by Ben Brady
PAYOFF—An inevitable result for which the audience has been prepared.
POINT OF VIEW (POV)—A shot in which the camera becomes the eyes of a particular character, seeing what the character sees.
PROCESS—A shot in which the foreground (FG) action is played on a stage while the background (BG) action is rear-projected on a translucent screen from behind.
PROPERTIES (PROPS)—The decorations and furnishings on a set.
REVERSE ANGLE—An angle the opposite of the one that precedes it.
RUSHES—The uncut film, as it was shot, which is printed for viewing by the filmmakers; also called “the dailies” because the film is usually viewed the day after it was shot; the object is to check for errors before the set is taken down.
SCENARIO—The general outline or form of a script; rarely used in TV or film today.
SECOND UNIT—A minimal camera crew that photographs parts of a film that do not require the use of the main cast; usually a cost-saving device.
SEGUE—The transition from one sound or scene to another (pronounced sā’gwā).
SEQUENCE—A series of related shots that together constitute a dramatic step in the development of the plot.
SETUP—A new setup occurs any time the camera angle changes.
SHOOTING SCHEDULE—The day-out-of-days assignment board constructed by the production manager for the sequential shooting of the screenplay or teleplay.
SHOOTING SCRIPT—The final script used for principal photography and commonly considered to be the production blueprint.
SMASH CUT—An abrupt cut in the action from one critical moment to the next used by a screenwriter to communicate a sense of pressure or urgency to an editor or reader.
SOUND STAGE—The area of a building in which sound film is shot.
SPINE—The backbone of a play, the basic plot.
SPLICE—Sealing two pieces of film together.
SPLIT SCREEN—The effect of wiping half the picture off the screen and replacing that half with another picture.
STOCK SHOT—Footage that is general in nature and may be used to supply mood, atmosphere, or details of imagery; collected and stored in libraries, such film may be rented for a fee in order to avoid the necessity of shooting it.
STORY ANALYST—A specialist who synopsizes, analyzes, criticizes, and assesses the value of teleplays and screenplays.
STORYBOARD—A series of sketches of key incidents in a film’s proposed action that is arranged on a board with captions to indicate the visual development.
STORYLINE—The play’s story development.
STRUCTURE—The organized blocks of dramatic action of a plot.
SUBPLOT—A separate story involving collateral characters that is parallel to the main plot; although it progresses with the story, one could as easily dispense with it and still have the full story.
SUPERIMPOSE (SUPER)—A laboratory process in which one image on film is printed on another.
SWISH PAN—A panning shot that is so rapid it creates a blurred effect; usually used for transitions from one shot to the next.
SYNCHRONIZATION (SYNC)—Matching the audio to the video so that dialogue or sounds occur at the same moment as their visual counterparts.
TAG LINE—The closing speech in a scene.
TAKE—A filming of a shot, from the time the camera rolls (begins filming) until it stops.
THREE SHOT—A camera angle including three characters in the action.
TILT (UP or DOWN)—The movement of the camera up or down on its axis vertically.
TRANSITION—Any effect—music, sound, or optical—that links the sequential elements of a film.
TRUCKING SHOT—Moving the camera on its dolly to follow the action on a lateral plane.
TWO SHOT—A camera angle including two characters in the action.
UP—Increase of volume of sound.
VIDEO—The video portion of a motion picture.
VIEWER—An enlarging unit by which film can be more closely examined.
VOICE OVER (VO)—When the one who is speaking is not on the screen (not seen).
WIDE SHOT—A “wide-angle” shot including the maximum of scenery or action for scenic or dramatic impact.
WILD SHOT—Similar to a stock shot, but photographed by the film’s own production unit.
WILD SOUND—Sound recorded nonsynchronously with the picture (e.g., sound effects or random voices).
WIPE—An optical effect with two succeeding shots by which the second wipes the first off the screen.
WORK PRINT—A print of the picture used for cutting and editing so that the original negative is not marred in the process of making corrections.
WRAP—The end of a day’s shooting.
ZOOMAR—A lens that achieves the effect of moving toward (ZOOM IN) or away (ZOOM OUT) from a subject without the camera physically moving.
Note
Note: The Glossary was revised and expanded from Brady, The Keys to Writing for Television and Film, pp. 291–294.
