| FILM GLOSSARY |
| aspect ratio |
Ratio of the width of the image to its height. |
| axis of action |
Refers to the imaginary line that passes through the main actors;
this imaginary line defines the spatial relationships of all the
elements of the scene (e.g., to the right of or to left of). When
doing a cut, the camera is not supposed to cross the axis, thereby
reversing the spatial relationships. |
| ASA |
Sensitivity to light of a particular type of film. It is the specific
number used to measure Film Speed. It is the same as I.E. and I.S.O.
A.S.A. stands for American Standards Association. |
| A or B-Wind |
Emulsion position of the film. There are two possibilities, just
as there are two sides to a piece of film. Camera original is B-Wind.
A print struck from it will be A-Wind. |
| backwind |
Rewinding film in the camera to shoot a Double Exposure.
|
| balance stripe |
Second stripe found on 35mm stripe mag stock and super-8 sound
film to prevent warping. |
| barney |
Quilted cozy that fits around a camera to reduce camera noise. |
| base |
Film has two basic elements: The base is the clear, perforated
strip, and the emulsion is the thin, light-sensitive layer that
is glued onto it |
black emulsion
leader |
Black, opaque film that the negative cutter uses when preparing
A&B rolls. |
| blow up |
An optical enlargement of a film from one gauge to another, such
as 16mm up to 35mm. The opposite of a blow up is a Reduction Print.
|
| bolex |
One of the more widely used 16mm non-sync cameras, it is made
in Switzerland by the Paillard Company. There are many varieties,
non-reflex, reflex, springwound and electric motor driven. But when
someone says “Bolex,” typically they mean a reflex,
springwound model, such as the Rex-4. |
| bounce card |
A white or silver card used for soft indirect lighting of the
subject by bouncing light off the card. Can also be used to provide
a gentle brightening of shadow areas. Especially out-of-doors as
it does not require power. |
| bracketing |
The filming of several takes of the same shot at different f-stops
to achieve the desired result. Usually this technique is applied
to shooting titles much more than anything else. |
| camera stock |
This is film. It is also called camera stock to distinguish it
from Print Stock.
|
| changing bag |
Double chambered black bag with a zipper on one end and two elasticized
arm holes on the other side, used for loading film into magazines. |
| colour temperature |
Measurement of the color of light, and important in that film
is much more sensitive to color temperature than our eyes are. Is
measured on scale that takes its name from the scientist Lord Kelvin
|
| contact printing |
The method used by the lab to copy film.All workprints, answer
prints and release prints are contact prints. The only other type
of printing is Optical Printing, which is usually done to add an
effect or to blow up or make a reduction print.
|
| core |
Plastic hub used to hold film without a reel. 2 or
3 inch. |
| cross processing |
the use of color reversal film stock to be developed as a negative.
A positive print struck from that negative will have strange and
rich colors, intense contrast and on overall yellowish hue. |
| CTB |
Color Temperature Blue. This is an abbreviation for the color
correction gels used in lighting to convert the color temperature
from tungsten to daylight. They come in gradients: Quarter Blue,
Half Blue, Full Blue. |
| CTO |
Color Temperature Orange. This is an abbreviation for the color
correction gels used in lighting to convert the color temperature
from daylight to tungsten. They come in gradients: Quarter Orange,
Half Orange, Full Orange. |
| dailies |
The workprint, before it has been edited, so called because the
minority of labs will have it ready later the same day it was dropped
off (if you are a client to whom they give some type of priority).
Also known as Rushes. |
| daylight balanced |
The color temperature of daylight which is 5,400K on the color
temperature scale. Color film for outdoor shooting is balanced for
daylight, otherwise the image would appear blue in hue. If daylight
balanced film is used indoors without a correction filter the image
will have a orange hue. |
| daylight spool |
Aluminum spool holding film with solid, opaque sides, painted
black, which will protect the film from becoming completely exposed
when loading a camera in daylight. The name daylight spool comes
from the fact that the film may be loaded without total darkness. |
| double perf |
16mm film with a row of perforations running along both edges.
