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C D E F
G H I J
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Safety Curtain: A curtain of fireproofed
material (once upon a time it was asbestos), usually with a metal frame,
which is covers the entire proscenium opening and acts as a firebreak
between the stage and the auditorium. Known as the "iron", when
it is raised or lowered, the theatrical term is "Iron going in (or
out)".
SAG: Screen Actors Guild. Merged with AFTRA in April 2012 to becom SAG-AFTRA.
Scale +10: Minimum payment plus 10% to cover the agent's commission,
required in some jurisdictions for agents to receive commissions.
Scale: Minimum payment for services under Union contracts.
Scenario or Scene: A series of shots taken at one basic time and
place. A scene is one of the basic structural units of film, with each
scene contributing to the next largest unit of film, the sequence.
Scene Breakdown: Careful annotations of each scene in a play, with
all necessary actors listed and some indication of the action and setting.
Scene Dock: Backstage area for storing scenery (and loads of other
things too!).
Scene Shift: The process of moving from one setting into another
during a play. Also to move (shift) a prop or piece of furniture.
Screen Test: A filmed performance of a short scene to confirm how
an actor performs on camera; increasingly applied to tape tests.
Scrim: Loosely-woven material that is used as a drop. When lit
from the front scrim is opaque, when lit from behind it is transparent.
Script (scenario, shooting script): A written description of the
action, dialogue, and camera placements for a screenplay, radio or stage
play.
Script Supervisor: A crew member assigned to record all changes
or actions as a production proceeds.
Segue: In film or tape editing, a transition from one shot to another.
Sense Memory: Sometimes the same as emotion memory, but here taken
to be the physical knowledge/memories that an actor/character draws on
eg wearing a bustle or crinoline, the smell of rain, below freezing temperatures
etc.
Sequence: A structural unit of a film using time, location, or
some pattern to link together a number of scenes.
Session Fee: Payment for initial performance in a commercial.
Set Dressing: Items on a set which are not actually used by anyone
but which make it look more realistic (e.g. curtains over a window, a
bowl of flowers on a table, and so on).
Set: The setting for a particular show or individual scene. Usually
an indoor location, often constructed on a sound stage.
SFX: Sound Effects.
Shooting: Ratio The ratio in a finished film of the amount of film
shot to the length of the final footage. Shot A single uninterrupted action
of a camera as seen by a viewer (see Take). Shots are labeled according
to the apparent distance of the subject from the camera: extreme long-shot
(ELS) also called an establishing shot; long-shot (LS); medium long-shot
(MLS); medium or mid-shot (MS); medium close-up (MCU); close-up (CU);
and extreme close-up (ECU). Although distinctions among shots must be
defined in terms of the subject, the human body furnishes the usual standard
of definition: ELS,
a person is visible but setting dominates; LS, person fills vertical line
of the frame; MLS, knees to head; MS, waist up; MCU, shoulders up; CU,
head only; ECU, an eye.
Side: An excerpt from a script that generally focuses on one character's
lines (often used for auditions).
Sight-And-Sound: Parent's right under Union contracts to be within sight
of their child performer at all times.
Sightlines: Imaginary lines of sight that determine what is visible to
the audience on stage and what is not. In some (badly designed) theatres,
a member of the audience sitting at the ends of certain rows, can only
see two thirds of the stage!
Single Card: A credit in a film or television show in which only
one performer's name appears.
Sit Com: Situation comedy; a comedy television series produced
on a soundstage.
Skycloth: Alternative name for a cyclorama .
Slate: A small chalkboard and clapper device, used to mark and
identify shots on film for editing' also the process of verbal identification
by a performer in a taped audition (i.e. slate your name).
Slip Stage: A Platform on wheels or casters that moves on and off
stage during the course of a play to facilitate rapid scene changes. Also
called Wagon and Jackknife Stage.
Slow Motion: Movements on the screen appearing slower than they
would in actual life. For example, a diver will seem to float to the water
gently rather than fall at the speed dictated by gravity. A filmmaker
achieves slow motion by running film through his camera at a speed faster
than the standard 24 frames per second; subsequent projection at 24 frames
per second slows down the action.
Soap: Soap opera or daytime drama.
Soft Focus: A slightly blurred effect achieved by using a special
filter or lens, or by shooting with a normal lens slightly out of focus.
