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Film & Broadcast Glossary

Film & Broadcast is about telling stories – whether fiction or factual. This combines high standards of training in production skills to make programs – dramas and documentaries for radio, television and cinema

Film & Broadcast

Lowboy

A heavy duty rolling stand, usually with a combo head, but without the height of a ‘highboy’. (Grip/Lighting)

Film & Broadcast

Lowkey

A high contrast lighting style with lost of shadows and large areas of darkness. (Lighting)

Film & Broadcast

Lowpass Filter

A filter that attenuates frequencies above a specified frequency and allows those below that point to pass.

Film & Broadcast

M-S

(Mid-Side). A stereo microphone technique where two microphones are incorporated into a special configuration for recording. (Audio)

Film & Broadcast

Machine Leader

Strong leader threaded through a film processing machine which is used to pull film through the machine during its operation. (Laboratory)

Film & Broadcast

Magenta

A red-purple color which is the complementary color of green.

Film & Broadcast

Magnetic Film (mag film)

Film which is coated with an iron oxide compound on which sound is recorded and from which sound is reproduced.

Film & Broadcast

Masking

A phenomenon whereby one or more sound “trick” the ear into not hearing other, weaker, sound that are also present. (Audio)

Film & Broadcast

Master (print master)

A positive print made specifically for duplicating purposes. (Laboratory)

Film & Broadcast

Match Cut (match-action cut)

A cut made on action or movement between two shots in which the action has been overlapped either by repetition of the action or by the use of more than one camera. (Film Editing)

Film & Broadcast

Match Dissolve

A dissolve linking images which have similar content. (Film Editing)

Film & Broadcast

Match-Image Cut

A cut from one shot to another shot having an image of the same general shape as the one in the prior shot. (Film Editing)

Film & Broadcast

Matching

Arranging for the impedances presented by a load to be equal to the internal impedance of the generator. This is essential to avoid loss of power. In microphones, the loss results in poorer signal-to-noise ratio. Matching is done by means of a transformer. (Acoustics)

Film & Broadcast

Matching Action

The process of aligning or overlapping the shots of a film sequence in order to achieve a smooth transition from the action in one shot to the action of the succeeding shot. (Film Editing)

Film & Broadcast

Mater

A small adjustable clamp with a baby stud which can be interchanged with a variety of accessories. (Grip)

Film & Broadcast

Maxi-Brute

A 9 light unit with (9) 1000 watt PAR 64 lights. (Lighting)

Film & Broadcast

MB

The acronym for megabytes which is a measure of computer storage capability; the equivalent of 1,000 bytes.

Film & Broadcast

ME Track

This refers to the music and effects tracks which are combined into one (or a stereo pair) for use with foreign language re recording of a film or video program.

Film & Broadcast

Meat Axe

An grip arm-like accessory which is designed to clamp onto the hand rail of a studio overhead catwalk, or other suitable surface, and has a gobo head at the end of the arm. (Grip)

Film & Broadcast

Mercer Clip

A trade name for a small plastic clip which is used to hold film ends together during film assembly. (Film Editing)

Film & Broadcast

Mickey

An open faced 1K lighting unit. Also known as a ‘Redhead’. (Lighting)