On the film can this will be indicated by 2R appearing on the label. |
| double reel |
In 35mm a double reel is 2 single reels joined together, the maximum
size being 2,000 feet. Double reels are labeled 1 A/B, 2 A/B etc.,
to distinguish them from single reels.
|
| dupe |
A positive copy of a positive or a negative copy of a negative. |
| ECN |
Eastman Color Negative. It is simply your developed
negative.
|
| edge fog |
Exposure along the edge of the film from raw light, in most cases
from a lightleak, due to the camera door not being taped. |
| edge numbers |
Small numbers running along the edge of the film, in between the
perf in 16mm, and just to the far side of them in 35mm. They are
photographed onto the film in its manufacture, and are there to
aid the negative cutter in lining up shots in the process of conforming
the negative. |
| emulsion |
The thin layer of silver attached to the base which, when exposed
and developed, creates the film image through the areas of silver,
which block light, and the clear areas which allow light to pass
through. |
| emulsion batch |
The series of numbers on the film can the come after the Emulsion
Type. When the film is made, each batch is given a number so that
you can shoot a single sequence with one particular batch. |
| emulsion type |
A film’s emulsion type refers to the composition of its
emulsion, whether it was manufactured to be fast, slow, grainy,
fine-grained, colorful, pastel, black and white or color, daylight
balanced, tungsten balanced, etc. The emulsion type is represented
by a number. ie: Kodak's "7248". |
| exposure index |
sensitivity to light of a particular type of film. It is the specific
number used to measure film speed. Your film will list an E.I. number
on the box or the film can as the film speed. It is the same as
A.S.A. and I.S.O. on your light meter. |
| 5
400K |
The color temperature of Daylight.
|
| film speed |
Sensitivity to light for proper exposure of a given film stock.
This is primarily a result of the size of the silver halides in
the emulsion, the larger the grain, the less light is needed for
exposure. |
| flare |
When using film on a daylight spool, the erratic pattern of raw
light that washes out the beginning and end of the roll are known
as “the flares.” |
| fog |
When stray raw light has found a chance to expose you film. |
| gauge |
Width size of a film format: 16mm, 35mm, Super-8 are gauges. |
| gel |
A large sheet of transparent tinted plastic used as a filter for
a movie light, or to cover a window. There are two basic types:
ones that will covert one color temperature to another (such as
C.T.O. and C.T.B.), and others that come in a wide variety of colors. |
| HMI |
Halogen Metal Incandescence. HMIs are very bright, power efficient
lights. They are balanced for the Color Temperature of Daylight,
making them handy in mixed lighting situations. |
| internegative |
An intermediate copy of a film, made on a very fine-grained stock,
and used to make a greater number of prints than it is practical
to make from the A&B Rolls. |
| interpositive |
An intermediate copy of a film, made on a very fine-grained stock,
usually required as an intermediate step to making an internegative |
| K |
“K” has two different meanings, and both apply to
movie lights, so one should be careful to differentiate one from
the other. 1.: An abbreviation for Kilowatts. There are 1,000 Watts
in 1 Kilowatt. It is used when talking about quartz lights or HMIs,
as a way to measure their brightness based on their power consumption.
A “1K” is a 1,000 Watt light, a “2K” a 2,000
Watt light, etc. 2.: An abbreviation for Kelvin, such as 3,200K
for tungsten balance, 5,400K for daylight, etc.
|
| lab roll |
A large roll (usually up to 1,000 feet) made up of camera rolls
joined together by the lab for printing. |
| lightleak |
Stray light that penetrates into a camera giving the film little
patches of fog. Also the term for the access point itself. Typically
light leaks occur around the camera door or where the magazine is
joined to the camera body. Often they can be easily prevented with
camera tape around the door |
| magazine |
An attachment to a camera with one or two light-proof chambers
that hold 400 or 1,000 feet of film. One camera will typically have
two or three magazines which can be loaded ahead of time. |
| negative |
original film that is used in the camera, from which a positive
print is made for editing. The negative is assembled to match the
edited workprint, and an answer print, for projection of the completed
film, is struck from the negative. |
| negative cutter |
The person who cuts and assembles the original negative to match
the edited workprint, which then goes to the lab for the answer
print. |
| OCN |
Original Color Negative. Your developed negative. |
| opticals |
Effects produced through Optical Printing, including transitions,
superimposed titles, etc. Sometimes called Optical Effects. However,
anything optically printed can be called an optical, so even blowing
film up from 16mm to 35mm, though it does not involve an effect,
is an optical |
| original |
Any film, negative or reversal, that was shot by a camera, as
opposed to a print or intermediate copy. The term original can be
used interchangeably with negative, but is as especially handy term
when taking about reversal film, where it is the clearest way indicating
whether something is a dupe or the original. |
| overexposure |
Filming a scene with more light than the emulsion of the film
can easily tollerate. The image will be too light and there will
be less depth of field than if the lens had been set correctly. |
| print stock |
Film used by the lab for making copies (prints). It is usually
of a longer pitch than camera stock so as to be smoothly sandwiched
against the camera stock on the printing machine. It is also much
slower (with an A.S.A. of about 12) than camera stock, as light
is less of a problem in printing than it is when it is being focused
through a lens in a camera. |
| raw stock |
Unexposed film |
| recans |
Leftover film that was loaded into a magazine but (unlike a Shortend)
not even partially shot, and then loaded back in the film can. Basically,
it is a roll a film that has been opened, but not used. |
reduction
print |
An optical reduction of a film from one gauge to another, such
as 35mm to 16mm.
