We need to pencil an AFX Editor by EOP for a TVC….

The team at The Crewing Company regularly receive requests like this. Terms, acronyms and abbreviations that may take a bit of interpretation to understand. I confess, I have had to do my fair share of research to get a better understanding of what our clients are looking for but over the years, these abbreviations have become the norm, and now I could recite them in my sleep! New industry terms are continually cropping up, so it’s important we are always in the know. We thought we’d share with you some of the acronyms, abbreviations and video specific terms regularly used in our industry!

ADR – Officially stands for Additional Dialog Recording or Automatic Dialog Replacement. If there is a problem with dialog or it can’t be salvaged, the dialog will be re-recorded in post-production.
AFX/AE – Adobe After Effects software which is used for creating titles & animations, compositing, motion graphics and grading. Often used alongside Adobe Premiere
AS11 – The AMWA (Advanced Media Workflow Association) created this specification that simplifies the process of delivery for finished programs between post houses and playout companies.
AV Techs – Audio Visual technicians install and operate sound, visual and lighting equipment at live events such as performances or concerts, training sessions, webinars, press conferences and many more!
Base to Base – For crew working on shoots, the working hours are often based from the time they leave home (or other pre-agreed “base”) to when they arrive back
B-Roll – Supplementary footage used alongside the main shots to tell the story. It includes cutaways, action or establishing shots to support the topic and is usually without sound, as the sound or voice over from the main footage carries over.
BTS – Behind the Scenes
Buyout Fee – A flat fee for the day’s work regardless of day length rather than basing it on a day rate plus overtime.
C4D – Cinema 4D is a 3D modelling, animation, motion graphics and rendering software programme
DOOH – Digital Out of Home advertising that targets consumers while they are out of their homes
DPP – The Digital Production Partnership is made up of the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, with support from Sky and BT Sport to help broadcasters benefit from file-based/digital programme delivery. They also developed the DPP Deliverables which works alongside AS-11 to monitor the media format and all metadata (see further below) needed for workflows in one simple delivery process.
DV Director – A DV Director is a director who often self-shoots and directs on location
ENG – Electronic News Gathering. This is usually a single camera operation for television news coverage.
EPK – Electronic Press Kit. Promo or condensed packages for marketing distribution purposes and are usually used to announce a release or for news conferences.
GFX – An abbreviation for Graphics
GV – Commonly called GVs (plural) and stands for General View. These are camera shots used to give a general view of buildings, environments, activities or anything that surrounds the main topic to help describe the scene but doesn’t refer to action.
Metadata – Metadata essentially means detailed information about content. For Video content and when used in AS-11/DPP Deliverables, this is information that accompanies a video detailing all contents of the file so it can be identified. This includes titles, transcripts of conversations, and text descriptions of scenes, locations, contributors etc. all time stamped so any users can find footage easily!
OB – Outside Broadcast
Pencil – Clients will often ask to pencil a crew member for work on certain dates, when they are waiting final approval or sign off. They get first refusal over those dates, so if another client would like to confirm those same dates, the crew member should then give the first client the opportunity to confirm or release those dates.
Per diems – Translated from the Latin word meaning per day, on shoots this is an allowance that covers expenses such as meals, travel and accommodation
Pregrade – Before grading, sometimes a pregrade is needed to normalise or neutralise all the shots to give one overall look and is prep work for the colourist.
PSC -Portable Single Camera and is another way of referring to a Single-camera crew setup
QC – Quality control. Every programme or piece of content is double checked for quality in the video, audio, graphics and subtitles and that it meets the right specifications.
Recce – A recce is a visit to the filming location, to see if it is suitable for lighting, sound and video and comes from the word reconnaissance.
SFX – Special Effects. This refers to any effects that can be done on set, from prosthetic makeup to real explosions.
Stripped Programming – A technique used for scheduling TV programmes to keep consistency. Any shows of a particular style like television series are given a regular time slot during the week, so that it appears as a strip straight across the weekly schedule.
T/X – Transmission. The time and date of when the programme is broadcast
TVC – Television Commercial
UGC – User Generated Content. Example shows that use UGC would be ‘You’ve Been Framed’ or ‘RudeTube’
VO – Voice over
Vox Pops – Short interviews with members of the public on a topic. Comes from another Latin word Vox Populi meaning voice of the people
VT – A VT insert is a pre-recorded short packaged film/segment to be played during live programmes. Magazine shows like The One Show or BBC News, use VT packages for content that can’t be recorded live.
VFX – Visual effects. These are effects added to live action shots in post-production and can include compositing, matte painting and animation.

Everyday we’re continually learning so if there are any words we’ve missed of the list, do let us know!