AAAA (American Association of Advertising Agencies)—A professional organization representing advertising agencies.
AAF (American Advertising Federation)—A professional organization representing advertising agencies.
Abilene Network—A second Internet designed for high-speed research and university use. Better known as Internet2.
actualities—Unstaged audio or video recordings of events as they happened.
adjacencies—Spot positions immediately before or following a radio or television program.
ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)—A high-speed telephone line used for digital communication that sends signals in both directions at different speeds.
aesthetics—The study and use of beauty, art, and taste.
affiliates—Broadcast stations contracted to carry programs from a specific network.
agency—A commercial business that serves clients who need advertising or public relations materials and airtime purchases.
aggregator—A collector of diverse items or objects.
airtime—The broadcast space available for programming, spots, or both.
AM (amplitude modulation)—The original method of broadcasting radio by impressing a signal on a high-frequency carrier by varying the amplitude.
ambiance—A sense of an atmosphere or location.
anathema—To be cursed or disliked, or to take the opposite view.
antagonist—The major character who opposes the actions of the protagonist.
Arbitron—A television rating service; formerly the American Research Bureau.
arc—A camera movement combining both a dolly and a truck.
arcade—A business with video games and other game machines.
ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers)—A licensing agency that collects residuals for musicians.
aspect ratio—The relative height and width of a frame. The ratio for NTSC, 16-mm, and 35-mm film is 4 × 3 wide-screen television is 16 × 9; and wide-screen motion pictures vary from 3 × 2 to 2 × 1.
Associated Press (AP)—A nonprofit news cooperative providing state, national, and international news to newspapers and radio and television stations around the world.
audio—The sound portion of a media production.
aural—Any sound.
auteur—A director who totally controls the aesthetics of a production.
availables (avails)—Opening in a broadcast schedule for placing a spot.
avatar—A digital substitute for an object or person.
B2B (business-to-business)—A digital sales operation that serves businesses.
B2C (business-to-consumer)—A digital sales operation that serves the consumer.
background—The visual or aural space behind an object.
backstory—The part of a dramatic story that may not be shown but is referred to in a way of explaining the actions of characters.
bankroller—A person or company providing funds to produce a media project.
beats—In dramas, the spacing of accents in the performance that sets the rhythm of the scene.
bias—A tendency toward prejudice.
bible—The collection of the background information on a story and the biographies of the characters.
block booking—A system used by motion picture distributors to make certain that “B” quality films will be exhibited by combining them with “A” films in a package that the exhibitor must take as a whole.
Blog—Contraction of “Web log”; the thoughts and attitudes of the blogger.
Blu-Ray—An advanced digital disc format.
BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.)—A licensing company that collects fees for musicians.
book musical—A popular play whose plot is based on music, dancing, and singing.
boom—(1) A long arm to which a microphone or camera may be attached to give greater reach. (2) To move a camera at the end of the boom.
branching—The ability in a program allowing the player to choose among more than one path when playing the game.
bridge—A written transition device that connects two parts of a program.
broadband—A transmission system that supports a wide frequency range
or combination of several signals at a relatively high rate of speed.
“B” roll—A second recording of a scene used in editing to cover jump cuts or to add visuals to an interview.
bromide—A tiresome or commonplace person or statement.
browser—Software that allows a user to search for information on the Internet.
caricature—A distorted depiction of a person or object, generally for the sake of humor.
cartridge—A container that holds film or tape, designed for ease in cueing and operating.
CD-ROM—May refer to either the compact disc drive or to the disc designed for read-only digital signals.
cel—A shortened term for celluloid, used in animation. The clear plastic sheets on which the images are painted are called cels.