Soundtrack: The audio portion of a television or film production.
Special: Lighting term: a lantern usually a spotlight not used
for general illumination but for a special effect, such a lighting a single
actor in one place.
Spike Mark: A mark on the stage or rehearsal floor, usually a piece
of tape, that denotes the specific placement of a piece of scenery or
a prop.
Spike: To mark on the stage or rehearsal floor the placement of
set pieces.
Spill: Extraneous light that can be cut off with a shutter.
Spot: A commercial message, usually booked at random.
Spotlight: (Or, simply, "spot") A type of lantern whose beam
is focused through a lens or series of lenses to make it more controllable.
Stage Brace: An adjustable piece of stage equipment that fits into
a brace cleat to support scenery.
Stage Directions: Instructions indicating the movement, blocking,
or stage business of the performers or other descriptions of the physical
setting or atmosphere of the play.
Stage Left: When facing the audience, the area of the stage on
the actor's left.
Stage Manager: (SM) The person who oversees the technical aspects
of an in-studio production. In theatre, the stage manager is responsible
for everything that happens backstage: all other backstage personnel,
including heads of departments, report to him. In the professional theatre,
once the show starts its run, he takes complete control (including taking
any rehearsals for understudies etc.), as the Director's job is finished
once he has given his notes after the final dress rehearsal.
Stage Right: When facing the audience, the area of the stage on
the actor's right.
Stage Screw: A screw used to fasten the bottom portion of a stage
brace to the floor.
Stand-In / Second Team: The actors who substitute for the principal
actor when they are not needed, such as when lighting or camera blocking
is being done by the production crew.
State: A lighting term, referring to the lanterns and their dimmer
settings, used in a particular cue. We talk of a "full-up state"
when all lanterns are used at full brightness, or a "red state",
when only lanterns with red filters are on. During the plotting of the
lighting, the operator may be told to "go back to a state of 2",
which means to set the dimmers as they were in cue 2.
Sticks: Slang for Slate or Clapboard.
Still: A photograph taken with a still (versus motion) camera.
Stock Shot: (See Library Shot.)
Storyboard: A series of sketches (resembling a cartoon strip) depicting
the sequential dialogue and action in a production.
Strike: The removal of all stage equipment, scenery, props, lights,
and costumes from the stage area. (See also "Take Down")
Striplights: A long, narrow lighting instrument used for a general
wash of light. This trough-like instrument may be sunk in the floor permanently
or may be mobile.
Strobe: A lantern which emits a regular, controllable series of
high power flashes rather than continuous light. NOTE: strobes can induce
fits in epileptics and so warning about their use should always be given
in the program and verbally before the show starts.
Studio Teacher: Set teacher or tutor, hired to provide education
to working young performers. Also responsible for enforcing Child Labor
Laws and minors' provisions in the Union contracts.
Studio: A building, recording room or soundstage which accommodates
film or television production.
Stunt Coordinator: The person in charge of designing and supervising
the performance of stunts and hazardous activities.
Stunt Double: A specially trained performer who actually performs
stunts in place of a principal player.
Subjective Camera: Shots simulating what a character actually sees; audience,
character, and camera all "see" the same thing. Much subjective
camera involves distortion, indicating abnormal mental states. Shots suggesting
how a viewer should respond are also called "subjective" (for
example, a high-angle shot used to make a boy look small and helpless).
Submission: An agent's suggestion to a casting director for a role
in a certain production for the agents client.
Super Objective: The overall objective of the play. The playwright's
intention/objective in writing the play. This must be expressed as a simple
active sentence, and all actors must be agreed on it.
Superimposition: (See Double Exposure.)
Swatch: A small piece of fabric or paint used to demonstrate the
color and/or texture of the material being used.
Sweetening: In singing/recording, the process of adding additional voices
to previously recorded work.
Swish Pan: A quick pan from one position to another caused by spinning
the camera on its vertical axis and resulting in a blurring of details
between the two points. Sometimes a swish pan is used as a transition
by creating a blur and then ending the blur at an action in an entirely
different place or time.
Synchronous Sound: Sound coordinated with and derived from a film's visuals.
(See Non-synchronous Sound.)
Syndication: Selling television programs to individual stations
rather than to network.
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