UNIT 4.

TELEVISION
4.1. VOCABULARY.
Correspondent
Running order
(A) live
Wires
(An) exclusive
DV footage
Camera crew
Game show
Label
Talk show
Broadcast
Mockumentary
Running order
Witness
Staff

N/V

N/V

PRE-PRODUCTION PROCESS
A journalist employed by a TV station or a newspaper to report on a
particular subject or send reports from a foreign country.
The list of stories that make up a news programme.
A report from a reporter, usually from the scene of a breaking news
story.
National and international press agencies, e.g. Associated Press,
Reuters, Agence France.
News which no other news organisation has.
Recorded images shot on a digital video camera, often taken by
eyewitnesses to news events.
A team responsible for filming.
TV competition. Usually has hosts and contestants who compete
with each other to win a prize.
A slip of paper, cloth, or other material, attached to something to
indicate its manufacturer, the kind of thing it is, its ownership, etc.
A show in which a host interviews guests, especially celebrities.
To transmit (announcements or programmes) on radio or television.
False documentary / to mock To ridiculize something/somebody.
Escaleta.
T.o see, hear, or know by personal presence and experience.
A group of people employed by a company, individual, etc, for
executive, clerical, sales work, etc.

Crew
Swear words
Pitch
Brief
Viewpoint

More specific; includes the technical team.

Tacos.
To sell an idea.
A short statement or a written item using few words .
The mental attitude that determines a person's opinions or
judgments; point of view.

PSC

Portable Single Camera. This means there is just one

cameraman/woman responsible for recording both video and
sound.
Piece to camera. This is when a reporter speaks directly to the
viewers through the camera.
Transmission date. That is, the day the finished programme will be
broadcast.
Rendezvous. That is, to meet up with someone.
Interview.
General views. A series of shots of a location that are used to set
the scene for the story.
Single Camera Unit. This means that the sounds equipment
needed is just for one cameraman and reporter with interviewees.
A freelance journalist who sets up interviews and gets permission to
film on locations before the crew arrives; also acts as a translator
and provides up-to-date information.

PTC
TX DATE
R/V
IV
GVs
SCU
Fixer

Release forms

Legal documents that interviewees and other contributions can be

used, usually without receiving any payment.
An audio recording device.

Digital mp3
recorder
Daily rates

This tells the crew how much money they have to spend on food
and minor expenses per day.
This is a tape format like VHS or Beta;it is a high-end filming
format, often used by long-format documentaries.
Digibeta tapes which the camera operator records footage onto.
A series of filmed shots that can be edited together to form a single
section of the documentary.
Customs documents often needed when taking expensive
equipment outside the European Union.
Plan de rodaje.

Digibeta
Tapestock
Sequences
Carnets
Filming
schedule
To sue
Borders

To bring legal action against.

Geographical limits of the countrys.

Windshield

Pan

Tracking shot

Walkie-talkie

Tilt
POV

E
N

Pull focus
Personal mic
Effects
Lay down
Royalty

!
!

EDL
Intercut
Shotlist
Mix
Booth
Time code
Clipspotter
Script
Reconstruction

FILMING ON LOCATION
A covering used to protect a microphone from the noise created by
the wind.
A shot where the camera is moved horizontally left-to-right or rightto-left.
Filming with the camera placed on a wheeled carriage going along
a railed track.
Where the reporter or presenter walks and talks to the camera at
the same time.
Shot where the camera is moved vertically up or down.
Shot where the camera is used to represent the viewpoint of a
subject.
Shot where the camera's focus is moved from one point to another.
A small microphone often used for interviews and PTCs.
Sounds/images produced for a programme or film.
To record.
A CD containing music you do not need to pay the composer to
use.
Edit Decision List; it gives an idea of how the editor wants a
programme to be edited.
To edit and mix two concurrent scenes.
A list of shots that the crew shot on location, with a description and
their time code.
Gradual change made by the output editor from one shot to
another, so that you can actually see the next shot appearing.
A soundproof boxed room with a microphone.
A sequence of numbers put on the tape when a cameraman
records a shot so that it is easy to find the shots.
Someone who speaks the language that the interviewees use and
is brought in to translate and identify exactly the clips that the
reporter wants to use to illustrate the script.
The narrative spoken by the reporter in the booth.
A short, filmed representation of events that have already

happened this is used quite often in current affair programmes,

when it is difficult to get actual footage of the events that are being
talked about.
Specific television program (CSI, How I met..)

Text/art work

New's broadcast Newscast

Listening UNIT 4 / exercise 3.f.
Listening UNIT 4 /exercise 7.c. (?)
Writing could be to write a filming schedule. (page 47, exercice 3.i.)

