Creator Speak that has to do specifically with TV scripts, script-writing, and production. Compare and contrast Fan Speak and Creativity Leash.
Script Speak:
See also:
- Act Break - Splitting up a program into segments
- Aside Glance - Brief look at camera
- Beat - Short pause
- Blipvert - High speed montage
- Bookends - Matching scenes at both ends of a story
- The Climax - High point of a story
- Establishing Shot - Wide shot covering an area
- Fade In - Dissolve from black
- Fade Out - Dissolve to black
- Fade to Black (see also Smash to Black) - Slow dissolve to black
- Fade to White - Slow dissolve to white instead of black
- Flyaway Shot - Slow zoom out
- Harpo Does Something Funny - Space in the script for performers to improvise.
- Hat-and-Coat Shot - Closing shot of the movie
- An Insert - Close-up shot of a specific object
- Internal Reveal - Something known to the audience is now known by a character
- Iris Out - Black edges move inward toward the center of the screen
- Landing Gear Shot - Quick airplane landing shot
- Mandatory Line - Strange or quirky piece of dialog probably added for contractual reasons
- Market-Based Title - Title of a work in a foreign language is changed for marketing reasons
- On the Next - Montage to encourage watching the next episode
- Previously On - Montage showing scenes from one or more previous episodes
- Script Life Cycle - How a script is created
- Show Parts - The structure of a TV program
- Smash Cut - Abrupt change in the middle of a scene
- Smash to Black - Immediate cut to black, typically at a commercial break
- Surprise Car Crash - Fast abrupt ending involving a vehicle crash
- The Tag - Short mini-act near end of the show
- The Teaser - Short cold opening used at the beginning to establish a show
- Three Act Structure - Constructing a program to be set up and finished in three acts
- Title In - Indication that words describing something related to the scene are to appear
- Where When Who - The three primary components of scene setting
Writer Speak
- Aborted Arc
- All Just a Dream
- Backstory
- Breather Episode
- Canon
- Character Focus
- Conceit
- Concepts Are Cheap
- Entrance
- Exposition
- Fabula and Sujet
- Flat Character
- Foil
- Forgotten Framing Device
- Four Lines, All Waiting
- Framing Device
- Fridge Logic
- Half-Arc Season
- High Concept
- The Hollywood Formula
- In Medias Res
- Lead In
- Meanwhile, Back at the...
- Meanwhile Scene
- Mid-Season Upgrade
- Myth Arc
- Negative Continuity
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore
- One-Shot Character
- Opening Monologue
- Opening Scroll
- Out of Focus
- Plot Tailored to the Party
- Recurring Character
- Regular Character
- Reset Button (Examples (see also): All Just a Dream; Negative Continuity; Snap Back)
- Retool
- The Reveal
- Rotating Arcs
- Script Wank
- Sequel Hook
- Series Goal
- Shoo Out the Clowns
- Show, Don't Tell
- Snap Back
- Standalone Episode
- Story Arc (See also: Aborted Arc; Half-Arc Season; Myth Arc; Rotating Arcs)
- Subtext
- Tableau
- Take That!
- Third Line, Some Waiting
- Two Lines, No Waiting (see also: Third Line, Some Waiting; Four Lines, All Waiting)
- Understatement
- The Un-Reveal
- Wham Episode
- Willing Suspension of Disbelief
- Writing by the Seat of Your Pants
- You Bastard!
Production Lingo
- ADR
- Audio Description
- Blue Screen or Green Screen (slang for Chroma Key)
- Bottle Episode
- Closed Captioning
- Concept Art
- Episode Code Number
- Five-Episode Pilot
- Fix It in Post
- Laugh Track
- Looping Lines
- Model Sheet
- MOS
- Multi-Part Episode
- Precap
- Scully Box
- Shoot the Money
- The Slug
- Squib
- Storyboard
- Studio Audience
- Stunt Double (see also Talent Double)
- Stock Footage
- Syndication Title
- Talent Double