CGI (computer graphics imagery)—A digital-image-generated file.
charge-back—A budgeting system that allows a production unit within a company to charge other units within the same company for their production services.
chroma key—A video effect created by shooting the foreground image against a solid-colored background, usually blue or green, and electronically inserting that signal into another background signal.
chronological—In order by time.
cinema verité—Also know as “direct cinema”; an effort to show candid truth.
climatic action—The point in a drama that leads to the major crisis of the plot.
climax—The major confrontation of a drama.
coalesce—To bring divergent topics or groups together.
coding—Writing computer codes to carry out the design of the writer of the game.
collage—A work of art created by combining several different images.
commercial (comml)—A sales message broadcast on radio, TV, or cable.
conformed (film and digital)—Creating a finished program by editing original footage to match a trial-edited program.
console—An electronic control board designed to manipulate and combine signals into a finished product.
content expert—A person with superior knowledge of the topic of a production.
content outline—A listing of all the parts of a production in the order in which they will appear in the final edited production.
controller—An electronic device used to operate other equipment, such as recorders.
convergence—Combining of technology or technical systems.
CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting)—The funding source for public broadcasting.
crab—Camera movement by a camera mounted on a four-wheeled dolly that allows movement in any direction.
crane—See boom.
crisis—A confrontation over the problem introduced by the actions of the character in a drama.
cross fade—A production term describing one audio source slowly fading out as a second source fades in. Full volume is kept by the addition of the two sources.
CTW (Children’s Television Workshop)—Producers of Sesame Street.
CU (close-up)—The framing of a tight shot, excluding most of the setting, concentrating on one object.
cue—(1) To signal someone to start. (2) A mark indicating the beginning of a recording.
cut—An instantaneous change in signal, either audio or video, also called a take.
cutaway—A shot of a part of a scene that is not visible in the master shot.
cut-in—A close-up shot revealing detail of a master shot.
DARPA-ARPA—The government agency that developed the Internet.
DARPANET—The original name of the Internet.
defamation—To expose someone to a negative or evil reputation.
demographic—Statistical analysis of population with reference to size, density, and vital statistics.
denouement—The final scenes of a drama that explain the complications and resolve the crisis of the climax.
dialog—Lines spoken by actors.
dial-up—A telephone circuit connection between computers.
dichotomy—The division of two common or divergent groups.
digital—Anything that uses discrete numerical values to represent signals or data.
disseminate—To distribute.
dissolve (diss)—A transition of one signal fading out while another fades in.
DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)—A bill passed in 1998 to clarify copyright questions brought about by the expansion of digital media.
dolly—Moving a camera on wheels straight toward or away from the object.
domain name system—Allows the numerical IP addresses to be expressed by logical names.
dope sheet—A listing, by time and exposures of each cel, in an animated production.
double entendre—Two meanings, one usually hidden or subverted.
dramatic structure—The building blocks of the plot of a drama.
DSL (digital subscriber line)—A telephone line used for high-speed computer signal communication.
DVD (digital video disc)—A 12-cm optical disc designed to record digital signals or data.
e-commerce (electronic commerce)—Using the Internet to carry on business functions.
ECU (extreme close-up)—The tightest framing of a production.
effaced—To be modest.
EFX (effects)—A short term for special effects.
electronic transcription (ET)—An acetate disc used to record radio programs and spots before magnetic tape recording became usable.
e-mail (electronic mail)—Digital messages transmitted between computers using networks, telephone lines, or cable systems.
emoticon—A face made with keyboard characters, also called a smiley.
epilogue—The concluding section of a drama, usually addressed directly to the audience.
episode—A stand-alone segment of a media series.
ESBR (Entertainment Software Rating Board)—The organization that represents game manufacturers, whose major responsibility is to set ratings determining who may purchase a game.
espouse—To support a cause.
exposition—Explaining all of the background information of a dramatic production.
facet—Any single portion of a drama or subject.
fade-in—In video, to increase a signal slowly from invisibility to full view. In audio, to increase a sound slowly from silence to full level.
fade-out—In video, to reduce a full-viewed signal slowly to an absence of signal. In audio, to reduce a full-level sound slowly to silence.
fair use—Allows a limited amount of copying and using a copyrighted work without permission and payment if the use does not harm the income of the original author.
falling action—In a drama, the plot portion that reduces the tension of the drama following a crisis.
FAQ (frequently asked questions)—A listing of questions and answers provided to interested parties to avoid having to answer the same question for each concerned individual.
FCC (Federal Communications Commission)—The government agency that oversees broadcasting and telephone communication.
fiber optics—Transmitting signals in the form of light pulses through strands of glass.
