Glossary

This is a comprehensive list of common newsroom terminology.

  
A-roll
    
An audio track, talking head or narration in a video story. A term seldom used, except in contrast to B-Roll.
Actuality
    
(often shortened to ack.) Comments of a news source on audiotape in a radio news story. General term sound bite is used in radio and TV, but actuality is a radio term.
Action Sequence
    
A series of three or more shots of the same subject, with continuous action, and consisting of a variety of wide, medium, and close-up shots.
Anchor Intro
    
The lead to a reporter wrap or package, read live by a news program anchor, which sets up the on-tape portion of the story produced by the reporter.
Assemble Edit
    
Adding new audio, video and control track onto the end of previously edited material. You cannot assemble edit new material into the middle of previously edited material.
Axis
    
An imaginary line drawn between two people or objects. If you begin shooting on one side of this line, you should keep shooting on that same side of the line, or you’ll have a problem with screen direction.
B-roll
    
Action video used to illustrate what’s being said in the audio track of a video story. B-roll may be used with the reporter track, or bite as the person talks. (See also cover video, talking head, and snchronous sound.)
Bridge
    
A transition between segments of audio or video. (See also standup)
Character Generator (CG)
    
Electronic device that generates titles to be “supered” over video. Used to reinforce story location, reporter, source and anchor identification. Also used in graphics. (See also Chyron, graphic, super).
Chyron
    
A well-known brand of character generator. The word Chyron is often used generically to mean character generator. (See also super, character generator, and font).
Close
    
The final point made in a story script - also the final shot used in the video.
Continuity
    
Smooth editing of continuing action through several different shots. Pure continuity accomplishes this by exactly matched continuing action: empty frames and cutaways are useful where pure continuity won’t work.
Control Track
    
A channel on videotape that we never see on the screen. Performs roughly the same function as sprocket holes do on film - electronically keeps everything moving the right speed and makes editing possible.
Cover Video
    
Interesting video that is used to cover or illustrate an audio track or talking head that was recorded seperately. Same as B-roll.
Cutaway
    
A shot of something other than the main action of an action sequence. In an interview, the cutaway is a shot of the reporter listening as the source talks.
Deadroll
    
Using the video portion of an interview before or after the sound-on-tape (SOT) comes up to full audio.
Downcut
    
Chopping off the end of a story or sound bite. Happens when the editor or technical director bails out too quickly. Opposite of upcut.
EFP
    
Electronic field production. The videotapes production of commercials, promos or PSA’s in the real world. Not on a studio set. Final editing and production is generally done in a studio-control room.
EJ
    
Electronic journalism. Same as ENG. Rarely used.
ENG
    
Electronic news gathering. The videotaped production of news stories in the field. This term came into being to differentiate ENG from shooting film, the previous industry practice.
Empty Frame
    
A shot where the subject either walks in at te beginning or walks out at the end. Helps maintain continuity.
Font
    
Same as super. Sometimes refers to the device that generates the words to be supered-sometimes refers to the supers themselves.
Glitch
    
Any distortion or technical distraction in video or audio tape - something we don’t want. A rainbow is one kid of glitch.
Graphics
    
Use of Chyrons or supers with color backgrounds or freeze frames of video to convey information that reinforces the meaning and script of the story. Very effective when used right.
Head
    
The front or beginning of something, typically of a shot or a story.
Hot
    
Either too loud (hot audio) or too bright (hot video). Engineers often say that hot video blooms on the screen. Same as overmodulated.
Humanization
    
The use of one person’s story and first-person comments to typify a problem or situation that also affects many other people.
Insert Edit
    
Editing new audio or video material into a video piece, using control track that has already been laid on the tape.
Intro
    
See anchor intro. See also lead-in.
Jump Cut
    
An edit between two video shots that creates a jump or break in continuity. Avoid jump cuts by maintaining pure continuity and/or using good action sequence techniques, such as empty frames and cutaways.
Leader
    
See countdown
Lead-in
    
A sentence that introdces some element of a story. A lead-in to an actuality (in radio) always identifies the news source in the ack. the lead-in to a TV sound bite usually does the same thing. A lead-in to a reporter package usually identifies the reporter and sets up the content of the taped segment of the story.
Lip Flap
    
Video of somebody talking, with the audio portion muted. Happens when we use video of people being interviewed as cover and when we deadroll. Avoid it.
Live
    
