Word | Definition |
animation | The use of cartoons, puppet characters, or demonstrations of inanimate characters come to life in television commercials; often used for communicating difficult messages or for reaching specialized markets, such as children. |
answer print | The final print of a filmed commercial, along with all the required optical effects and titles, used for review and approval before duplicating. |
aperture | The opening in a camera that determines the amount of light that reaches the film or videotape. To a media planner it refers to the place and time that a target audience is ready to attend to an ad message. |
audio console | In a sound studio control room, the board that channels sound to the appropriate recording devices and that blends both live and prerecorded sounds for immediate or delayed broadcast. |
base art | The first image on an artboard on which an overlay may be placed. |
bleeds | Colors, type, or visuals that run all the way to the edge of the page. |
blueline | A proof created by shining light through the negatives and exposing a light-sensitive paper that turns from white to blue; it helps reveal scratches and flaws in the negatives. |
camera-ready art | A finished ad that is ready for the printer's camera to shoot—to make negatives or plates—according to the publication's specifications. |
character-count method | A method of copy casting in which an actual count is made of the number of characters in the copy. |
cinematographer | A motion picture photographer. |
closing date | A publication's final deadline for supplying printing material for an advertisement. |
color key | A color proof that is a less-expensive form of the Chromalin, with thicker plastic sheets that can be lifted up. |
color separations | Four separate continuous-tone negatives produced by photographing artwork through color filters that eliminate all the colors but one. The negatives are used to make four printing plates—one each for yellow, magenta, cyan, and black—for reproducing the c |
continuous tone | Normal photographic paper produces images in black and white with shades of gray in between. |
control room | In a recording studio, the place where the producer, director, and sound engineer sit, monitoring and controlling all the sounds generated in the sound studio. |
copy cast | To forecast the total block of space the type in an ad will occupy in relation to the typeface's letter size and proportions. |
cover paper | Paper used on soft book covers, direct-mail pieces, and brochure covers that are thicker, tougher, and more durable than text paper. |
digital media | Channels of communication that join the logic of multimedia formats with the electronic system capabilities and controls of modern telephone, television, and computer technologies. |
digital proof | A prepress proof that uses inkjet technology and offers accuracy, lower cost, and speed. Also called an Iris. |
digital video effects (DVE) | unit In video, special-effects equipment for manipulating graphics on the screen to produce fades, wipes, zooms, rotations, and so on. |
director | The director supervises preproduction, production, and postproduction of radio and television commercials. |
display type | A style of typeface used in advertising that is larger and heavier than normal text type. Display type is often used in headlines, subheads, logos, and addresses, and for emphasis. |
dubs | Duplicates of radio commercials made from the master tape and sent to stations for broadcast. |
electronic production | The process of converting a script or storyboard into a finished commercial for use on radio, TV, or digital media. |
flats | Opaque plastic sheets that film negatives are mounted on in perfect registration; light passes through only where lines and dots are to appear on the printing plate. |
font | A uniquely designed set of capital, small capital, and lowercase letters, usually including numerals and punctuation marks. |
four-color process | The method for printing color advertisements with tonal values, such as photographs and paintings. This process is based on the principle that all colors can be printed by combining the three primary colors—yellow, magenta (red), and cyan (blue)—plus bla |
halftone plate | Plate that prints dots, the combination of which, when printed, produces an optical illusion of shading as in a photograph. |
halftone screen | A glass or plastic screen, crisscrossed with fine black lines at right angles like a window screen, which breaks continuous-tone artwork into dots so that it can be reproduced. |
interactive | TV A personal audience venue where people can personally guide TV programming through a remote control box while watching TV. |
job jacket | In the preproduction phase, a place to store the various pieces of artwork and ideas that will be generated throughout the process. |
kerning | The measurement of the space between individual letters of text. |
kiosks | Interactive computers in a stand-alone cabinet that make information available 24 hours a day even in remote areas. |
leading | The measurement of the space between separate lines of text (pronounced ledding). |
line film | The product of a photograph shot with orthographic film which yields a high-contrast black-and-white image with no gray tones. |
line plate | A printing plate used to produce black-and-white artwork from line film linkage media In direct marketing, media that help prospects and customers link up with a company. |
live action | The basic production technique in television that portrays real people and settings, as opposed to animation. |
location | Shooting away from the studio. Location shooting adds realism but can also be a technical and logistical nightmare, often adding cost and many other potential problems. |
lot | Acreage outside a studio that is shielded from stray, offsite sounds. |
mandatories | The address, phone number, Web address, etc., that the advertiser usually insists be included within an ad to give the consumer adequate information. |
mass audience venue | One category of digital media based on audience size, where hundreds of people are in the live audience and millions more are watching at home. |
