Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Silent film – Projection speed
| Terms: Proj - Pzz
| Term (optional text) {Frame of Reference} |
Definition |
| Category |
| projection | AKA: | change-over projection | platter projection | In most commercial movie theaters, all reels are joined together on a platter to form one continuous strip of film through one projector. In screening rooms equipped with two projectors, each reel is kept separate, and the projectionist will manually start the incoming projector when he/she sees "changeover" dots in the upper right corner of the screen. This first set of dots is the "motor cue", with a second set of dots (a second before the end of the outgoing reel) indicating to switch over the picture and sound to the next reel. You can have double system or composite projection with both platter and changeover techniques. Movie previews are often conducted in commercial theaters, with the 35 mm workprint "built up" on a platter and the 35 mm mag temp dub on a MUT. |
| Presentation |
| projection leader | See: | leader - universal leader | |
| Post General, Presentation |
| projection speed | The rate at which the film moves through the projector. 24 FPS is the standard for all sound films. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Silent film – Projection speed | |
| Presentation |
| projection spot light | See: | ellipsoidal spotlight | |
| Grip & Electric |
| projection sync | See: | picture & sound sync - printer′s sync | |
| Post General |
| projection-contrast original | An original reversal film which is designed to have normal contrast when projected. |
| Post Lab |
| Projectionist | A studio or cinema employee that operates a projector. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Projectionist | |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| projector | A device for displaying a reel of a movie on a screen, either for screening or back projection. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Movie projector | |
| Presentation |
| projectors, digital | See: | digital projector technology | |
| Presentation |
| prologue | A speech, preface, introduction or brief Scene preceding the main action or plot of a film. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Prologue | Contrast With: | epilogue | |
| Post Picture |
| promo | Slang term for sales promotion. |
| Film Theory |
| Prompter | See In: | prompter types - Prompter | |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| prompter types | AKA: | idiot card(s) | idiot sheet(s) |
hard-copy prompter: A camera prompting device that incorporates a moving paper script. Prompter: An individual who supplies actors with the correct lines from the script if they forget. If necessary via an earwig. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Prompter | soft-copy prompter: AKA: | teleprompter | A camera prompting device that uses a video display. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Teleprompter | |
| Set/Location Related |
| Prop(erty) Assistant | Responsible for the placement and maintenance of props on a Set. |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| Prop(erty) Master | AKA: | Prop(s) Master | Props | Props Master | The person responsible for buying, acquiring and/or manufacturing any props needed for a production. The Property Master is responsible for all aspects of prop use on the Set and, in conjunction with the Script Supervisor, for maintaining Set continuity. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Property Master | Contrast With: | Set Dresser | |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| prop(s) {Item} |
AKA: | property | Any movable item that an Actor touches or uses on the Set (e.g., phones, guns, cutlery, furnishings, fixtures, hand-held objects, decorations) or any other moveable items that are seen or used on a Set but that are not a structural part of the Set, usually the responsibility of the prop man or property master. All other objects are considered Set pieces. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Theatrical property | See Also: | Prop(erty) Assistant | Set Dresser | |
| Set/Location Related |
| Prop(s) Master | See: | Prop(erty) Master | |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| propagation | The motion of waves through or along a medium. For electromagnetic waves, propagation may occur in a vacuum as well as in material media. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Radio propagation | | Wikipedia – Wave propagation | |
| Science of Sound, Wireless |
| propagation delay | The initial delay through a signal processing box, i.e., the time it takes for a signal to pass once through a device. It is the unavoidable and uncontrollable (by the user) delay inherent to the processing electronics. Propagation delay is caused most often in analog electronics by phase delay in filter networks, and in digital electronics by computational delay in microprocessors and DSP devices, as well as data conversion. In networking, the time it takes for a signal to pass through a channel. Similar to latency but normally restricted to signal processing devices, rather than computer operations. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Propagation delay | |
| Sound, Wireless |
| property | See: | prop(s) {Item} | |
| Set/Location Related |
| Propmaker | The Propmaker, as the name implies, builds the props that are used in the film. Props Builders are often technicians skilled in construction, plastics casting, machining and electronics. |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| proportional-Q graphic equalizer | AKA: | variable-Q graphic equalizer | Term applied to graphic and rotary equalizers describing bandwidth behavior as a function of boost/cut levels. The term "proportional-Q" is preferred as being more accurate and less ambiguous than "variable-Q". If nothing else, "variable-Q" suggests the unit allows the user to vary (set) the Q, when no such controls exist. The bandwidth varies inversely proportional to boost (or cut) amounts, being very wide for small boost/cut levels and becoming very narrow for large boost/cut levels. The skirts, however, remain constant for all boost/cut levels. Reference(s): | Operator Adjustable Equalizers | Contrast With: | constant-Q equalizer | true response graphic equalizer | |
| Equipment & Components |
| proprietary | Describing a function, feature or characteristic owned by one company and available only in units manufactured by that company. |
| Film Theory |
| Props {Role} |
