicate a sense of experience and often heighten the listeners’ or viewers’ sense of realism. See also “Natural (Nat) Sound.” (Live Shots and Remotes)
Natural (Nat) Sound Natural sounds from an environment that often heighten the viewers’ sense of realism. (Telling the Visual Story; The Sound Track; Live Shots and Remotes)
Negative-Action Shot Action in the shot moves away from camera. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Nets Panels or other devices used in artificial lighting to enrich or subdue particular areas of illumination within the scene. (Writing with Light)
Node The optical center of a lens. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
NPPA National Press Photographers Association. (Preface; Journalistic Ethics)
Objective Camera Action is portrayed as an observer on the sidelines would see it. See also “Subjective Camera.” (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Ohm A measure of electrical resistance. (The Sound Track)
Omnidirectional A microphone pickup pattern in which sound is picked up from all directions. (The Sound Track)
One-Person Band A person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Field Techniques of Shooting Video, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own)
Open Shade The quality of shade produced when an outdoor environment is protected from direct sunlight, but with nothing above the subject to obstruct secondary light from the sky itself. (Writing with Light)
Optical Center The point inside the lens at which light rays first bend as they are brought to bear on the target during the focusing process. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Overlapping Action Action that is contained in one shot to be edited also is present in the shot to which it will be joined. See also “Matched Action.” (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Package An edited, self-contained video report of a news event or feature, complete with pictures, sound bites, voice-over narration, and natural sounds. (Telling the Visual Story; Writing the Package)
Pack Journalism A high concentration of journalists from competing news organizations jammed into an area, each concerned primarily with his or her own interests. (Writing with Light)
Pan The camera swivels on a tripod to show an overall scene in a single shot, or the handheld camera is moved in similar fashion. See also “Moving Shot.” (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Parallel Cutting Intercutting between separate but developing actions. (Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Perspective The apparent sizes of photographed objects in relationship to one another as they appear at certain distances, in comparison with how the human eye would view the same scene from the same distance. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Phoner A telephone interview either recorded or broadcast live as part of a radio or television report. (Live Shots and Remotes)
Photojournalist An individual who uses or relies on the camera not merely to take pictures, but to tell stories. (Telling the Visual Story)
Pickup Shot Any shot—such as a close-up or insert shot, reaction shot, point of view, or even a new camera angle—that emphasizes particular elements of action in the master shot. See also “Cut-In Shot.” (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
PIO See “Public Information Officer.”
Point of View (POV) Shot The view as seen through the subject’s eyes. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Pool Coverage An effort to minimize distraction by which information or television signals generated by one news agency are made available to all interested stations. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Pop Cut The visual “pop” or jump created when the zoom lens is used to shoot a long shot of a subject from a distance, followed immediately by a cut to a close-up from the same camera taken without having moved the camera off the original axis line. (Video Editing: The Invisible Art; Shooting Video in the Field)
Public Information Officer (PIO) A police, fire, sheriff, or similar agency person who coordinates news coverage and access to news events, provides information, and helps arrange access to official sources during emergencies. (Live Shots and Remotes)
Rack Focus Rotating the lens focus ring to shift the focus point from one subject to another while a shot is being recorded. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Radio frequency The means through which audio and some video signals are transmitted. (The Sound Track)
Reaction Shot A shot that shows a subject’s reaction to an action in the previous shot. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Reader A few well-written lines providing an overview of a story. (Video Script Formats)
Reestablishing Shot A shot similar to the original establishing shot of an overall scene. Used to reintroduce locale or to allow the introduction of new action. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Remote A news report originating live from a remote field location using a telephone, skype connection, portable radio transmitter, microwave relay facility, or satellite truck. (Live Shots and Remotes)
Reportorial Editing The process of previsualizing the story, including the pictures, sounds, words, and other production elements that will be needed to give the story logical structure and continuity; a form of mind’s-eye storyboard. (Telling the Visual Story)
Reveal Shot See “Transition Shot.” (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Reverse-Angle Shot A shot made by moving the camera so that it shoots back along the axis line as originally established in the first shot. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Room Tone The ambient sound peculiar to each separate environment that is inserted during editing to prevent sound dropouts. (The Sound Track)
