Emily's Blog: Industry Jargon for Beginners

As an intern both in the casting office and on set with Rossi Pictures, I have become aware that it is useful to know industry slang! Not only does it help me as an aspiring producer, but it is also useful to know if you’re an actor/actress. Adding these words to your vocabulary bank will definitely make you more aware of what is going on around you on set as well as making it easier to understand industry commands. Here are a few to get you started:

Checks

‘Last checks in before a take’ refers to makeup, wardrobe and art checks. This call is made to identify to the crew that before filming commences, makeup, wardrobe and art department need to come to set and make sure they are happy with their department before ‘action’ is called.

Turnover or Roll Up ​

Roll sound/camera or Turnover. The A.D. calls for audio and camera to start. “Turnover” is most often used in the British film industry which means ‘starting to film’. This a lead up to 'Action' so for actors this helps understanding that your time to start the scene is coming up.

Dirty Shot

Dirty vs clean defines the foreground of a shot. “Dirty Over" is an over the shoulder medium, medium closeup or tighter closeup of an actor where the actor they face is partially within frame, in their eye line. If the camera is over your shoulder, that means you are still in frame even if the focus isn't on you. Too “dirty" simply means a foreground soft focus element. If the foreground element is also in focus and of a balanced importance, that is not a dirty frame, but a split frame, as with a man staring across the room at a ringing telephone that is prominent in the foreground.

Sides

“Sides” are the pages of the script that are being shot during that day in production or what is being used for an audition. Because movies and TV shows aren’t shot in a linear way, it’s more convenient to provide script sides so that the cast and crew know what the day's filming will entail.

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Wrap

At the end of the shoot, it is announced to the crew by clearly stating 'That's A Wrap'. Your day isn't done until you are release by the AD in charger of your schedule. Always stay onset unless you are allowed to leave for lunch or a break.

As an actor these are some of the main terms you are going to hear on set that are key to understanding the day to day runnings of production. Though the list does go on, this is a start to knowing the industry lingo for your training! 

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