Put on the air in real time, not preproduced on tape or film.
Natural Sound (also nat sound)
    
The sound that is there in the real world when we’re taping action sequences. Can be used behind reporter track or narration, or can be used at full volume (nat sound full) so the pictures and sound tell the story without any track.
Open
    
The first on-tape segment of a reporter package. Comes at the head of the tape.
Outcue
    
The last three or four words of a package or a sound bite, included in scripts to help cue the next element when editing or delivering news live on the air.
Overmodulated
    
See hot.
Package
    
A TV or radio story written by a reporter and produced on tape. It includes an anchor intro (read live on the air, not taped). The main body of the story is a self-contained segment on audio or videotape, including the reporter’s track, at least one sound bite, and possibly a standup (if it’s a TV story).
Promo
    
Promotional announcement. In effect an advertisement for a program your station is carrying.
PSA
    
Public service announcement.
Rainbow
    
The particular kind of glitch that often appears at the head of a shot, before the recorder has gotten up to speed.
Raw Video
    
Unedited videotape, just as it was shot. Also called raw takes or field tape.
Reaction Shot
    
A type of cutaway, generally showing a person who is watching the main action of a sequence, or who is listening to the person being interviewed on camera. See also reverse.
Reader
    
A radio or TV news story that has no video, sound bites or elements other than the anchor reading it.
Reporter Track (trak)
    
Soundtrack of the reporter reading a script. Usually produced together with B-roll, sound bites, and possibly a standup to make a wrap or a package.
Reverse
    
A cutaway of a reporter listening to a news source, useful in maintaining continuit if two different parts of the interview are edited together. Don’t cross the axis when shooting your reverse.
Screen Direction
    
Video subjects often look or move one way or the other across the screen in the establishing shot of a sequence. Keep that same relative screen direction in all subsequent shots of the subject. Draw an imaginary line along the subject’s movement and don’t cross it while shooting. See also axis.
Sequence
    
See action sequence
Shot Width
    
The width of a shot refers to whether it is a wide, medium or close-up shot. Sequences need shots of varying width.
(SOT) Sound On Tape
    
Properly, refers to the sound that was recorded along with the video on any shot. In TV production, SOT often means that the sound on a story of piece of video is played at full volume - all the sound’s on the tape, no voiceover needed.
Sound Bite
    
Videotaped or audiotaped comments by a news source, used in a story, PSA, promo or commercial. See also actuality.
Soundtrack
    
See track
Spot
    
A commercial
Standup
    
A shot where the reporter appears on camera to explain some element of the story, shot and edite with sync sound. Useful as the close of a story, or as a bridge within the story. Avoid standup opens.
Super
    
An electronic process for superimposing words (from a character generator) over the video.
Synchronous Sound (sync sound)
    
Video and audio of the same thing at the same time: standups and sound bites are sync sound, but if we use reporter trak and B-roll, the sound and video come frm two different sources, so they are non-sync.
Tag
    
Several definitions: A final line delivered by the anchor after the reporter-taped portion of a package. Sometimes refers to the last line of the taped portion of the package, in which case it is synonymous with outcue. Sometimes refers to the standard outcue that the reporter uses to end a package: Joe Beets, Channel 8 News.
Talking Head
    
Video of someone talking, with audio of the same recorded in the same pass. Sound bites are talking heads, unless they’re B-rolled or covered. Talking heads are BORING VIDEO.
Top
    
The beginning, often synonymous with head.
Track (also trak)
    
Refers to the video track, each of the two audio channels, and the control track on videotape, all used in editing stories. Also refers to the practice of recording one’s voice for a story and to the recorded script used within a package (reporter trak).
Two-shot
    
A shot of two people, usually used as a video lead-in for a sound bite. Weak video, but you need to shoot a two-shot with every interview, or you’ll be sorry you don’t have it.
Upcut
    
Chopping off the beginning of the audio or video of a shot or video story. Happens when the editor or technical director doesn’t cut to a new audio or video source quickly enough. Opposite of downcut.
Voicer
    
A radio story that consists entirely of the anchor intro and a recording of the reporter’s voice, with no sound bites.
Voiceover (V/O)
    
Narration in which the person talking (usually the anchor) is not seen on camera. Contrast with talking head in which all we see is the person talking.
Width
    
(See shot width)
Wrap
    
(See package). Also, as a verb, a command given by a director or producer to an anchor or reporter, meaning finish now.