RTNDa Radio-Television News Directors Association. (Journalistic Ethics)
Rule of Thirds An approach to photographic composition in which the viewfinder is mentally divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically. Subjects are placed at points within the viewfinder where the lines can be imagined to intersect. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Scanner A radio receiver that constantly monitors crosstalk on police, fire, aviation, Coast Guard, military, competitors, and similar noncommercial broadcast frequencies. Scanners help alert journalists to breaking news. (Live Shots and Remotes)
Screen Space The space that surrounds subjects in the frame, including headroom, gaps between people, and the space into which subjects move. Improper use of screen space results in visual imbalance. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Sequence A series of related shots of an activity in which continuing action flows smoothly from one shot to the next to create the illusion of an uninterrupted event. (Telling the Visual Story; The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Sequential Video Video that produces a continuous, uninterrupted flow of action that tells a story and communicates a sense of experience. (How to Improve Your Storytelling Ability)
Shallow Depth of Field Only a narrow area of depth within the scene appears to be in focus, as when a foreground object is reproduced in razor-crisp focus but the background is blurred. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Shield Law A law that protects journalists from having to disclose the identities of confidential sources. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Short Lighting The lighting pattern that results when the fill light shines on the side of the subject’s face closest to camera. (Writing with Light)
Shot The single, continuous take of material that is recorded each time the camera is turned on until it is turned off. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Shotgun Microphone A long, cylindrical microphone with a pickup pattern similar to a telephoto lens that picks up sound from as far away as thirty feet or more. (The Sound Track)
Situational Ethics Deciding story coverage because of the good that will likely result. Situational ethics is sometimes used to justify unethical journalistic practices, and may help or harm the story subject and/or journalist. (Journalistic Ethics)
Slander The defamation of a person made orally, as opposed to in writing. Generally, a broadcast organization would not be charged with slander but rather with libel (i.e., written defamation), especially whenever the broadcast originates from a written script or notes. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Snap Zoom A shot in which the photographer snaps the zoom lever, instantly zooming in or out to a different composition of an action. When the few frames of the snap zoom are eliminated during editing, two separate shots result. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
SNG Satellite news gathering.
Soft Focus A scene, or an area within the scene, appears to be out of focus. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Solo journalist A person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own)
Solo video reporter A person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own)
SOT Sound on tape, a standard reference to a sound bite. (Video Script Formats; Live Shots and Remotes)
Sound Bite A short excerpt from an interview, public statement, or spontaneous comment that normally is aired as part of a broadcast news story. (Telling the Visual Story)
Specular Light The effect created when direct light rays throw strong highlights and distinct shadows. (Writing with Light)
Split-Focus Presentation The practice of a reporter dividing attention between the anchor and the audience (via camera) during on-set interaction with the anchor. (Improving Performance in Field Reporting—Appendix B)
Spot News Hard news events, such as fires, explosions, airline crashes, hurricanes, and tornadoes, that break suddenly and without warning. A hallmark of many spot-news events is their unpredictability. (Telling the Visual Story; Writing the Package; How to Improve Your Storytelling Ability; Live Shots and Remotes)
Staging The practice of asking people to do on camera what they normally don’t do in real life, or directing people to engage in activities that are out of character. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Shooting Video in the Field)
Standup A reporter in the field delivers one or more sentences of dialogue while appearing on camera. (Telling the Visual Story; Writing the Package; Live Shots and Remotes; Improving Performance in Field Reporting—Appendix B)
Storyboard A drawing, still photograph, or the reproduction of a single frame of video that represents one scene or sequence in a video story. Similar to cartoon panels, storyboards also can be hand-drawn, computer-generated, or reproduced as photographs from still slides or film. (Telling the Visual Story; Writing the Package)
Subjective Camera Action is portrayed as the subject would see it. See also “Point of View Shot.” (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Subpoena A court order to produce documents or other information, including on-air video, a reporter’s notes, or perhaps even the names of sources. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Talking Head Any interview or sound bite; often, a tedious or boring interview or sound bite. (The Video Interview: Shooting the Quotation Marks; How to Improve Your Storytelling Ability)
