If you've ever been in a newsroom, you'll here some terminology that isn't part of regular everyday conversation. VO? Nat pop? Cold open? What?
This is a shot of part of a rundown for a show I directed back at KGW. To make things more complicated, all of my codes are adding to the alphabet soup on for this show. You'll see some common newscast terminology in the third column from the left.
PKG, OFF TOP, 2bx, CHROMA, VO (tallbox was specific to our graphics look), LIVE
Let's dig in!
I'm going to go out of order here and throw in a few extras. We'll start with video types.
Video types
PKG: Package. This is a pre-recorded report, complete with the narration and video. What that means for those in the studio is that it is one piece of video that we need to "track" (turn the audio up for). No one else will talk or be on camera during it. That 90 seconds or two minutes is a nice breather for tv folks.
VO: Voice Over. This is a piece of what we call b-roll (a throwback term to film days: video with background sound but no talking) that an anchor or reporter talks over (voices over) while live on the air.
SOT: Sound on Tape. Yes, another throwback. This is usually what we call a sound bite or interview with full audio. Often followed by more VO.
Cold or Bold Open: This is a pre-recorded packaged tease introducing some of the upcoming stories or highlighting the main story of the newscast.
Open: The video that starts the show "You're watching KGW News at 11!"
Kicker: This is the fun story at the end of the newscast to send everyone off to their day or to bed on a happy note. Think waterskiing squirrel. Twiggy would fall into the category of a VO.
Tease: Before many commercial breaks, the anchors will promote stories coming up after the break. They are teasing you with things you'll want to watch so you stay tuned!
Nat pop: A quick second or three of full natural sound (think birds chirping, people cheering at a sporting event, someone singing) before the anchor or reporter starts reading over the VO. These can happen in a package, as well.
Production cues:
ON CAM or SINGLE or 1 SHOT: One anchor on camera in the studio. In the 2 box below, Joe (on the left) is on a 1 shot.
2 SHOT: Both anchors on the same camera shot.
OFF TOP: We start the video at the start of the story and won't see the reporter or anchor on camera before it.
2bx: 2 box or split box. When you see anchors on one side of the screen and a reporter on the other side. Sometimes we'll do this with video.
LIVE: Maggie (reporter on the right of the 2 box) is live out in the field.
Chroma: The green screen the weather guru stands in front of. This requires a special setup on the TD's switcher to achieve the "standing in front of the graphics" effect.
Dissolve: Transition between two stories where one video fades into another.
Wipe: Transition between two stories where there is a definite change from one piece to the other. This could be a line, a star (that's a director joke), a white flash, or even something like this (play button is at bottom left):
This video is part of a tease, by the way! Coming up after the break!
TRT: Total Run Time. How long a piece of video (usually one with audio) is. This lets the director and/or audio operator know when to open the microphones for live audio. What we can get done during sound varies greatly whether that sound is 5 seconds or 2 minutes!
Outcue: The last few words of an audio sound bite or package. This provides an audio cue for the director and/or audio op to open the live mics.
STD Out: Standard Outcue. Usually sounds something like: "In Visalia, Carey Higgins-Dobney, Fresno State Focus."
Comments