Video Production Terms: The Complete A–Z Glossary

Whether you're stepping on set for the first time or reading a budget breakdown from a production company, video production comes with its own language — and knowing it makes every conversation easier.

This glossary covers the terms you'll encounter across the three phases of any production: pre-production, production, and post-production. It's designed to be comprehensive without being overwhelming — plain English definitions, with notes on how each term is used in practice.

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Pre-Production Terms

Breakdown
A document that lists every element required for each scene: cast, locations, props, costumes, special equipment. The breakdown is produced before the schedule and budget can be finalised.

Call Sheet
The daily schedule distributed to cast and crew the night before a shoot day. It lists call times (when each person must arrive), location details, scenes to be shot, and contact information.

Coverage
The total set of shots planned to cover a scene — master shot, medium shots, close-ups, cutaways. Coverage ensures the editor has enough material to cut the scene multiple ways.

Day Out of Days (DOOD)
A calendar-format chart showing which cast members work on which days. Used for scheduling and SAG/BECTU union compliance.

Location Scout
The process of identifying, visiting, and evaluating potential filming locations before production begins.

One-Liner (Stripboard)
A one-line summary of each scene in the script, usually displayed as a strip in scheduling software. The production manager uses it to build the shoot schedule.

Production Design
The overall visual concept of a film — the look of sets, locations, props, and costumes — as conceived and overseen by the production designer.

Script Breakdown
The process of identifying and tagging every production element in the script: actors, props, special effects, locations, stunts, etc.

Shot List
A list of every shot planned for a given scene or shooting day, usually produced by the director and DP. Includes shot type, lens, movement, and notes.

Storyboard
A sequence of drawn or illustrated panels representing the planned shots in a scene, used to communicate the visual plan to cast and crew before the shoot.

Treatment
A prose document that describes a film or video project in narrative form — what it is, what it looks like, and what it is trying to achieve. Used in development to pitch ideas.

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Production Terms

A-Roll
The primary footage in a production — usually interview or performance footage that carries the audio. Contrast with B-roll.

B-Roll
Supplementary footage — cutaways, establishing shots, reaction shots — used to cover edits or provide visual context in the edit. In corporate and documentary work, most of what you shoot will be B-roll.

Action
The word called by the director (or first AD) to signal actors and camera operators that the scene has begun recording.

ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement)
The process of re-recording dialogue in a post-production studio, usually because location sound was unusable. The actor re-performs their lines while watching the original footage.

Aspect Ratio
The proportional relationship between a frame's width and height. Common ratios: 16:9 (standard HD/4K), 4:3 (old TV standard), 2.39:1 (widescreen cinema), 1:1 (square, Instagram).

C-47
Crew slang for a wooden clothes peg. Used on set to hold gels in place on lights, clip cables, and dozens of other small jobs. One of film production's most-used items.

Call Time
The time a cast or crew member is required to report to set. Not the same as the time filming begins.

Colour Temperature
The warmth or coolness of light, measured in Kelvin. Daylight is ~5,600K (cool/blue). Tungsten light is ~3,200K (warm/orange). Understanding colour temperature is fundamental to lighting.

Continuity
Ensuring that visual details (actor position, prop placement, costume) are consistent across shots that will be edited together. The continuity/script supervisor tracks this on set.

Coverage
See Pre-Production. In production context: "getting coverage" means shooting all the angles required for the editor to build the scene.

Cut
The word called to end a take. Also the basic edit transition — one shot ending and another beginning without any visual effect between them.

Day-for-Night
Filming in daylight but shooting and grading to appear as if it is night. Requires specific exposure and grading treatment.

Depth of Field (DOF)
The range of distance within which objects appear in acceptable focus. A shallow DOF creates a blurred background (bokeh) effect. A deep DOF keeps foreground and background sharp.

Dolly
A wheeled camera support system that allows smooth camera movement along tracks. Dolly in and "dolly out" are fundamental camera moves.

DOP / DP (Director of Photography)
The cinematographer. The senior creative responsible for the lighting and camera work on a production. Works directly with the director to realise the visual plan.

First AD (First Assistant Director)
The director's right hand on set. Responsible for running the set — calling action and cut, maintaining schedule, and managing the day-to-day logistics of the shoot.

Gaffer
The head of the electrical department. Responsible for the lighting setup and electrical safety on set, working under the DP.

Golden Hour
The hour after sunrise or before sunset, when natural light is warm, soft, and low-angled. Highly prized for shooting.

Grip
Crew responsible for camera support equipment — dollies, jibs, cranes, sliders, and rigging. Not to be confused with the electrical department (though their work overlaps).

Handheld
Shooting with the camera held by the operator rather than mounted on a tripod or other support. Creates an organic, unstable feel.

Jib / Crane
A counterbalanced arm that allows the camera to swing up and over the set, achieving high or sweeping shots without a full crane.

Key Light
The primary light source illuminating a subject. One of the three points in three-point lighting (key, fill, backlight).

