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An alphabetized list of everything that happens before, during, and after “Action!”
A-roll
The stuff you actually came to watch; everything else is just garnish.
Production
Above the Line
The “big name” section of your video production.
Pre-production
Action Safe
The buffer zone that makes sure important stuff doesn’t fall off the edge.
Motion Graphics
Ambient Sound
Chirping birds. Distant traffic. That guy coughing off-camera.
Audio
ASMR Audio
Whispers, taps, and crunches that make your brain tingle or your skin crawl, on purpose.
Aspect Ratio
The mathematical reason your TikTok looks weird on a TV screen.
Distribution
Audio Ducking
When your background music learns some manners and shuts up for the dialogue.
Audio Track
The invisible shelf where your voice, music, and awkward silences sit until you tell them what to do.
Editing
B-roll
Extra footage you shot "just in case", that ends up saving the day.
Backlight
Because glowing like a Pixar character never hurt anyone.
Lighting
Baking (Effects)
When you commit to that effect like it’s a tattoo of your mother’s name.
Barndoors
Tiny metal wings that make your lights behave.
Below the Line
The crew doing everything while everyone else is fighting for credits.
Blocking
A fancy word for “where should I stand so I don’t look awkward?”
Bokeh
That artsy background blur flex your camera loves to show off.
Camera
Boom Mic / Boom Pole
The long stick with a mic on top that magically stays out of frame (if you’re lucky).
Buffering
That awkward pause reminding you the internet is in charge.
Streaming Tech
Burned-In Captions
Subtitles that refuse to be ignored, or turned off.
Call to Action (CTA)
The polite bossy note at the end of a video: ‘Subscribe—go on, you know you want to.’
Chapters
The video’s table of contents, so viewers can skip right to the good part.
Clip
A tiny slice of chaos, creativity, or cat videos.
Close-Up Shot
When the camera invades personal space like an overenthusiastic aunt at a wedding.
Closed Captions (CC)
The subtitles that tell you both what was said and that [dramatic music is playing].
Cold Open
When a show says ‘Forget the credits, let’s grab you first.’
Color Correction
Fixing that accidental Smurf skin tone from the shoot.
Color Grading
Giving your video Instagram filters, but with more tears and deadlines.
Color Temperature
The scale that decides if your shot looks cozy golden hour or hospital fluorescent.
Compression
The diet plan your video never asked for.
Crop
When your shot was perfect, except for everything around it.
Cross-Cutting (Parallel Editing)
When two storylines walk into a bar—at the same time.
Crossfade
Video’s way of saying “you hang up first.”
Cut
The video editing equivalent of “scene change, who dis?”
Cutaway
The random shot that barges in mid-scene just to prove a point.
Depth of Field
The difference between everything being sharp… and just the actor’s nose.
Diegetic Sound
If the character can hear it, it’s diegetic. If not, it’s just mood music.
Dissolve
When one shot slowly melts into the next like a cinematic cheese fondue.
Downscale
Turning IMAX into “eh, max.”
Dutch Angle
When the camera’s had just enough espresso to feel edgy.
Edit
The act of deleting 90% of what you lovingly shot so your video actually makes sense
Establishing Shot
That wide shot of a city skyline that sings “In New York…” like Alicia Keys.
Storytelling
Exposure
Too much and your actors look like ghosts; too little and they vanish entirely
Extreme Close-Up (ECU)
When the camera zooms in so hard you can count someone’s pores.
Eye-line Match
So we don’t end up with actors looking like they’re talking to walls.
Fade In
Your video, like Gandalf arriving at dawn with the Rohirrim.
Fade Out
Like your energy after lunch—gradually, then all at once.
Field of View (FOV)
Your camera setting it’s own personal boundaries.
Flashback
Like every ‘How I Met Your Mother’ episode ever.
Flashforward
When your editor gives away the punchline before the joke.
Focus Pull
Every single Tarantino shot that suddenly zooms in on a gun.
Foreshadowing
The cinematic version of “you’ll see why this matters later…”
Frame
One still picture out of thousands that trick your brain into thinking it’s watching motion.
Frame Rate (FPS)
How smooth you want your footage—or how dramatic you want your slow-mo.
Golden Hour
That one hour when even your phone camera makes you look like a movie star.
Graphics (On-Screen)
The floating text and doodles that yell: ‘Pay attention to this part!’