|
| registration |
The degree to which one frame lines up with the next |
| reversal |
A type of film and method of processing that yields a positive
original. |
| shooting ratio |
Ratio of how much film shot compared to running time of the finished
film. |
| shortends |
The unexposed remainder of a roll of film in a magazine that is
clipped and placed back into a can for use later. Unlike recans
a shortend is something less than 400 feet.
|
| single perf |
16mm film with a row of perforations along one edge. On the film
can this will be indicated by 1R appearing on the label. |
| single reel |
In 35mm a reel is 1,000 feet of film (or usually a little less). |
| sound speed |
24 frames per second. The normal speed for filming and projecting. |
| splice |
A method of joining two peices of film so they can be projected
as one continuous piece. There are three methods: the Tape Splice
(usually used for editing), the Cement Splice (used for original
material), and the far less common Ultra-Sonic Splice (used for
Polyester Base film). |
| spool down |
Winding an unexposed 400 foot roll down onto four 100 foot daylight
spools for use in a camera that will only take 100 feet of film.
Spooling down can only be done in complete darkness. 42 turns on
a rewind per daylight spool will divide a 400 foot roll pretty evenly.
Also, it is vitally important that the film be wound all the way
through once and then spooled down, otherwise the edge numbers will
be on the wrong side, and not printed onto the workprint. |
| stripe |
35mm mag stock that contains a stripe of magnetic tape rather
than the complete coating found on Fullcoat. Stripe mag will also
have a balance stripe to prevent warping. |
| tape splice |
A method of joining two pieces of film so they can be projected
as one continuous piece. Tape splices are used in the editing stage.
To cut the negative Cement Splices are used. |
| 3 200K |
3,200K is the color temperature of Tungsten. |
| tight wind |
A handy attachment sometimes found on an editing bench on the
right rewind, used to wind film onto a core and giving it a very
smooth edge. It can be quicker than opening and tightening split
reels if you are just rewinding an entire roll.
|
| timing |
The lab’s process of selecting printing lights to for the
proper redition of exposure and color when making a print. The term
is a little consuing, as it has nothing at all to do with “time”
as in “running time” |
| tingsten |
The color temperature of artificial light which is 3,200K on the
color temperature scale. Quartz Lights use a tungsten filament,
which burns at 3,200K, and gives us this term. Color film for indoor
shooting is balanced for tungsten light, otherwise the image would
appear orange in hue. If tungsten balanced film is used out-of-doors
without a correction filter the image will have a washed-out blue
hue. |
| underexposure |
Filming a scene with less light than the emulsion of the film
needs for a correct exposure. |
| workprint |
A positive copy of the original negative that is cut during the
editing process. At the end of editing the original negative is
then cut by the negative cutter to match the workprint shot for
shot, and an answer print struck from the cut negative. A workprint
can also be made from reversal original.
|
| xenon |
A very bright, daylight balanced projection lamp, or a projector
with a xenon lamp. A xenon lamp is not interchangeable with a tungsten
lamp or arch lamp, but requires a different lamp housing on the
projector. Because xenon lamps are daylight balanced it is sometimes
advisable with color film to have the lab make a print that is balanced
for xenon. This is sometimes called a 5,400K print, the color temperature
of daylight.
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