FileMaker Pro—A computer program used to file data in a logical and recoverable manner.
501(c)(3)—The federal tax status of a nonprofit organization.
flashback—A scene in a drama that shows an action in the past.
flash forward—A scene in a drama that shows an action in the future.
floppy drive—A mechanical system for recording and playing back digital information from either a 5.25-inch or 3.5-inch disc.
flowchart—An interactive map showing options for branching and decision points.
FM (frequency modulation)—An electronic system for broadcasting high-quality analog audio, developed and adopted in the late 1950s.
focus group—A gathering of objective people to judge new programs or concepts.
foreground—The space closest to the camera.
foreshadowing—A dramatic structure giving the audience a hint of an action yet to be dramatized.
format—(1) The technical specifications that differentiate different types of media equipment. (2) The space organized on paper for scripts. (3) The organization of the action in a media production.
format sheet—The chronological summary of material in a production.
formulaic—Following a recurring pattern or plotline in a drama.
Fourth Estate—In modern times, the field of journalism.
FRC (Federal Radio Commission)—The predecessor of the FCC, governing broadcasting from 1927 until 1934.
FTC (Federal Trade Commission)—The government agency overseeing business matters including truthfulness of broadcast advertising.
gag—A joke, punch line, or comic action.
GBPS (gigabits per second)—A measurement of the rate of movement of digital signals. A gigabit is one billion bits.
genre—A classification of drama’s types.
Google—An Internet search engine.
gratuitously—Unnecessarily.
HD (high definition)—Any video specification beyond original NTSC.
HD-DVD (high-definition digital video disc)—One of two high-resolution video disc recording media intended to replace DVDs.
HDTV (high-definition television)—A video format of 16 × 9 aspect ratio with 1125 lines using AC-3 Dolby sound.
homogenization—To blend diverse topics or systems into a single form.
hook—A media slang term for setting a scene that will intrigue and keep an audience in suspense and tuned in.
HTML (hypertext markup language)—A computer language used for Web pages.
HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol)—A computer system used for exchanging documents on the Web.
humanize—Creating animals or objects that take on human forms and mannerisms.
HVD (holographic digital disc)—A possible successor to DVDs, HD-DVDs, and Blu-Ray recording systems, with higher quality and larger capacity on one disc.
hyperlink—A term indicating a link between two or more digital signals, to make them act as one.
inbetween—In animation, the cels painted between the key frames that start and end an action.
in-cue—The first few words of a recording.
indecent—Any material considered offensive as measured by local community standards.
institutional—Commercials that take a soft-sell approach, selling the company on its overall value, not specific products or services.
interactive—Media programs that allow the user to control the flow and direction of the program; may include any or all media.
interweaving—Mixing and combining together.
IPTV (internet protocol television)—Television distributed by telephone or cable companies.
ISP (Internet service provider)—A company that delivers Internet access to individuals and companies.
JAN (joint army-navy)—A 16-mm film projector invented just before WWII and used for many years by the military, corporations, and educators.
JPEG (joint photographic experts group)—Both the standard-setting organization and the standard set for digitizing still photographs and graphics.
key—(1) To insert one video signal into another. (2) The major light that represents the sun. (3) A computer code.
key frames—The beginning and ending frames in an animation sequence or action.
LAN (local area network)—A connecting link among computers and peripherals within one close area.
LexisNexis—Legal and business search engines.
libel—Defamation in any form more permanent than speech, usually referring to written or electronic statements.
lip sync—Matching the movement of the mouth of a speaker with the spoken sound.
log line—A one-line description of a media production.
LS or WS (long shot or wide shot)—Framing the entire scene to establish relationships between objects.
lyrics—The words of music.
matte—An electronic hole in a video shot through which another shot may be visible.
MCU (medium close-up)—Framing an object wider than a close-up, but closer than a medium shot. On a human, often from below the chest to the top of the head.
media—Plural; more than one means of delivering electronic or print information.
medium—Singular; one means of delivering electronic or print information.
melodrama—A dramatic formula based on a hero rescuing someone in distress in which good always wins over evil.
mentions—A means of slipping in a commercial message within a drama as part of the drama.
microwave—A high-frequency line-of-sight signal distribution system.
