The Little Shoot Glossary: 30 Words to Talk Like a Pro

“Let’s go again, there’s a boom pop in the frame.” If that sentence sounds like a foreign language, don’t worry: that’s normal. Film sets have their own vocabulary, a mix of English, technical slang and old cinema traditions.

Here are 30 words to help you follow the conversation on shoot day, understand a quote without frowning and, who knows, shine at the coffee machine.

On set

• Set: the place where we shoot. It can be a studio… or your meeting room for the day.
• Take: each attempt at the same shot. “Take 7” doesn’t mean you’re bad, just that the plane has flown over six times.
• Clapperboard: the famous slate that claps. It shows the shot and the take, and its “clap” serves as a marker to sync sound to picture in the edit.
• Timecode: the internal clock of cameras and recorders (hours, minutes, seconds, frames). It lets us find and synchronize any moment.
• Video monitor: the screen where you can see, live, what the camera is filming. That’s where you can approve the framing without looking over the camera operator’s shoulder.
• “That’s a wrap”: everyone’s favorite phrase. The shot is good, we move on to the next one.

The image

• Frame: what you see on screen. What’s out of frame doesn’t exist… except the forgotten coffee cup in a corner, which always shows.
• Focal length: the “power” of a lens. A short focal length shows a wide view, a long focal length brings things closer and compresses perspective.
• Depth of field: the sharp zone of the image. Shallow, it separates the person from a blurred background; deep, everything is sharp from foreground to horizon.
• Frame rate: the number of images per second. In France, we often deliver at 25 frames per second.
• Slow motion: we film at a higher frame rate than the playback rate. Filmed at 100 frames per second and played at 25, a gesture lasts four times longer. Guaranteed effect on a falling drop.
• Log: a recording mode that gives a gray, “washed-out” image straight out of the camera, but keeps as much information as possible in the shadows and highlights.
• RAW: the raw sensor data, before the camera decides the colors for you. The digital negative, in short.

The shots

• One-take shot: an entire scene filmed without a cut. Impressive, demanding, and everyone holds their breath until the end.
• Shot / reverse shot: we film one person, then the person facing them. The basics of dialogue.
• B-roll / cutaways: the illustrative images (hands at work, workshop, details) that slip over an interview. Without them, you’re watching a talking head for two minutes.
• Tracking shot: a movement where the camera physically moves, on a rail, slider or vehicle, and doesn’t just pivot on the spot.
• Packshot: the “portrait” photo or video of a product, clean and precise, often on a neutral background.

The sound

• Boom pole: the long pole with a microphone attached at the end, held above the actors. The boom operator has the most enduring arms on set.
• Lavalier: the small mic clipped to a collar or hidden under clothing. Nothing to do with your outfit.
• Sound check: setting the sound levels before shooting. Yes, we’ll ask you what you ate this morning, it’s to set the mic.
• Room tone: a few seconds of the room’s “silence,” recorded separately to help with mixing. The only moment when everyone really goes quiet.

In post-production

• Rushes: all the raw footage shot. There’s always much more than what will be kept.
• Footage review: sorting through those rushes. We watch everything, note the best takes, set aside the sneezes.
• Color grading: working on color and light, shot by shot, to harmonize the footage and create a mood.
• LUT: a color conversion table. A kind of “recipe” that turns a log image into a watchable one, or gives a starting look.
• Sound design: creating the sound world, effects, ambiences, small touches, so that the image “sounds” right.
• Motion design: the graphic animation of text, logos, figures or icons. What makes an Excel table almost glamorous.
• Master: the final version, in full quality, from which all formats are derived.
• Delivery file (ready to broadcast): the final file that meets the technical standards required by the broadcaster. The last link in the chain.

A good shared vocabulary means fewer misunderstandings and more time for what matters: the image.

At that dog, we don’t use jargon to impress: we use it to work fast and precisely, and we’re happy to translate it for you. If you’re curious to see what a boom pole, a slider or a softbox looks like, the studio’s equipment is presented in detail.