TexCas Theatre Resource Site
Commercial Vocabulary

A
Action:  A command which begins a recording.
Angle:   The angle from which the shot is taken.
B
Bust Shot:  A film shot from the chest up.
Button:  A line or gesture that ends a scene.
C
Cheating:  Turning out towards the camera slightly so that you aren't at profile.
Close up (CU):  A film shot of only the shoulders and face.
Copy:  a script of the commercial.
Copywriter:  The author of a commercial.
Cut: A command ending the scene.
E
Extreme Close up (ECU):  A shot of only part of the face or a specific part of the product.
F
Fade (Out, In, Up, Down):  A slow change of  light levels up or down (in or out), used for scene changes.
Frame:  The border of the television monitor, that surrounds the picture.
Full Shot:  A shot of someone's entire body.
H
Hitting the Mark:  Stepping up to the mark at the right time.
L
Leader:  Extra time before and after a take to make it easier to edit.
Long Shot:  A film shot taken showing the scene or talent at a distance. Also a Wide shot
M
Mark:  The mark on the floor that show's where an talent should stand
Master Shot:  A shot of the entire scene.  The master shot is often used to help mark and slice scenes together.
Matching:  Editing shots together and synchronizing them to make sense together.
MOS:  A film shot or commercial recorded without sound recordings.
O
Over-the-shoulder:  A shot taken from behind one talent's shoulder, looking towards another talent.
P
Pick-up:  A film shot using a different camera angle other than the long shot.
Pan:  Moving the camera horizontally (from side to side).
Plosives:  The B, D,G, K, P, T consonent sounds.
S
Scoring:  A term used for marking the copy.  Used to help the talent know his/her blocking and inflections.
R
Rotation: A complete rotation/pan all the way around with the camera as the center point.
Slate: A board with the production, shot, take and date written on it, used
Spacial Relationships:  The relationship between the distance between two talents in real life as opposed to how far aprt they look on film.
Storyboard:  A sketch, much like a comic strip detailing what the shots and angles might appear as.
T
Take:  A performance caught on film.
Talent:  A commerical actor.
Tilt:  Moving the camera vertically (up and down).
Two-Shot:  A film shot with only two people.
W
Waist Shot:  A film shot taken from the wiast up.
V
Voice Over (VO):  Narration of a scene in which the person speaking is not scene.
Z
Zoom:  A film shot where the camera moves in or out towards or away from the talent or product.