GAFFER
A gaffer (sometimes called the Technical Director or TD on a video project) is the lighting technician.  Their responsibility is to determine exactly how to achieve the vision of the Director of Photography.  The word “gaffer” dates back to a time when workers used long gaff poles to adjust light reflectors on gas street lamps.

GRIP
There are several categories of grips, including key, electrical, and dolly grips.  Most grips report to the Gaffer (or TD).  They perform the hands-on work of moving lighting, camera equipment, sets and props.

BEST BOY
Despite what some people think, a Best Boy is a highly skilled crew member who reports to the Gaffer or Key Grip.  The Best Boy hires and schedules crews and arranges for all the equipment that will be used on the shoot.  There are many female Best Boys in the industry.

UP STAGE and DOWN STAGE
Imagine that you are in the back of a theater, high in a balcony, looking down at the stage.  The term Up Stage means the back (or upper part of the stage floor as you look down at it).  Down Stage is the lower part of the stage as you look down at it.

STAGE LEFT and STAGE RIGHT
These terms are used for performers who are facing the audience.  When they exit Stage Right, they are moving to their right.  From an audience perspective, they would be moving left.

PROP
The word prop is an abbreviation of “property”.  Props are managed by the PROP MASTER or SET DECORATOR.

POINT-OF-VIEW Shot (POV)
Imagine a scene where an actor is walking down a path.  Normally a camera would film the actor from the perspective of someone watching.  A Point-of-View shot places the camera as if it were the eyes of the actor, seeing what they see as they walk.

SFX
SFX usually means “sound effects”, but it can also mean “special visual effects”.

MOS
An abbreviation for “Motor Only Sync”, it means a film or video recording without sound.  The term originated when separate film and audio recorders were synced together so they would run at exactly the same speed.  It means that only the film motor was required for that particular shot.

PAN
Panning means moving the camera view to the left or right.  Pan is a derivative of panorama, a wide screen image.

TILT
Tilting is defined as moving the camera view up or down.  Pan and Tilt are not interchangeable. You can pan left and tilt up, but you can’t tilt right or pan down.  Most reporters we see on TV get this one wrong.  So the next time you hear one of them ask their cameraperson to “pan up” you can smile at them just like we do.

DOLLY SHOT
A scene filmed with the camera mounted on a wheeled dolly truck that rolls on a custom track.

BOOM SHOT
A scene filmed with the camera mounted on a crane arm (allowing the camera to fly high over the subject).

STEADICAM
A Steadicam is a camera that is attached to the cameraperson with an elaborate counterbalanced harness.  This allows the operator to walk or run along with the action as they film (while keeping the camera steady).

LETTERBOX
Letterboxing adds black to the top and bottom of a wide screen film or video so that the entire image fits on a standard-format video screen. The resulting image is roughly the shape of an letter envelope.

MAINSTREAM FILM
A Mainstream film is a highly acclaimed project with big hype, huge popular appeal, and extremely high production value.  OK, we admit it, we just couldn’t resist this one. And yes, this is one of the reasons we chose “Mainstream Communications” as our name over 25 years ago. 

If you need help defining your next video or event, just Ask Mainstream.