Glossary - A-B

A-B

C

D-E

F-H

I-M

N-P

Q-R

S

T-Z

A and B CUTTING	A method of assembling film in two rolls [or more] to permit special effects or checkerboard printing [16mm]
A and B PRINTING	Printing two [or more] rolls of film onto a single print film to produce special effects or hide splices [16mm]
A and B ROLLS [and so on]	The rolls of cut negative used for multiroll printing, could be any number
A and B WINDINGS	The two forms, or symmetries, of winding used for 16mm or other single side perforated film.
A or B TYPE	Terms used to identify emulsion position in 16mm projection, type A is emulsion to lens, Type B is emulsion to lamp.
ACADEMY	The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences [USA]
ACADEMY APERTURE	Aperture of a 35mm motion picture camera or projector with dimension specified by the Academy
ACADEMY GATE	Projector gate used to define an Academy aperture
ACADEMY LEADER	Leader [see] on a film print with synchronising marks and information designed by the Academy
ACCESS	Procedure of locating and supplying archive film for display outside the archive
ACETATE	Cellulose acetate, loose term for cellulose acetate film base
ACID DYES	Dyes used for tinting film emulsions in aqueous solution, in which the colour is in the negative ion [anion]
ACUTANCE	Term used to describe the edge definition at a density change [on a film image]
ACVL	Association of Cinema and Video Laboratories [USA}
ADDITIVE COLOUR	Process of colour synthesis using red, green and blue light, requiring the three images to be projected or viewed in register
ADVANCE	The separation between a point on the film sound track and the corresponding picture image
AERIAL IMAGE	An optical virtual image in space rather than a real image on a screen
ANAGLYPH	Stereoscopic projection using left and right eye images indifferent colours; viewed by complimentary filters
ANALYSER	Video display equipment for grading that produces an image that simulates a print
ANALYSIS	Process of separately producing records of red, green and blue light corresponding to these components in a scene
ANAMORPHIC [1]	A cinematographic image with lateral compression produced by an anamorphic lens
ANAMORPHIC [2]	An optical system with different vertical and horizontal magnifications
ANILINE DYES	Dye chemicals produced from aniline, invented originally from coal in the 19th C
ANIMATION	Frame by frame exposure of images that simulate motion
ANSWER PRINT	The first print of a film submitted for approval by a laboratory
ANTI-HALATION	Coating or layer on film to reduce halation
APERTURE [1]	The opening of an optical lens system that controls the light transmitted
APERTURE [2]	The opening of a camera, printer or projector that defines the image shape and size
AR	Aspect Ratio [acr]
ARCHIVAL	Archival films are those an archive has chosen to preserve
ARCHIVE [FILM]	An organisation for preserving films
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT	Light generated by any light source except the sun
ASA	American Standards Association, also the film speed system described by the ASA
ASC	American Society of Cinematographers
ASCII	American Standard Code for Information Interchange, the standard computer character code
ASPECT RATIO	Proportion of width to height [height as unity] of a film image picture
ASSEMBLER	A technician who prepares film for a laboratory process like printing or grading
AUDIO	Sound - used to describe any sound recording or playing equipment, or the entire chain
AUTO-OPTICAL	A method of printing dissolve effects from a single roll of negative film on an automatic optical printer
AUTO-SELECTIVE PRINTING	Auto-optical [syn] US term
AZIMUTH [1]	The angle between the slit of a photographic sound head and the film path direction
AZIMUTH [2]	The angle between the magnetic head and the film or tape path direction
BACK FOCUS	Distance from a lens to it's image plane
BACK PROJECTION	Image projection onto the rear of a translucent screen, also a special effect using the technique
BACKING	Anti-halation backing, or any coating on the back or base of a film
BACKING	A black [usually rem jet] coating applied to the film base to reduce halation
BAFTA	British Academy of Film and Television Arts
BALANCE	Term used to describe the "neutrality" of a colour film or TV image
BALANCE STRIPE	Magnetic stripe applied to a film on the opposite edge of a film with a magnetic sound track to ensure uniform winding
BASE	The transparent support on which the photographic emulsion of a film is coated
BASE SIDE	Scratch on the base or cell [celluloid] side of film, = cell scratch
BASIC DYES	Dyes used for toning film using mordant dyeing technique, in which the colour reside in the positive ion [cation]
BATCH NUMBER	Coating batch code for photographic film
BBC	British Broadcasting Corporation
BEAM SPLITTER	Camera or printer device for separating light or images into two or three beams [usually R, G, & B]
BELL & HOWELL TAPE	Punched paper printer tape [see] with a non-standard punched tape code
BI-DIRECTIONAL [PRINTER]	Film printer capable of printing both forwards and backwards
BILATERAL SOUND TRACK	Photographic sound track with a modulation symmetrical about it's centre axis
BILATERAL SOUND TRACK, SINGLE	One single bilateral sound track image
BILATERAL SOUND TRACK, TRIPLE	Three parallel bilateral sound tracks
BILATERAL SOUND TRACK, DOUBLE	Two parallel bilateral sound tracks
BINDER	The material carrying the metallic oxides in a magnetic coating
BI-PACK	Two separate sensitised films running in contact in a camera, printer or other device, intending to be exposed one through the other. Also DU-PACK
BKS	British Kinematographic Society, old title before change to BKSTS
BKSTS	British Kinematographic, Sound and Television Society
BLACK	Incapable of reflecting or transmitting any visible light - a subjective term
BLACK AND WHITE	Loose term for silver image film, as distinct from colour film
BLEACH [1]	To remove or decolourise the silver image, usually by conversion back to silver salts
BLEACH [2]	To remove the visible colour of a dye
BLEACH [3]	A solution used to bleach a film image
BLIP	Loose term for a short sound on an optical or magnetic track to be synchronised with a sync mark on a film
BLOOP	A triangular patch [or a punched hole] used to avoid the noise of a splice in an optical sound track
BLOOPING	The act of blooping, specially using blooping ink
BLOOPING INK	A dense, fast drying dye for use in place of a bloop
BLOW-UP	Enlargement of a film image
BLUE	One of the three additive primaries
BLUE BACKING SHOT	Action shot against a blue background, for combination printing by Chromakey or Travelling Matte
BREAK-DOWN	Separation of a roll of camera original negative film into it's separate scenes
BRIGHTNESS	The luminance of a surface emitting or reflecting light, candelas/sq m
BRITTLENESS	Subjective term for fragility and tendency to break of a film, a result of loss of plasticizer or water
BS	British Standard, unit of photographic speed in BS units
BSI	British Standards Institute
BUCKLE	Subjective term for severe cockle of film caused by local uneven shrinkage
BURN-IN [1]	Producing white titles on already exposed film by overexposure
BURN-IN [2]	The addition of time code numerals to a video tape
BUTT SPLICE	Film join where ends are not overlapped, but butted, usually taped
BUTT WELD	Film join in polyester where ends are butted together and heat welded
BUZZ TRACK [1]	A test film to determine whether the scanning slit of a projector is correctly aligned
BUZZ TRACK [2]	A sound track recorded with local sounds to fill in a gap in a sound track