Telephoto Lens Lens greater than the focal length required to yield normal perspective. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Thumb Sucker A live television report that consists solely of a reporter talking on camera from a remote location, without supporting video or prerecorded interviews. See also “Blue Eye” and “Naked Live.” (Live Shots and Remotes)
Tilt Shot The vertical equivalent of a pan shot in which the camera tilts up or down to reveal new action or subject matter. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Toss The introduction and hand-off from studio anchor to a reporter live in the field. When the report ends, the reporter hands off or “tosses” back to the studio anchor. (Video Script Formats; Live Shots and Remotes)
Tracking Shot Camera is moved physically through space to keep moving subjects in frame. Sometimes referred to as a “dolly shot.” (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Transition Shot A shot that transfers the viewer’s attention from the end of one sequence to the start of another (a close shot of a ship’s whistle serves as the transition shot from scenes at a fish market along the wharf to shots of canning operations aboard a fishing ship, for example). Also called a “reveal shot.” (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Trespass The illegal entry onto another’s land, property, or premises. Also, the unlawful injury to a person, or to a person’s rights or property. (Law and the Digital Journalist)
Trucking Shot Camera moves through space past fixed objects. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
T/stop A lens aperture setting somewhat equivalent to an f/stop, but which takes into account the various light-absorbing properties of the lens. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
TV Cutoff The phenomenon by which home television receivers, whether because of their design or faulty adjustment, clip off the edges of the transmitted video image. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Two shot A shot that shows two people in the frame. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Live Shots and Remotes)
Umbrella Lighting A soft, indirect form of light created by shining artificial light into a metallic-colored, heat-resistant umbrella. (Writing with Light)
Unidirectional A microphone pickup pattern in which only sound in front of the mike is picked up. (The Sound Track)
VCR Videocassette recorder. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Video journalist A person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own)
Video reporter A person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own)
Visual Essayist A photojournalist, whether photographer or reporter, who incorporates all the writing instruments of television—words, camera, microphone, and edit console—to tell compelling visual stories. (Preface)
Visual Grammar The rules that govern the visual reconstruction of events, including the raw material shot and recorded in the field and the process of editing the material for broadcast. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography)
Visual storyteller A person who works alone to report, write, shoot, and edit video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. (Introduction, Video Journalism: Storytelling on Your Own)
Voice Over (VO) Voice-over narration. The reporter’s voice can be heard “over” the pictures on the screen. (Television Scripts Format)
Wallpaper Video Pictures with little meaning but whose subject matter is close enough to illustrate the reporter’s script. See also “Eyewash” and “Generic Video.” (Introduction)
White Balance The adjustment of camera circuitry to reproduce pure whites under the light source at hand; the absence of color “at white.” (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
White Light The quality that occurs when a subject is natural, unaffected, and emotionally transparent while on camera. (Shooting Video in the Field)
White Space Pauses in voice-over narration that allow compelling pictures and sounds to involve the viewer more directly in the story. (Telling the Visual Story; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
Wide-Angle Lens A lens whose focal length produces a wider angle of view than a normal perspective lens. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)
Wild sound Natural sounds from an environment that help communicate a sense of experience and often heighten the listeners’ or viewers’ sense of realism. (Telling the Visual Story)
Windscreen A foam or metallic mesh microphone shield that reduces wind noise. (The Sound Track)
Wipe An optical effect in which one shot appears to be shoved off the screen by an incoming shot. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Video Editing: The Invisible Art)
World Wide Web (WWW) An information system that gives users on computer networks access to a large universe of documents and variety of media. See also “Internet,” which refers to the global network of cables and computers that allow access to the WWW.
Zoom Shot A shot produced from a fixed location with a continuously variable focal-length lens. When the lens is said to “zoom in,” the subject appears to grow larger and move closer to the screen. When the lens is said to “zoom out,” the subject appears to grow smaller and move away from the screen. (The Visual Grammar of Motion Picture Photography; Shooting Video in the Field)
Zoom Lens A lens that provides for continuously variable focal-length settings from wide angle to telephoto, such as 12–120 mm or 25–250 mm. (Shooting Television News: The Basics)