TV TERMS FOR DUMMIES
Right now, I am on the road with the crew of Holland’s Next Top Model to create another nice new series. As you may know, I have a TV past and also a beloved who works in this field. And TV people, they have their own little language, I’ll bring you up to speed so that if you suddenly find yourself among TV types, you can hold your own.
Filming = shooting
You will never hear television people say they are going to film. They call it shooting. Just like magazine people say they are ‘shooting’ and not ‘photographing’, but more on that another time.
Just sending
If you hear that someone is going to ‘send’ you, you know that within five seconds a strange man is going to put his hand under your skirt or blouse. Usually accompanied by the words: “Uh, may I?” We girls often wear dresses and sound people are usually not too happy about that. Or maybe they are, it just depends on how you look at it. The downside is that they don’t have a handy spot to attach the transmitter, the upside is that they have let all the famous butts and breasts slide through their hands. I remember that I had to be ‘sent’ right in the middle of Fifth Avenue. I was wearing not much more than a fluttery dress and a lovely but rather insignificant thong that I had bought the day before at Victoria’s Secret. The sound guy and I both found it quite uncomfortable but hey, it creates a bond, you have to think.
Producer is not a producer
Very confusing, but it’s not the case that producer is the English translation of producer. No, a producer is someone who does the production and thus arranges all the practical matters. The producer is the client and the highest boss. Endemol is, for example, the producer of Holland’s Next. Abroad, however, producer does mean producer. Sorry, can’t help that.
ENG or studio
ENG means that you go out with a crew (that’s camera and sound). Also said; on location. ‘Shooting’ ‘on location’ indeed, very good. ENG stands for Electronic News Gathering, now you know that. SNG (watch out, now you’re going to belong to the connoisseurs) stands for Satellite News Gathering. When there’s a big event there is often a ‘crew’ from the NOS with an SNG van to broadcast the images live immediately.
Listening shot
That sounds like a contradiction in terms but it exists. If someone asks for a ‘listening shot’, you are filmedd while you are nodding very interestedly as if you are listening to someone. This is because there are usually ‘items’ (those are subjects) being ‘shot’ with one the camera. That first films the person being interviewed and then ‘shoots’ the interviewer. eerst degene die geïnterviewd wordt en ‘draait’ daarna de interviewer.
Call
Also known as ‘crew call’ or ‘call time’ which is written on the ‘call sheet’. The call sheet contains all important practical matters, names and jersey numbers, and the addresses where you need to be. The call is the time when you gather together. And that’s usually early.
A clap
If you are shooting with multiple cameras and multiple sound people, then it’s nice to have a reference point when you have stopped (a ‘stop’) to know from which moment you will continue.
Looking at pictures
In the beginning of my TV era, I never dared to ask what this meant because I knew it must be much more complicated than it sounded. Looking at pictures means that you go with the director to look at each shot that all cameras in a studio make. A bit of a studio program has 4 à 5 cameras and when you are ‘looking at pictures’ you go through all those shots and see if you like them or want to adjust them.
Broadcast and episode
A common mistake. Episode is a ‘chapter’ of the program, a broadcast is the transmission of that episode on TV. So an episode of ‘How hdoes it hactually eair and you missed a broadcast and watch the episode back. Do you get it??’ uitgezonden en je hebt een uitzending gemist en kijkt de aflevering terug. Snap je ‘m?
Sponsor and advertiser
Such a small difference in jargon between magazine people and TV types. In magazines, you talk about advertisers, in TV about sponsors.
