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Basic Scripting Abbreviations (abbreviated selection)
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| Actuality |
Actuality refers to material shot on location
which one runs with its original, unembellished sound. Often used to set
the scene for a sequence, or to create a transition from one sequence
to the next |
| B-Roll |
Material shot on location which one uses primarily
for its visual qualities. Used primarily to add visual meaning, create
visual continuity, to cover edits in interview material & to cover
commentary spoken by a narrator |
| Close Up (CU) |
Fairly tight head-and-shoulders shot of a person,
or a tight shot of an object, in which little space appears around the
head/object under scrutiny. The viewer's attention is thus focused directly
on a very limited area. |
| Crash Zoom |
A very fast zoom which often involves extreme
distortion: used to give a sense of dramatic change, the telescoping of
time or place, etc. |
| Establishing Shot |
A wide shot which shows a person or a location
with its accustomed context.. For example, a shot of the Capitol is often
used to establish that a TV drama is taking place in Washington D.C. If
you watch local news or network current affairs shows, you'll often see
shots of individuals about to be interviewed walking along the pavement,
playing with a dog or a child, etc. accompanied by a voice-over explaining
who they are. These shots "establish" who the person is and
why the audience should be interested in them |
| FX (Effects) |
Any effects that you add to the soundtrack
of your video, such as music, the sounds of doors banging, etc. |
| General Views (GVs) |
See B-Roll |
| Graphic |
Any visual material that is not a photograph
or moving image of any kind |
| In Sync |
Used to describe a shot when a person is speaking
and we are hearing what they re saying as they say it: the picture (the
person speaking) is synchronized with the sound we are hearing |
| Lower-Frame Super (lfs) |
See Lower Third |
| Lower Third |
The graphic that appears just after an interviewee
or talking head (see below) has appeared for
the first time. It shows the person's name, and any other relevant information
about that person. Usually never more than two short lines long: name
on the first line, short description (i.e. CEO, Trilobyte) on the second. |
| Medium Close Up (MCU) |
A looser framing of Close
Up (above), which reveals more of the surrounding context to the
person or object |
| Pan |
A shot that moves slowly and steadily from
side to side to side or top to bottom (of visa versa) of the object/scene
being filmed |
| SFX (Special Effects) |
You've all seen enough of these at the cinema
to know what they are! |
| Talking Head |
Person (usually a professional or semi-professional
media commentator) who is generally only seen talking in close up or medium
close up. In news and current affairs TV, producers keep lists of 'talking
heads,' individuals who can be guaranteed to produce efficiently good,
TV-ready comments on a range of topical issues. |
| Titles |
The identification material, usually animated
and set to mood-creating music, which introduces a news broadcast, a documentary,
a TV show, etc. Think of the title sequence to whatever local news you
watch, or the title sequence to a favorite TV show. |
| To Camera |
A person speaking directly to camera, and thus
looking as if s/he is talking directly to the person sitting at home.
Most often used when reporters (think of local news or shows like 60
Minutes) are delivering explanatory material or linking two sections
of an item/show together |
| VO (Voice Over) |
When one hears the voice of a reporter, commentator
or interviewee talking but does not see him/her but instead sees B-roll,
graphics, animation, establishing
shots, etc. on screen |
| Wide Shot |
A shot which shows a person, place or object
within a much wider context than an MCU. In
a wide shot, the context is as important as the person, place or object
one is viewing. Often used as an establishing shot |
| XCU |
An extreme close-up, often used when shooting
a person to indicate tension, emotion, upcoming revelation, etc. |
| Zoom |
Zoom in: start in
wide shot and zoom into a close up; Zoom out:
start in close up and zoom out to a wide shot. Often used as an establishing
shot (moving in either direction) or to add tension, especially if one
is moving into a specific detail of a scene or moving closer and closer
to an interviewee's face. |