Location Sound Recordist / Sound Mixer
The crew member responsible for capturing on-location audio. Manages boom microphones, radio mics (lavs), and the recording device.

Locked Off
A camera positioned on a tripod with no intended movement during the shot.

Magic Hour
See Golden Hour.

Master Shot
A single, usually wide shot that covers an entire scene from start to finish. Used as the editorial foundation from which tighter shots are cut.

ND Filter (Neutral Density)
A camera filter that reduces the amount of light entering the lens without affecting colour. Used to control exposure in bright conditions.

PA (Production Assistant)
An entry-level crew role covering a wide range of tasks: running errands, managing logistics, supporting department heads.

POV Shot
A shot filmed from a character's point of view, showing what they see.

Practical Light
A light source that is visible within the frame — a lamp, a candle, a window. Practicals add realism and can also serve as motivating light sources for the DP.

Slate (Clapperboard)
The board clapped at the beginning of a take to synchronise audio and video in post. Contains scene and take information. The "clap" creates a precise sync point.

Speed
Called by the camera operator or sound recordist to indicate they are recording at the correct speed and ready to go. Speed! precedes Action! in the shooting sequence.

Steadicam
A stabilised camera mounting system worn by the operator. Allows smooth camera movement while following the operator on foot.

Take
One recorded attempt at a shot. Multiple takes are usually recorded; the director and editor select the best.

Timecode
A sequential numbering system (hours:minutes:seconds:frames) recorded on video to identify every frame precisely. Used for syncing audio and video and for logging footage.

Two-Shot
A shot framing two subjects within the same frame.

Wild Track
An audio recording made on location without camera rolling — usually ambient sound, background noise, or additional dialogue takes. Used in the edit to fill or blend audio.

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Post-Production Terms

Colour Grade / Colour Correction
The process of adjusting the colour, contrast, and tone of footage. Colour correction fixes problems (exposure, white balance). Colour grading creates a stylistic look.

Cutaway
A shot that cuts away from the main action to something related — a reaction shot, an object, an establishing shot. Used to cover dialogue edits or add visual context.

Cut Point
The precise frame at which one shot ends and another begins.

DCP (Digital Cinema Package)
The file format used for theatrical cinema distribution. A DCP is the digital equivalent of a film reel — the master file sent to cinemas.

Dialogue Edit
The initial phase of audio post-production. The dialogue editor cleans and organises all dialogue recordings before the mix.

EDL (Edit Decision List)
A log of every edit decision in a sequence, usually exported from an editing system to facilitate conforming the sequence at a higher resolution.

Grade
See Colour Grade.

Grading Suite
The room and equipment setup used for colour grading. Professional grading suites use calibrated monitors and dedicated grading hardware.

H.264 / H.265
Widely used video compression codecs. H.264 is standard for online delivery. H.265 (HEVC) offers better compression at the same quality — used in 4K delivery.

J-Cut / L-Cut
Edit transitions where the audio from the incoming or outgoing shot overlaps the cut point. A J-cut brings audio in before the image; an L-cut carries audio past the cut. Both smooth transitions and are used constantly in professional editing.

Mix (Audio Mix)
The final stage of audio post-production. The sound mixer balances all audio elements — dialogue, music, sound effects — into a final, cohesive track.

Offline Edit
The editing phase where creative decisions are made, using proxies or low-resolution files. No final colour or audio finishing.

Online Edit / Conform
The finishing phase where the offline edit is rebuilt at full resolution with the original camera files.

Picture Lock
The point at which the edit is approved and no further changes will be made to the picture. Audio and VFX work proceeds from picture lock.

Proxy
A lower-resolution copy of original camera files, used for faster offline editing. The proxy is replaced by the original file in the online conform.

Rough Cut
An early assembly of the edit — a first pass, not yet refined. A rough cut is longer than the finished film and not yet polished.

Sound Design
The creative process of designing and building the non-dialogue audio of a film: sound effects, foley, ambient tracks, and the overall sonic world of the piece.

Timecode
See Production Terms.

VFX (Visual Effects)
Any post-production manipulation of the image — from compositing to full digital environments. Distinct from practical effects, which are achieved on set.

Voice Over (VO)
Narration or dialogue recorded separately from picture and played over the image in the edit.

XML / AAF
Interchange formats used to move edit data between software systems (e.g. Premiere to Pro Tools for audio, DaVinci Resolve for grading).

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Production Roles Reference Table

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Further Reading

• BECTU (UK film and TV union) — industry rates, contracts, and crew guidelines
• IATSE (US film and TV union) — US union standards and crew classifications
• ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) — technical standards for camera and lighting
• Ascher, Steven and Edward Pincus. The Filmmaker's Handbook (Plume, 2012) — the definitive production reference

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Final Thoughts

The language of video production is functional: every term exists because it names something specific that a crew needs to communicate quickly. Learning the vocabulary does not just help you talk to professionals — it helps you think about the craft more precisely.

If you're building out a video production business, see our guides to video production pricing, client contracts, and the proposal process.