Index
action, 10, 12, 13, 19, 33, 45, 50, 55, 66, 242, 247
action-reaction, 112, 143, 244, 248. See also cause and effect actor, 10
acts 245
adaptation, 256
Aeschylus, 7, 8
Agamemnon, 7
agents, 256
agon, 10
All the President’s Men, 225
Amadeus, 19, 192
angle, 40
antagonist, 12, 19, 34, 67, 244, 249
anti-intellectualism, 204
archetypal patterns, 166
attitude, 206
audio effects, 41
background, 46
back story, 84
Benton, Robert, 8, 238
Bergman, Ingmar, 8, 98
“business,” 45, 113–115, 202
camera, 42
camera instructions, 40
camera language, 35
camera technique, 37, 43
cause and effect, 111, 127, 250. See also action-reaction
character, 47, 57, 66, 87, 242, 245, 247, 249
—change in, 130–131
—conflict, 55, 224
—credibility, 238
—defining, 69–71
—development, 113, 224
—introduction, 41
—sources, 67–68
Chayefsky, Paddy, 8
choices, 143, 145
clarity, 133, 115
cliché, 237
climax, 13, 33, 55, 133, 162, 186–189, 242, 244, 246
—climactic moment, 10
close shot (cs), 42
close-up (cu), 37, 42
comedy, 20
—comedic conventions, 25
commercial breaks, 246
complications, 88, 90–91, 113, 126–127, 167, 244, 247
conflict, 11, 19, 33, 57, 72, 161, 206, 224, 240, 242, 244, 245
—development, 247
—ideas, 204
—immediacy of, 224
—sources of, 71–72
conformity, 237
confrontation, 223, 248
connections, 206
content, 205, 223
CONTINUED (CONT’D), 46
conventional mores, 237
conventions, 25, 66
Coppola, Francis Ford, 13
copyright, 257
creativity, 188
credibility, 65, 224, 238, 240, 243
credit, 258
crisis, 13, 18, 33, 55, 134, 162, 186, 189, 242, 244, 245–247
Critique of Pure Reason, 206
curtain line, 202, 246
cut, 43
debate, 243
detail, 50, 67, 185, 196, 198, 248
development, 112
dialect, 202–203
dialogue, 40, 45, 113–115, 192, 198
—appropriateness, 193
—characterization, 195
—common errors, 203
—communicating through, 198–202
—contractions, 203
—economy, 196, 198
—information, 200
—normal usage, 203
—structure, 203
director, 36
discovery, 133, 137, 224, 225, 239
dissolve, 43
Doll House, A, 206–222, 237, 250
dolly in/dolly out, 43
drama, 9
—dramatic action, 37
—dramatic conflict, 12, 55
—dramatic elements, 162–168
—dramatic obstacle, 87–88, 246
—dramatic realism, 26, 66
—dramatic scene, 13
—dramatic situation, 44, 68
—dramatic story, 10
—dramatic structure, 244
Dramatists Guild, 258
dran, 10
eloquence, 193
Emerald Forest, The, 186
emotion, 8, 12, 67, 248
emotional involvement, 205, 250
emotional realism, 19, 20, 24, 26, 33, 65, 161
emotional reality, 126
empathy, 68, 223, 241
establish (EST), 42
establishing character and conflict, 245
establishing shot, 46
experience, 10, 68, 206
exposition, 84–85, 202
extreme close-up (ECU), 42
fade in/fade out, 35, 43
Fanny and Alexander, 91, 98–109, 133, 136, 168, 183, 200–201, 205, 240, 246, 250
favoring, 38, 43
feeling, 206, 238, 242
fees, 258
form, 206, 244
format, 35, 44, 256
full shot (FS), 42
Gelbart, Larry, 15
Godfather, The, 13, 14–17, 90, 114, 134, 136, 137–141, 163, 166, 190, 197–198, 205, 240
Graduate, The, 91, 92–96, 111, 137, 246
group shot, 42
Hamlet, 128, 134
Hawks, Howard, 8
Hawn, Goldie, 134
hero, 165
high angle, 43
historical drama, 196
Hitchcock, Alfred, 8
Hollywood Reporter, 256
Huston, John, 57
Ibsen, Henrik, 8, 206
idea, 25, 204–205, 225, 244
ideology, 205
illumination, 129, 225
images, 40, 50, 56, 66, 255
imagination, 36, 68
immediacy, 199, 204, 223, 243, 250
importance, 246
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 8
information, 199, 201, 242, 246
insert, 47, 247
insight, 127, 129
intellectual involvement, 206
intercut, 45
involvement, 205, 206
issues, 112, 204, 205, 239