4.2. TELEVISION GENRES.

Genre Term that comes from the French language and means type or kind.
Comedy An imitation of men worse than average (Aristotle)
Tragedy Involves the fall of a greatperson and is essentially an imitation not of persons
but of action and life, of happiness and misery.
To define a genre, there are a number of focal points to be considered:
Art work or text
Artist
Medium
Audience
America

CSI
The writers and performers on the show
Television
Viewers of the show
Country where show is produced

TELEVISION GENRES
COMMERCIALS

The most important important genre in the USA.

NEWS SHOWS

TV broadcasts many hours of local news and

usually a half hour of national network news,
plus weekly new programs such us 60 Minutes,
20/20, etc.

SITUATION COMEDIES

Very difficult to create a good one. The most

important sitcoms of recent years are Seinfeld,
Frazier and Friends.

SPORTS BROADCASTS

In this genre sports have a dramatic quality,

because in many cases we cannot know what

the outcome of the contest will be until the

contest is over.
CRIME SHOWS

These shows deal with the battle between the

police and criminals of one kind or another and
generally extremely violent.

SOAP OPERAS

Characterized by incredibly and never-ending

complicated love relationships and family
problems, generally with physically attractive
romantic leads.

GAME SHOWS

These shows involve having participants guess

the price of some object or answer questions on
some subject, with those who are successful
having the chance to win prizes and sometimes
large sums of money.

CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS

Specifically designed to entertain young children

and often contain material that entertains and
educates them.

RELIGIOUS PROGRAMS

These deal with religious themes and feature

various television evangelists and other figures
who talk about the Bible and other religious text
and various topics relating to religion.

TALK SHOWS

Shows that involve an expert in some area,

which are basically full of talk by troubled
individuals and families, interviews, etc.

REALITY SHOWS

These shows represent a new genre and in

recent years have become very popular.

SCIENCIE AND EDUCATION SHOWS These shows have an educational content to

them and find ways of instructing viewers and
entertaining them at the same time.
COOKING SHOWS

Chefs teach viewers how to make various dishes

from a number of different cuisins.

ACTION-ADVENTURE SHOWS

This category covers a wide range of dramas,

some of which have elements of horror in them,
others have supernatural elements in them, and
others which are stories about people who face
problems and find ways of dealing with them.

UNIT 5. FILM
5.1. VOCABULARY.
Editing
Screenplay
Screenwriter
The cast
Plot
Special effects
Soundtrack
The stars
Director
Pitching
Logline
Premise
Hook
Thumball
sketches
Genre
Tone
Likely audience
Expected
budget level
What we go so
far
Tracking shot
Border crossing
Tilt
Border post
To focus
Pull focus
Blanket
Smuggle
V.O.
Query letter

Lighting rig
Reconnoitre
(recce)
Sound crew

The putting together of sequences and scenes in a film.

A story written for a film.
Someone who writes stories for a film.
All the actors in a film.
Series of events in a film that make up the main story.
Images or sounds in a film that are created by trick photography or
computers.
The music in a film.
The main actors in a film.
The person responsible for overall artistic content of film, including
telling the cast what to do.
Process when a screenwriter (or sometimes a director) tries to sell
an idea for a film to a producer.
A one sentence summary of the pitch.
The fundamental that drives the plot.
The techniques for grabbing and keeping the audience attention.
Very brief description of the principal chatacters.
What type of film it is.
The mood and feel of the film.
The people who will go and watch the film.
How much the film will cost.
Listening UNIT 5 / 4.4. (pag. 95)
How much material have we been filmed until now.
Shot in movement; the camera follows something or somebody.
Paso fronterizo, aduana.
Paneo.
Where the guards are at the border.
The camera centers in a determinate person or object.
Change the focus point.
Manta.
Contrabando.
Voice over.
PITCHING SUCCESSFULY
Specific television program (CSI, How I met..)A query letter is a
formal letter sent to magazine editors, literary agents and
sometimes publishing houses or companies.
ORGANISING A SHOOT
A system for lighting a location.
A check that everything is OK with logistics and technical
equipment on location.
The team taking care of the sound system.

Production
To shoot
Camera crew
Generator
Filter
Location
agency
Chain
Studio
Licensing
agreement
Prints
Lease
Box office
Run
Screenings
Wreak
Chattering
classes
Shtick
Lurid

The activity of organising practical and financial matters connected

with the preparation of a film.
To film.
The team taking care of shooting and photography.
A machine producing electricity.
Coloured glass which controls the light entering a camera.
An organisation providing location management for film production
purposes.
WRITING A FILM REVIEW.
Cadena.
Place where film are edited and produced.
Contract giving someone the legal right to use a film.
Copies of the film.
Rent.
Ticket sales; literally, the place where people buy tickets at a
cinema.
Period in which a film is shown.
Showings of the film.
To do great damage or harm to sb/sth.
(Usually disapproving) the people in society who like to give their
opinions on political or social issues.
A particular ability that sb has (ex. That's not my shtick)
(Especially of a story or piece of writing) shocking and violent in a
way that is deliberate.

