North Carolina Movie Theatres Terms & Definitions

Pre-Production (prep) Industry Term; The phase of film production following the securing of financial backing but preceding shooting. It includes reworking the script, budgeting, casting, hiring crews, location scouting, set construction, organizing schedules, arranging catering, etc. Offer Industry Term; to make a money offer to talent. In terms of casting, an offer can come after a reading, audition, and/or screen test - or the actor is so famous and desirable that they are offer-only and you don't ask them to audition you just send them the script, the offer, and pray. Continuity Production Term; The narrative growth of a film created through a combination of visuals and sound. Consistency of physical detail between shots intended to match (i.e. making sure drink and cigarette butt levels match from scene to scene). Also, the illusion of a real or logical sequence of events across cuts or other edits between different shots. Technically Available Industry Term; the talent is technically available to work (i.e. they are not booked on another project during the time requested) but the agent or agent's assistant doesn't want to tell you that they are free, either because they don't like your project or because they are snooty or because the talent is negotiating another deal that hasn't closed yet. Blocking (Blocking Rehearsal) On-Set Term; A walk-through of the actors' movements, relative to the camera, for a given scene. This ensures that the camera will capture all the good stuff when film is actually rolling, such as people being blown out of doors by large fireballs. Set Piece Production Term; Scene involving a large set. Often the plot points of an action film, since the action is more important than the story. In James Bond films, the goal is always to have new groundbreaking set pieces (in addition to hot chicks). Pitch Industry Term; A short speech given to Studio Executives and/or Production companies (read buyers) in an attempt to promote or sell an idea for a movie or television show. Shot list Production Term; The list of intended shots created by the DP and the director; a descriptive list of shots in the order in which they will occur for that day. Includes camera positions and footage relating to these shots. The shot list is used to produce a detailed record of the contents of a film, for ease of finding particular footage or scenes. Post-Production Executive Player; Studio executive responsible for overseeing Post. Optioning of a script Industry Term; A written agreement between a producer and a writer in which the writer signs over all of the Rights to his or her screenplay for a specific period of time and price.