Gray Card
The humble gray square that keeps your colors honest.
Green Screen
The magic trick where your office wall becomes outer space.
Hard Light
That one light source that refuses to blend in.
Headroom
Because cropping off foreheads is not a vibe.
Hook
You’ve got 3 seconds to stop the scroll. Go.
Hue
The setting that lets you decide if the sky is blue… or suspiciously purple.
Hyperlapse
Timelapse’s jumpy cousin who can't hold still.
Insert Shot
Zooming in on the little stuff so we don’t miss the big picture.
Interpolation
Your editing software’s best guess at “what would’ve happened in between.”
Intro
The branded handshake before the real content begins.
J-cut
When your ears meet the next scene before your eyes do.
Jitter Cut
Cuts so jumpy, they should come with a seatbelt. Think Requiem for a Dream.
Jump Cut
When it looks like someone hit fast-forward on your face.
Kelvin
Because apparently, light needs its own temperature scale too.
Keyframing
The editor’s version of connect-the-dots, except the dots move things.
L-cut
When the audio just won’t let go, even after the scene’s moved on.
Lavalier (LAV)
Tiny mic, big responsibility
Liplights / Ring Light
For that perfectly lit, influencer-level glow, even at 2 a.m.
Livestreaming
Because waiting to upload is for people who like editing.
Lower Third
The polite name tag that pops up so you don’t have to Google who’s talking.
Luma
How bright your shot is — from candlelit drama to an overexposed Facebook selfie from 2009.
Masking
The digital way to hide your editing secrets.
Match Cut
The edit that tricks your brain into thinking two totally different things are connected.
Match Frame
When you need to find that exact take and you refuse to scrub for 10 minutes.
Medium Shot
Close enough for faces, wide enough for hand gestures.
Mixdown
The audio version of ‘everyone into one car, we’re leaving.’
Montage
The cinematic speedrun: showing hours of effort in just a few flashy minutes.
When your text and images decide they’re tired of standing still.
Multicast
The broadcast version of copy-paste: one stream, many watchers.
Mute
The “shhh” button that saves editors from background coughs and barking dogs.
Narration
The invisible person telling you what’s happening and why you should care.
Narrative Arc
The story’s rollercoaster blueprint: climb, drop, twist, repeat.
Narrative Beat
The tiny moments that punch you in the gut, heart, or funny bone.
Outline
The story’s skeleton draft, before the script gets skin, hair, and personality.
Over-the-Shoulder (OTS)
The classic “I’m talking to someone but you’re spying on me” shot.
Overexposure
When your video is so bright, even the sun’s squinting.
Overlay
When you stack stuff in the timeline like it’s a digital lasagna.
Pacing
The storytelling throttle. Decides if your video feels like a sprint or a Sunday stroll.
Pan
When your camera says, “Let’s look left… now right… now left again dramatically.”
Pedestal
Basically standing up or sitting down, but with a very expensive camera.
Picture Lock
When your edit is final. Until someone says, “Can you make the logo bigger?”
Picture-in-Picture
A clip inside a clip. Like video Inception.
Playhead
That little line that tells you where the magic (or the mess) is happening.
POV (Point of View)
The shot that makes you feel like you borrowed the character’s eyeballs.
Practical Light
When the lamp in the scene is doing more than just looking pretty.
Quick Cut
Blink and you’ll miss it. And that’s the point.
Rack Focus
The camera’s way of saying, ‘Forget that, look at THIS instead.’
Rack Zoom (Crash Zoom)
That sudden zoom that screams “something just got real.”
Raster
The pixel grid that decides if your image looks sharp or like Lego art.
Reaction Shot
Cut to: the face that says it all.
Rendering
That magical moment when your timeline becomes an actual video; if your computer survives.
Resolution
Basically, how many pixels your video has to brag about.
Retention Rate
AKA: How long before they got bored and scrolled away.
Metrics
Rhythm
The beat your edit dances to, even if there’s no music.
Ripple Edit
Trim one clip, and watch the timeline shuffle like dominoes.
Roll
When your camera gets dizzy for dramatic purposes.
Room Tone
The ‘silence’ that isn’t really silent at all.
Rough Cut
The draft edit where things look ugly, but at least they’re in order.
Rule of Thirds
The classic grid that keeps your shots from looking like passport photos.
Saturation
Crank it up for neon dreams, tone it down for moody vibes.