MIDI (musical instrument digital interface)—A digital protocol used to communicate between musical instruments and computers.
mobiles—Any of the small digital handheld devices used to communicate without wires.
model sheets—In animation, a page of designs of a character showing a variety of poses and angles to ensure that everyone working with that character will maintain consistency.
morality plays—Plays of the Middle Ages based on religious beliefs, designed to teach the audience lessons of their religion.
morgue—In news-gathering operations, a gathering of archival information, past stories, photos, films, videotapes, and digital files for future reference.
motion capture (MOCAP)—Creating a duplicate of human movement by fastening reflective or magnetic spots at key positions on the body. A computer program will convert those locations to a computer-generated figure that duplicates the captured movement.
MPEG (motion picture experts group)—Both the international standards-setting organization and the standard set for digital video, with variations from MPEG-2 up to MPEG-5.
MP3 (MPEG layer-3 audio)—An audio compression method designed specifically for HDTV.
MS (medium shot)—Framing objects close enough for detail but wide enough to see the environment. For a person, from just above the waist.
multimedia—Combining audio, video, and graphics to create a media production, now produced on a computer.
narration—Copy read by an off-camera talent.
narrative—A form of dramatic structure based on an off-camera voice describing the action or characters.
narrative duration—The difference in time between actual time and the time depicted in a drama.
narrative order—Modification of dramatic time to meet historic chronology.
narrative structure—The organization of time and point of view of a drama.
natural sound (NAT)—Also known as wild sound. The existing sound on a location, including background sounds and the sound of the environment.
Nazism—Political philosophy based on totalitarian government and racial superiority of the Aryan race.
nebulous—Indistinct, foggy, or cloudy.
net neutrality—The political pressure to prohibit pay for parts of the Internet as requested by the telephone and cable companies.
Nielsen—A media ratings research company that determines who is watching which station.
9 / 11—The date of the terrorist strikes against the World Trade Center buildings in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, DC.
NPR (National Public Radio)—A radio network partially funded by federal funds, which operates noncommercially.
NTSC (National Television System Committee)—The committee and the system that set the original practical television system used in the United States.
obscene—A class of sexual material so offensive, because it is without any redeeming value, that it is not protected by the First Amendment.
omniscient—Extraordinarily intelligent, with great knowledge.
organic—A critical central part of the whole.
OS (over the shoulder)—The framing of two objects from behind one object and facing the other.
out-cue—The last few words of a recorded segment, used to determine when the recording had ended.
outline—A listing of topics, sequence, and scenes in a production.
outsource—To hire work completed by external companies for work originally handled within a company.
pace—The perceived speed of a production.
packets—Groups of digital signals sent on the Internet to be reassembled at the destination computer.
pan—A camera movement in a horizontal manner.
paramount—Important or key item.
PBS (Public Broadcast System)—The noncommercial television network organized in 1967 as an alternative to commercial television.
PDA (personal digital assistant)—Any battery-operated handheld digital device used to create and store information.
peer-to-peer—Communication between two of the same type of organizations or persons.
perquisites (perqs)—Special benefits such as a bonus or provided equipment.
phoneticize—Breaking a hard-to-pronounce word into easily recognizable syllables.
Photoshop—A program written for the manipulation of photographs, video, and graphics.
physiology—The study and analysis of the human body.
pitch session—A meeting for the creator of a media program to gain funding or permission to proceed with the project.
pixel picture element—The smallest reflection unit on a computer screen.
plant—To place an idea or thought in the mind of the audience without revealing the reason behind the concept.
plug—To mention a product name without paying for a commercial.
pornographic—Information that is sexually explicit and meant for sexual arousal.
portable people meter (PPM)—A handheld metering system used to determine to which station the listener is tuned.
portfolio—A collection of creative works by an artist, writer, or other creative person.
POV (point of view)—The framing showing what the talent would be seeing.
