Your Public Best - Lillian Brown [102]
Cart. Audio cartridge housing audio tape ready to be cued.
Character generator. Electronic generator of characters and typefaces available as graphics on the screen.
Chroma key. Device that generates a “hole” in a scene for the insertion of another image within the generated hole. The generated hole is dependent upon a selected color within a scene, usually blue or green.
Colorbars. Electronically generated test signal, displayed as different colored vertical bars. Employed as a primary test signal for the assurance that color video systems are performing correctly, including proper monitor set-up.
Control room. The center of the creative and technical production process. The integration of various video and camera sources plus audio functions are performed in it.
Cue. A signal from the floor manager alerting a person to begin speaking or indicating another action. Most cues are related to time and are called “time cues.”
Daybook. A final tabulation of news items and features assigned to remote crew coverage for inclusion in a day’s news coverage.
Dub. Duplicate of a master tape.
ENG. Electronic News Gathering using portable cameras and/or VTR’s on remote locations.
Evergreen. A timeless or undated show or segment that does not need to air immediately and can be held for future broadcast or rebroadcast.
File tape. Previously video-taped piece kept for future broadcast or archives.
Gaffer’s tape. Special sticky-backed tape used for myriad purposes in the TV studio.
Goodnight. “Goodnight the crew” or “that’s a goodnight” means that the segment, show, or taping is finished; similar to “that’s a wrap.”
Green room. A room for guests, actors, or broadcasters to wait in prior to their appearance on camera; it is, however, seldom painted green.
Hard news. Up-to-the-minute, fast-breaking news (see “soft news”).
High-Definition Television (HDTV). High-definition television is a new technology that will provide viewers with a much clearer TV picture than they see today. It will be available in the United States in the 1990s. The new system will require the purchase of new TV sets to display the twice-as-sharp pictures sent by the high-definition signals. However, old TV’s will still work and will be able to receive the new signals; the old sets will not display the sharper pictures. The present system in the United States has 525 horizontal lines, while the present European system has 625 lines. HDTV will have about 1,100 lines.
In cue. First words of a prepared piece (see “out cue”).
Line monitor. Control-room monitor displaying the final product.
Mini doc. A small documentary, usually containing relevant interviews and follow-up information on news features of current interest.
Mode. Stereo or mono.
Out cue. The last few words of a prepared piece, such as a tape being rolled into the middle of a newscast (see “in cue”).
Paid media. Purchased time for commercials or political campaign pieces.
Phoner. Term sometimes used for a telephone interview (i.e., the interviewee is interviewed using only the voice, with no video picture of him or her).
Playback. Replay of a video or audio tape.
Post production. Production done after a tape has been made to add visuals, captions, music, etc.
Recap. Recapitulation of items already broadcast.
Remote. Something being taped or broadcast live on location, away from the main studio.
Rerack. Rewind video or audio tape for replay.
Revised script. Rewrite of an original script.
Room tone. The natural sound of a studio or remote location.
Satellite downlink. The process of returning a broadcast signal from a satellite to an earth terminal.
Satellite uplink. The process of transmitting a broadcast signal to a satellite from an originating earth site.
Script. Text of a program with the left column indicating the video and the right column indicating the audio, plus timing cues.
Soft news. Documentary-type reporting, which gives background details and additional relevant information (see “hard news”).
Sound bite. A short, video-taped piece, lasting several seconds or longer,