Film School teaches you a lot of new terminology – Here are some random film industry terms, some of which are alternate versions of words used for everyday objects:

C47: Clothespin

Stinger: Extension cord

Sticks: Tripod

Aspect Ratio: The ratio of the width by the height of the film frame. TV is 4:3 (It’s wider than it is long) and most films are 1.85:1

OS: Often seen in scripts, this stands for “offscreen”, as in an actor saying that line is heard but not seen in the shot. Maybe they’re in another room.

Screening: People are often confused when told about a screening. A screening is a viewing. Screening a movie is watching a movie. Simple.

“Fix it in post”: This means that a solution can more easily be found in post production than during filming. This might be said when requiring color correction, digital compositing, fixing audio problems, etc. Generally, relying on the post production to fix something that could be figured out during production is frowned upon.

Auteur: A director whose recognizable, personal voice is “felt” through all (or most) of the work they do, as opposed to a “technical” director whose focus is more on visual style or special effects.

Spirit Awards: The Independent awards version of the Academy Awards, often done on the same night. Put on by the Film Independent organization in Los Angeles.

Push/pull: Leaving film in a developing bath longer (push) or shorter (pull) than a normal period of time to correct for known underexposed (push) or overexposed (pull) film. While pushing and pulling causes lost details in the highlights and shadows of film, if film is improperly exposed these processes can increase the contrast of an image artificially.

Red Herring: This is a character, object, or some other “clue” in a film, which is purposely meant to throw the audience’s thought process in the wrong direction of what is actually happening. The silhouette of the angry mother in the film “Psycho” could be said to be a red herring.

Prime lens: A lens that is only one length, only one mm option. As opposed to a zoom lens.

Super 16: Film students often ask where to buy super 16mm film. Even if they know where 16mm film can be purchased. It’s the exact same thing. A super 16mm camera simply records a wider image on the same 16mm frame. It takes advantage of the film edge where a sound strip was placed in the old days, but since sound film is no longer made why not use the space?

Gate: This is the rectangular hole that allows the light to reach the film. This is what determines the aspect ratio of the final film, assuming that the post production team uses the entire frame that they were given. If a film is “formatted to fit this screen” then it’s simply cutting the edges off. Don’t fall for that – get the widescreen (AKA letterbox) version.

Dailies: A true daily is a prepared film segments that was shot on a film set and is being viewed the following day. This allows the director and producer to determine if they are happy with the outcome, and whether they can move on or not. This is expensive and often not practical for film productions, as the film must be developed overnight. For HD productions, this could happen the same evening of the shoot, or even between takes.

Second Unit: This is the miniature version of a film crew. Usually only shooting simple exterior shots, moving vehicles, and anything where there are no actors. This could be a smaller version of the same crew or a completely different crew. Some people specialize in being a “second unit director”.

Setup: Whenever the camera and/or lights need to be moved around significantly while shooting a scene. One scene usually has multiple setups. Each shot could potentially have its own setup.

“Check the gate”: After a setup, many film crews are accustomed to checking the gate (see above for definition) for debris, such as hair or lint, before moving on to another setup.

Slow motion: This is more confusing than it sounds, because this is actually when the camera is recording at a fast speed. For example, if a shot is recorded at 60 FPS (frames per second) as opposed to the usual 24 FPS, A 24 FPS projection system will take 2.5 seconds to play the footage which was originally shot in only 1 second.

Film terms are fun, we should do more in the future! Let us know if you have any questions.