PRA (project requirement analysis)—A preproduction study of an instructional media project.
premise—A concept or idea for a media production stated in one sentence.
PRI (Public Radio International)—A listener-supported nonprofit radio network.
production manager—In a television studio, the person with overall responsibility for the operation of the studio. Also may be called the executive producer.
product placement—For a fee, a product placed on the set of a motion picture or television program, with the label visible in some shots.
promo (promotion)—In broadcasting, a spot advertising a program on the same station.
prompter—A system of mirrors mounted on the front of the camera to reflect the image from a computer monitor showing the script to be read by the talent.
propaganda—Information passed to an audience or the populace to sway the attitude of understanding of a specific topic.
proposal—A short written summary of a media production indicating the general concept, budget, and reason for being funded.
proscenium—The space separating the audience from the actors on stage in live theatre.
protagonist—The hero or major star that carries the plot of a drama.
protocol—A system for computers to communicate with each other.
PRSA (Public Relations Society of America)—The professional organization for workers in the field of public relations.
PSA (Public Service Announcement)—A broadcast spot that promotes a nonprofit organization aired without charge by the station.
pseudo—Another term for fake or not real.
PSP (PlayStation Portable)—Sony’s handheld game console.
psychographics—An analytical system of categorizing an audience by their interests and background, as opposed to their income and education.
puff piece—A news story without any real depth or value that fills space or makes someone else happy to see it aired.
rate—The speed of an individual performance within a production.
ratings—A statistical analysis of the audience’s viewing or listening habits.
red-baiting—During the 1950s, accusation of being communist (red) without proof or being allowed the opportunity to defend one’s reputation or political attitude.
reenactments—Staging a story for the news or documentary camera, considered poor journalism for news but more acceptable, within limits, for documentaries.
render—To convert an edited signal to a final digital output.
resolution—A measurement of a visual system. For computers, the number of pixels; for video, the numbers of lines; for film, a measurement of grain.
RF (radio frequency)—The frequencies above hearing and below vision.
RFP (request for proposal)—A notice that a job or project is open for bids.
rhythm—Development from a combination of variations in pace, tempo, and rate.
rising action—The portion of a plot that precedes a crisis.
ROM (read-only memory)—A disc that is designed to play back but not record.
RSS (really simple syndication)—A system of organizing and distributing information-specific topics to a specific e-mail address.
RTNDA (Radio-Television News Directors Association)—The professional organization representing electronic media news personnel.
rundown sheet—A list of individual segments of a program, with all of the items that go into the making of the program in chronological order.
satellite feed—A system that allows a news crew to feed a signal from their truck to a satellite; the station can then download the signal live or can record it for later use in a program.
SD (standard definition)—Lower resolution and lower aspect ratio than HDTV.
secular—Public, nonreligious-oriented activities.
segue—An audio transition, with the first signal starting at full level and fading to silence as the second signal starts at silence and builds to full level.
SESAC (Society of European Stage Authors and Composers)—A licensing agency for musicians.
SFX (special effects; sound effects)—Transitions and creative shots beyond standard fades, dissolves, and cuts. In audio, created sounds.
shoveling air—Working or creating without purpose or result.
site—Location or place of production, in a studio or in the field.
site survey—Taking time to physically look, measure, and analyze a location to make certain it will work for the production.
slander—Verbal defamation.
slug—The title of a news story.
solvability—In a game, the difficulty level that allows the player to feel that the game can be won or the puzzle solved.
sound bite—An audio recording, usually of an interviewee, to be used in a news story.
spam—In computers, unwanted e-mails sent to a wide range of people.
spin—Taking a story and making it sound positive, even if the story is not positive for everyone involved (e.g., explaining a massive oil spill).
spine—The flat side of a book or portfolio opposite the opening.
sponsor—The company who pays for programs or commercials.
spot—Short broadcast announcements that may be promos, public service announcements, or commercials.
static—Unwanted audio, often heard while tuning across the radio dial.
station break—The 30- to 50-second space between network programs reserved for the placement of spots and a station identification made on the hour.
stereotype—Depicting a person on the basis of gender, religion, age, or heritage.
storyboard—A visual outline of shots or frames of a media production.