Kant, Immanuel, 206
King Solomon’s Mines, 186
Kramer vs. Kramer, 19, 26–32, 73–83, 88, 113, 143–145, 162, 167, 190, 192, 195, 196–197, 205, 223, 225–237, 238, 245, 247, 250
Kubrick, Stanley, 7
lap dissolve, 43
Lawrence of Arabia, 186
Libation Bearers, The, 8
Liveliest Art, The, 254
Lolita, 192
long shot (LS), 42
low angle, 43
Lucas, George, 9
major suspense, 167
Man for All Seasons, A, 192
master scenes, 37
meaning, 142, 250
medium shot (MS), 42
miniscreenplay, 244
minor suspense, 167
Moby Dick, 166
mock-up, 46
moral urgency, 192, 240–242
motivation, 33, 135, 136, 142, 168, 188, 223, 248
moving shot, 42
music, 183, 185–186
My Dinner with Andre, 115
narration, 249, 250
nature, 165
Never Cry Wolf, 71, 164
objective, 133, 146, 161
obstacle, 11, 34, 71, 87, 245, 246
Oedipus at Colonus, 68
Oedipus Rex, 89, 128
off screen (o.s.), 38
omniscient author, 249
On the Waterfront, 69, 115–125, 133, 146–159, 163, 168, 190, 199, 200, 205, 245, 250
openings, 57
Ordinary People, 164, 192
outcome, 189, 250
overhead shot, 43
over the shoulder angle, 37, 43
overview, 247
Pale Rider, 90, 165
pan, 42
parenthetical directions, 203
past, the appearance of, 128–130, 136, 187, 189
peripeteia, 89
phonetic spelling, 203
photographing the story, 35
Places in the Heart, 164, 245
plagiarism, 257
playwright, 9
plot, 10, 66
—plot point, 88–89
plotting, 55
point of departure, 247, 250
point of view shot (POV), 37, 43, 206
premise, 25, 33, 56, 168, 244, 247–249, 257
preparation, 84, 85, 126
principal photography, 40
Private Benjamin, 134, 190
Prizzi’s Honor, 91
problem, 11, 13, 18, 55, 66, 87, 237, 242
process shot, 45
production company, 256
protagonist, 10, 11, 13, 33, 67, 88, 242, 244, 249
Puzo, Mario, 13
quality, 258
Raiders of the Lost Ark, 113
reaction, 38
reality, 188, 206
religion, 223, 237, 240, 255
revelation, 133, 134, 136, 168, 246, 250
reverse angle, 43
reverses, 88–90, 126–128, 135, 223, 244
revision, 86, 191, 257
Richard III, 196
River, The, 164
Rocky, 19–20, 26, 87, 198
roles, 21, 238
Romeo and Juliet, 192
Roots, 205
scene, 13, 19, 40, 55, 73, 88
—length, 246
—transitional, 246
screenplay, 10, 244
script, 35
self-realization, 240, 244
sentiment, 223
sentimentality, 224
sequence, 56, 245
series, 246
setting, 13
Shakespeare, 8
Shampoo, 259
Shaw, George Bernard, 8
shot, 40, 247
silences, 162–164, 168, 183, 185
Silverado, 165
social problems, 223
society, 237
Sontag, Susan, 40
special effects, 8, 9
spectacle, 10, 162, 164–165, 183, 184–185
Spielberg, Steven, 8
split screen, 44
Star Wars, 9, 27, 66, 72, 91
stepsheet, 251–253
story, 11, 51, 55, 84, 244, 247, 249
—development, 244
—overview, 247, 249
story sources, 51
Streetcar Named Desire, A, 129, 146, 162, 168–182, 192, 193–195, 225
structure, 19, 206, 224
struggle, 11, 224, 239, 242
superimpose (SUPER), 44
superstructure, 244–247
survival, 190
suspense, 162, 167–168, 188
symbol, 162, 165–166, 168, 183, 184
tag line, 202
teleplay, 202
television, 256
thematic material, 223
theme, 192, 204–206, 223–225, 240, 242
thought, 204, 243
Tightrope, 72
tilt, 43
title, 45
Tootsie, 20–24, 26, 59–64, 66, 113, 133, 205, 240–241
Towne, Robert, 8
transformation, 224
Treasure of the Sierra Madres, The, 57–59, 89
treatment, 244, 249–251
Trojan Women, The,
192
Truffaut, François, 8
truth, 206, 242, 251
two shot, 42
2001, 7
understanding, 198
values, 192, 240–242
Variety, 256
vision, 168, 242
visualization, 39
weaknesses, 237
weight, 246
West Side Story, 192
“What if . . .”, 51
Wild Duck, The, 206
words, 193
Writer’s Digest, 256
Writers Guild Of America (WGA), 256
zoom in/zoom out, 43