The Background: The social, historical, or technical circumstances that lead up to or help
to explain something.
The Conflict:
The Resolution:

5.3. TYPICAL FEATURES OF SPOKEN DIALOGUES.

FEATURES
Incomplete sentences
Missing subjects
Repetition
Short sentences
Simple linking words
Use of shared knowledge to leave things
unsaid.

5.4. PITCHING SUCCESFULY.

EXAMPLES
That's...I appreciate that.
Sort of hot in here.
Thanks. Thank you. Thanks.
We agree.
So, why don't you tell me your thoughts..
We (i.e. the people at the film studio) think
you're just great.

A pitch is when a screenwriter meets film executives, etc. to present his or her script. The
screenwriter has a short time in which to try and sell the script.
Query letter.
The first paragraph outlines the writer's credentials and the reason for writing.
The second paragraph outlines the plot and the most important points abous the
screenplay.
All the tenses in the second paragraph are either present tenses or the modal verb might.
The third paragraph says what the reader should do.
The letter is quite informal.
About the Pitch Session.
Small talk

The pitch

I hope you found us

without any
problem?

My film's called..

I trust you had no

problem getting
here?

It's a (touching
musical comedy)
set in..

So, is this your first

screenplay?

This film is aimed

at...

Clarifying
information about
the pitch
...could you explain
how the audience is
expected to believe
that...?
Can you tell me
more about...?

Ending the pitch

meeting
If you leave a copy
with us, we'll get
back to you within...
That's everything for
now. We'll be in
touch one way or
the other.

I don't fully
understand...

5.5. WRITING A FILM REVIEW.

Review A report in a newspaper or magazine, or on the Internet, television or
radio, in which sb gives their opinion of a book, play, film/movie, etc; the act of
writing this kind of report.
Stages in the jouney from film concept to cinema/DVD screen.
1. A screenwriter has an idea for a film, which is pitched to potential investors.
2. A studio or producer buys the rights to the film.
3. A producer, director, cast and camera/sound crew are hired to make the film.
4. The film is shot, and when completed is sent to the studio.
5. The studio signs a licensing agreement with a distribution company.
6. The studio or producer decides the number of prints of the film to make.
7. At screenings, the film is shown to potential buyers representing the cinema chains.
8. The buyers make an agreement with the distribution company about which films they
wish to lease and fix the terms of the lease agreement (i.e. % of the box office).

9. Copies are sent to the cinemas a few days before they start showing the film.
10. When the film run ends, the film is returned to the distribution company, which pays the
amount due.
Possible writing!

5.6. FILM GENRES AND FILM RATINGS.

Film genres Three main tupes are often used to categorize film genres: Setting, mood
and format.
SETTING: The film's location.
Crime

Places its charater within the realm of

criminal activity.

Historical

Taking place in the past amidst notable

historical circumstances.

Science fiction

A setting or plot defined by the effects of

speculative (not yet existing) technology
(i.e. future space travel, cyberpunk, time
travel).

Sports

Sporting events and locations pertaining to

a given sport.

Teen

Usually revolving around the usual conflicts

of teenagers.

War

Battlefields and locations pertaining to a

time of war.

Westerns

Wilderness on the verge of civilization,

usually in the American West.

MOOD : The emotional charge carried

throughout the film.
Action

Generally involves a moral interplay

between good and bad played out through
violence or physical force.

Adventure

Involving danger, risk, and/or chance, often

with a high degree of fantasy.

Comedy

Intended to provoke laughter.

Drama

Mainly focuses on character development,

often in situations which are familiar to a
general audience.

Fantasy

Speculative fiction outside reality (myth,

legend).

Horror

Intended to provoke fear in the audience.

Mystery

The progression from the unknown to the

known by discovering and solving a series
of clues.

Romance

Dwelling on the elements of romantic love.

Thrillers

Intended to provoke excitement and/or

nervous tension into audience.

FORMAT: The specific manner the film

may be presented.
Live action

The most common format of films.

Animation

The rapid display of a sequence of 2D

artwork or model positions in order to create
an illusion of movement.

Biography

Also known as biopic, a format that tells the

story of a true story of a historic figure or an
inspirational story about real people.

Documentary

When reality is filmed.

Musical

Songs are sung by the characters and

interwoven into the narrative.

Film ratings.

TARGET AUDIENCE
Children's film

Film for young children; as opposed to a

family film, so special effort is made to make
the film attractive for other audiences.

Family film

Intended to be attractive for people of all

ages and suitable for viewing by a young
audience. Examples of this are Disney
films.

Adult film

Intended to be viewed only by an adult

audience, content may include violence,
disturbing themes, obscene language, or
explicit sexual behavior.