Every profession has their own jargon. If we can use “deuce and a half,” set of irons,” “knock down” and “job” why can’t television newsrooms use “VOSOT” and “VOSOTVO?”
We all deal with television reporters at major incident scenes. As much as we employ our own internal jargon on the fire ground, they have their own secret language that we hear all the time. To be more media savvy it is important that we understand how they are going about their jobs.
The Fire PIO has cracked the code to give you some insight into the language of a TV reporter.
SOUND BITE: Part of a recorded statement.
B ROLL or COVER SHOTS: Pictures over which narration is made. It’s an old film term, when narration and sound were on one projection chain (A roll) and pictures on another (B roll).
PACKAGE: A TV story with narration, sound, and pictures.
STAND-UP: The reporter’s on camera delivery in the field.
ON CAMERA BRIDGE: A reporter’s stand-up in the middle of a package, used for transition and/or when there are not pictures to talk over.
CLOSER: The reporter’s on camera close.
SIGN OFF, SIG, SIG OUT: Reporter giving name and dateline.
TAG LINE: The reporter’s closing line, usually coming out of a sound bite and narrated over pictures before the sig out or sign off.
LIVE SHOT: A live report.
DONUT: The produced news package within a live shot.
V/O: Voice over pictures.
VOSOT: Voice over followed by sound on tape.
VOSOTVO: Voice over followed by sound on tape followed by voice over.
NATURAL SOUND, NAT SOUND, NATS: Any ambient sound, as distinguished from sound bite.
TIME CODE: The time on a camera or tape deck, actual time a story is being shot on a 24 hour basis like we use in the fire service, i.e., 1300 is 1 p.m., 0900 is 9 a.m.
NARRATION or TRACK: The reporter’s written and recorded script in a news package.
TRACKING: The act of recording a script.
CHYRON, FONT, CHARACTER GENERATOR, CG: The words on the TV screen. Chyron is a trade name.
SUPER: The person’s name under a sound bite. Also called Chryron, CG, etc.
WIDE SHOT: An establishing shot of a building, scene.
MEDIUM SHOT or MS; TIGHT SHOT or TS: Self descriptive. Other shots taken by a field crew.
ZOOM: Photographer pushing in on a subject.
PAN: Moving camera from left to right or vice-versa.
TILT: Moving the camera up or down.
VIDEO JOURNALIST or VJ: A reporter who shoots her on tape. May even edit.
VIDEOGRAPHER: A name for a photographer or camera person implying greater creativity and independence.
EJ: Electronic Journalism, as opposed to film.
ENG: Electronic News Gathering. Same as above.
IFB or INTERRUPT FEEDBACK: The ear piece through which a director or producer instructs a correspondent in the field or in the studio. The producer interrupts whatever feedback the reporter is getting in the ear piece.
MIX MINUS: An IFB feed minus a correspondent’s narration, which can be a distraction.
LINE PRODUCER: A newscast producer.
HEADLINE: Headline at the top of a news program.
TEASE: A short description of an upcoming story designed to keep the viewer during commercial.
STACKING: Lining up stories within a new program based on their importance and relationship to one another.
BONUS: Seth Odell does a nice job of giving even more perspective into assignment editor lingo
Also on The Fire PIO…
- Looks like we are getting some Respect – December 7, 2010
- A PIO Social Media Christmas – December 22, 2010
- Even the Walls have Ears – November 24, 2010
- How do I Address a Judge? – November 18, 2010
What I like is when News talk about “Oxygen” Tanks on firefighters back going into the fire!