Scene
The chunk of story where the drama happens.
Score
Original music made just for your video. Too bad Hans Zimmer didn't compose for product demos.
Scrub
Manually going back-and-forth through the video timeline, like a Swiftie looking for Easter eggs.
Shot
One camera. One angle. One continuous “don’t mess it up” opportunity.
Shot List
The to-do list that keeps your shoot from falling apart.
Shutter Angle
The film-era dial that secretly controls how blurry your motion looks.
Shutter Speed
The setting that decides if motion is silky smooth, or looks like a flipbook.
Slide Edit
Shuffle a clip left or right, but leave its length and neighbors alone.
Slip Edit
Like shuffling the middle of a card deck. Content changes, but timing doesn’t.
Snap
When your clip locks to the timeline like a clingy ex with nowhere else to go.
Soft light
Lighting soft enough to make anyone look like Harry Styles on the cover of Vogue.
Sound Mix
The audio juggling act that keeps voices clear, music punchy, and explosions not deafening.
Soundtrack
Curated song(s) added to your video. Like it's own Spotify Wrapped.
Speed Ramp
The editing flex that makes time feel like it’s got a gearshift.
Spill
When your light can’t take a hint and shows up where it’s not invited.
Split
The editing karate chop that slices one clip into two.
Storyboard
Stick figures now. Cinematic masterpiece later.
Storyboard Animatic
When your storyboard gets a glow-up with timing and sound.
Streaming
Because who has time to download first, watch later?
Subtitles (Translations)
The on-screen translator that saves you when your Spanish is limited to ‘hola.’
Supercut
All the best bits. None of the boring in-between.
Supers
Quick facts, names, or hashtags that pop up, say hi, and disappear like pros.
Tags
The keywords you feed the algorithm so your video doesn’t get lost in the ether.
Take
“Let’s do that again”. And again—and again.
Teaser
Just enough taste of the video drama to cause chaos in the comments.
Teleprompter
Helping speakers and actors look like they memorized everything.
Three-Point Lighting
Because good faces need more than one bulb.
Thumbnail
Your video’s dating profile picture.
Tilt
The slow head nod of your camera. Usually more graceful than yours.
Timecode
How editors tell time… and pain.
Timelapse
Watch time fly, literally.
Timeline
Your editing playground. Or your personal hell, depending on the deadline.
Timestamps
The GPS coordinates of your video.
Timestretch
When you speed up or slow down footage, a Christopher Nolan time loop.
Title Card
The video’s opening mic drop.
Title Safe
Because even text deserves personal space on screen.
Titling
When your text shows up on screen with main character energy.
Track
The lanes where your footage races toward the finish line.
Transition
The edit's way of saying “anyway…” with style.
Trim
The digital haircut your clips didn’t know they needed.
Two-Shot
One frame. Two people. Half the camera moves.
UHD (3840×2160)
4K’s little sibling. The TV-friendly version of cinema resolution.
Underexposure
When your shot looks like it’s auditioning for a horror film
Upload
The digital version of dropping your video baby off at YouTube’s doorstep.
User-Generated Content (UGC)
When your audience becomes your marketing team—for free.
Vertical Video (9:16)
The format once mocked by filmmakers, now worshipped by algorithms.
View-Through Rate (VTR)
The metric that tells you if people actually watched, or bailed halfway for cat videos.
Vignetting
That moody dark halo around your frame - sometimes artsy, sometimes accidental.
Voice of God
A powerful, off-screen voice that says “Previously on…” with divine authority.
Voiceover (VO)
Off-screen audio narration like David Attenborough explaining bird mating rituals.
Volume
The knob that decides if your audience leans in or jumps out of their seat.
Walk-and-Talk
When your speaker can’t sit still and needs 12 hallways, a garden, and a tracking shot.
Watch Time
Minutes watched = hearts captured (and maybe a little ad revenue).
Watermark
Your logo’s way of saying, “Don't steal this, Karen.”
Whip Pan
The blur-speed camera move that doubles as a sneaky transition.
White Balance
The thing that decides if your video looks natural or like it was shot on Mars.
White Noise
The sound of silence. Without Simon and Garfunkel.
Wide Shot
Great for landscape. Or loneliness. Or both.
Wipe
That PowerPoint transition we're still hanging on to in 2025.
Zoom
Moving in on the subject like it owes you money.
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