stylebook—A collection of guides to tell the user which formats to use and how to meet the standards of the organization that created the book.
subservient—Of a lower level or class.
subtext—A portion of the plot not revealed or spoken directly to the audience that requires the audience to be knowledgeable about the story and setting.
succinct—Precise and straight to the point.
super—In video, a combination of two signals, with one bleeding through the other.
superfluous—Unnecessary; without usefulness.
surf—(1) A method used to explore offerings on the Internet. (2) Changing channels on a television receiver while looking for a program.
synced-synchronization—Keeping in step between video and audio and between electronic signals.
syndication—A means of earning additional income from a program after it has run on a network. The program is sold as a package to stations or other operations to run again and again.
tag—An added line or two at the end of a commercial, usually including the name, address, URL, and phone number of the client.
take—An instantaneous change of picture in television. The same as cut in film.
TCP / IP (transmission control protocol / Internet protocol)—A computer system used to access the Internet.
teleconference—May be either audio only or both video and audio. Two or more locations are connected by telephone lines or cable connections for instantaneous exchanges of conversation and pictures.
teletype—An analog message system used by telephone and telegram companies to connect two or more clients for continuous sending and receiving of messages.
telop—A 4- by 5-inch card covered with type or graphics for credits and other simple visuals, used before character generators became common in television.
tempo—Perceived speed of individual scenes of sequences.
terrestrial—Signals distributed on land, as opposed to satellite, telephone, or cable; usually refers to radio and television.
theme—(1) The music introducing a program or used to set scenes or identify characters. (2) a central idea or statement that may or may not be stated overtly.
tilt—A camera movement made by moving the camera up or down on the pedestal head.
timeline—A chart showing specific target dates for completion of each step of a program from preproduction through to distribution.
track—Short for sound track or control track.
tractability—The design of a game that keeps the game player involved without becoming bored, while not easily giving the game away.
trailers—The motion picture equivalent of television promos. Short, tightly edited segments of a film used to induce the audience to return when the film opens in that theatre. Also called previews.
transition—Any change of video or audio between scenes.
treatment—A detailed description of a media production scene by scene without dialog or technical terms. Used as a sales vehicle to convince a source of funds to supply the finances needed for the production.
truck—A camera movement made when the camera is mounted on a wheeled base that allows the camera to move from side to side on a parallel path to the subjects.
URL (uniform resource locator)—An Internet site address.
vector graphics—Images represented by mathematically defined shapes.
veracity—Truthfulness.
verbose—Overly talkative.
video—The visual portion of television and other electronic media.
virtual—An image or file existing only as a duplicate of the original.
virtual reality—A technology that creates the illusion of the operator moving in an artificial environment, usually requiring special goggles and headphones.
virus—A self-duplicating program that infects a hard drive and may alter or destroy files on that hard drive.
visual—Any part of a media production that is viewed and seen by the eye.
VNR (video news release)—A special video story prepared by a public relations firm and delivered to a newsroom with the hope that it will be aired as a legitimate news story.
VO (voice over)—Narration or dialog delivered without showing the source of the sound.
well-made play—An 18th-century play format still in use today. Based on an expository opening segment, an introduction of characters, and alternating positive and negative actions, culminating in a climax and resolution.
Wiki—A user-created Internet encyclopedia.
wild sound—Ambient sound recorded on location, also called nat sound.
wipe—A visual transition showing one picture being replaced by another, with the line between the two sources moving in any of several different directions.
wire copy—A source of information from the Associate Press or other press services.
wire frames—In animation, the building blocks of developing the shape of a figure before the surface is added.
WS (wide shot)—Same as long shot (see LS)
WWW (World Wide Web)—An Internet hypermedia system accessed using a browser.
WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)—A program designed to show on the monitor exactly what the computer will feed back.
XCU (extreme close-up)—The tightest shot in a production.
XLS (extreme long shot)—The widest shot in a production.
yellow journalism—News reporting based on innuendo and rumor, usually with a specific political goal.
zoom—The visual movement created within a specially design lens that allows a change of focal length while shooting. A zoom is not a camera movement.