master tape | The final recording of a radio commercial, with all the music, sound, and vocals mixed, from which dubs (duplicates) are recorded and sent to radio stations for broadcast. |
mixed interlock | The edited version of a filmed television commercial mixed with the finished sound track. Used for initial review and approval prior to being duplicated for airing. |
mnemonic device | A gimmick used to dramatize the product benefit and make it memorable, such as the Imperial Margarine crown or the Avon doorbell. |
multimedia presentation | Presenting information or entertainment using several communications media simultaneously. |
orthographic film | A high-contrast photographic film yielding only black-and-white images, no gray tones. |
overlay | On a pasteup, a piece of clear plastic containing a second image from which a second printing plate can be made for color printing. |
PANTONE Matching System® (PMS) | A collection of colors that are premixed according to a formula and given a specific color number. PANTONE® swatch books feature over 100 colors in solid and screened blocks printed on different paper finishes. |
personal audience venue | A category of digital media based on audience size; where one person in front of a personal computer can receive multimedia information. |
platform licensing | A fee paid to original software developers for the special key codes that access multimedia programs on certain computer networks. |
point | In retailing, the place of business. In typography, the measurement of the size and height of a text character. There are 72 points to an inch. |
postproduction phase | The finishing phase in commercial production—the period after recording and shooting when a radio or TV commercial is edited and sweetened with music and sound effects. |
prepress phase | The process of converting page art and visuals into materials (generally film negatives and color separation) needed for printing. |
preproduction phase | The period of time before the actual recording or shooting of a commercial—the planning phase in commercial production. |
print production manager | Manager who oversees the entire production process, including reproduction of visuals in full color, shooting and editing of scenes, precise specification and placement of type, and the checking, approving, duplicating, and shipping of final art, negativ |
print production process | The systematic process a layout for an ad or a brochure goes through from concept to final printing. The four major phases are preproduction, production, prepress, and printing and distribution. |
private audience venue | A category of digital media based on audience size; where meetings, conferences, and seminars use computer-driven multimedia presentations to inform, persuade, remind, and entertain people. |
producer | For electronic media, the person responsible for keeping the project moving smoothly and under budget, while maintaining the required level of quality through every step of the production process. |
production phase | An element of creative strategy. The whole physical process of producing ads and commercials; also the particular phase in the process when the recording and shooting of commercials is done. |
residual fee | Payment to the talent if the commercial is extended beyond its initially contracted run. |
reverse knockout | Area within a field of printed color on a page that is free of ink and allows the paper's surface to show. |
sans serif | A type group that is characterized by a lack of serifs. |
scale | The regular charge for talent and music agreed to in the union contract. |
serif | The most popular type group that is distinguished by smaller lines or tails called serifs that finish the ends of the main character strokes and by variations in the thickness of the strokes. |
session | The time when the recording and mixing of a radio commercial takes place. |
special effects | Unusual visual effects created for commercials. |
spot announcements | An individual commercial message run between programs but having no relationship to either. Spots may be sold nationally or locally. They must be purchased by contacting individual stations directly. |
stripping | Assembling line and halftone negatives into one single negative, which is then used to produce a combination plate. |
supers | Words superimposed on the picture in a television commercial. |
talent | The actors in commercials. |
Teleprompter | A two-way mirror mounted on the front of a studio video camera that reflects moving text to be read by the speaker being taped. |
text paper | Range of less expensive papers that are lightweight. More porous versions are used in printing newspapers and finer, glossier versions are used for quality printed materials like magazines and brochures. |
text type | The smaller type used in the body copy of an advertisement. |
trap | Where, in the printing process, one color overlays the edge of another to keep the paper from showing through. |
type families | Related typefaces in which the basic design remains the same but in which variations occur in the proportion, weight, and slant of the characters. Variations commonly include light, medium, bold, extra bold, condensed, extended, and italic. |
typography | The art of selecting, setting, and arranging type. |
Web page | A single page out of an online publication of the World Wide Web, known as a Web site. Web sites are made up of one or more Web pages and allow individuals or companies to provide information and services with the public through the Internet. |
word-count method | A method of copy casting in which all the words in the copy are counted and then divided by the number of words per square inch that can be set in a particular type style and size, as given in a standard table. |
work print | The first visual portion of a filmed commercial assembled without the extra effects or dissolves, titles, or supers. At this time, scenes may be substituted, music and sound effects added, or other changes made. |
writing paper | Form of plain, lightweight paper commonly used for printing fliers and for letterhead. |