See: | Prop(erty) Master | |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| Props Master | See: | Prop(erty) Master | |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| prosthetic appliances | AKA: | prosthetic make-up | prosthetics | Make-up that requires gluing additions (prosthetic appliances) made of a material such as latex or gelatin to an Actors skin. May be applied by someone other than the designer. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Bodily mutilation in film | | Wikipedia – Dentures | | Wikipedia – Prosthesis | | Wikipedia – Prosthetic makeup | See Also: | squib | |
| Make-up |
| prosthetic make-up | See: | prosthetic appliances | |
| Make-up |
| prosthetics | See: | prosthetic appliances | |
| Make-up |
| prosumer video equipment | A combination term denoting equipment which lies between professional and consumer-quality video equipment. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Prosumer | |
| Video Camera |
| protagonist | The lead or main character in a film. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Protagonist | Contrast With: | antagonist | |
| Film Theory |
| protective leader | See In: | leader - protective leader | |
| Post General, Presentation |
| protective master | A master positive from which a dupe negative can be made if the original is damaged. |
| Post Picture |
| protective overcoat(ing) | See In: | film construction - protective overcoating | |
| Film |
| protocol | A specific set of rules, procedures or conventions relating to format and timing of data transmission between two devices. A standard procedure that two data devices must accept and use to be able to understand each other. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Communications protocol | |
| Equipment & Components |
| proxemic patterns | The spatial relationships among characters within the mise-en-scene and the apparent distance of the camera from the subject photographed. |
| Film Theory |
| proximity effect {Microphones} |
AKA: | bass tip-up | The bass boost that occurs with a directional microphone when it is placed a few inches from a sound source. The closer the microphone, the greater the low-frequency boost due to proximity effect. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Proximity effect {audio} | |
| Microphone Related |
| PSA | Abbreviation For: | public service anouncement | |
| Film Theory |
| PSD | Abbreviation For: | power spectral density {Physics} | |
| Science of Sound |
| pseudo-balanced output | A two-wire (with overall shield) interfacing technique for an unbalanced output where a resistor equal to the output resistor is placed in series with the return leg (either pin-3 for an XLR connector or the ring lead for an 1/4" TRS connector). This makes both lines measure the same impedance when looking back from the receiver and allows the common-mode rejection feature of the input differential amplifier to function. Reference(s): | Sound System Interconnection | |
| Sound |
psophometer  |
(Pronounced: so-fo-meter) A device used to measure noise in telephone circuits, broadcast and other audio communication equipment. A psophometer was a voltmeter with a set of weighting filters. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Psophometer | See Also: | weighting filters | |
| Measurements |
| psophometric filters |
(Pronounced: so-fo-metric filters) See: | weighting filters | |
| Measurements |
| PSRR | Abbreviation For: | power supply rejection ratio {Electronics} | |
| Measurements |
| psychoacoustics | The scientific study of how things sound to individuals because of mental or emotional factors. Called "the music of science" by Roederer. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Psychoacoustics | |
| Science of Sound |
| psychological time | See In: | time - psychological time | |
| Film Theory |
| psychomachy | A battle in the mind or the soul. A situation in literary works involving the representation of a character′s internal (psychological, moral or spiritual) conflict. |
| Film Theory |
| public address speech transmission index {UK} |
(Abbreviation: | PASTI | ) See: | speech intelligibility - speech transmission index for public address systems | |
| Sound |
| public domain | A creative work that can be used without charge because it is not copyrighted or because the copyright has expired. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Public domain | |
| Movie Business |
| public performance rights | See In: | film rights | |
| Film Theory |
| public property | Property, generally owned by a government, which does not have the legal access limitations inherent in private property. Property which can be freely used by news reporters and photographers. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Public property | |
| Movie Business |
| public service anouncement | (Abbreviation: | PSA | ) See: | television spot | |
| Film Theory |
| publicity | The generation of free media coverage and advertising. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Publicity | |
| Film Theory |
| Publicity Assistant | Assistant to the Publicity Director. |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| Publicity Department | AKA: | Advertising | The section of a Production′s Crew responsible for promoting a movie. Individual positions within in this department include: Unit Publicist, Publicity Assistant and Stills Photographer. |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| Publicity Director | AKA: | Publicity Executive | Person employed by a studio to conceive and oversee the publicity campaign that opens a movie. In many cases, this person never even appears on the Set — especially if the movie is a pickup and didn′t have a releasing studio at the time it was produced. In other cases, this person is frequently on the Set and directly supervises the efforts of the unit publicist. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Public relations | |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| Publicity Executive | See: | Publicity Director | |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| publicity still | See: | Production still | |
| Set/Location Related |
| puck | Any circular piece of metal, fiber, rubber, etc., which drives something from a rotating power source. |
| General |
| pull (processing) |
Decreasing the effective speed of film, often to compensate for a mistake in setting ISO. It is usually done by decreasing the development time or the temperature of the developer. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Push processing | |
| Film Camera, Post Lab |
| pull back shot | See: | zoom-out | |
| Shots & Coverage |
| pull down | A transfer of sound slowed down from film speed, 24 film frames per second, to video speed, 29.97 video frames per second, which is the equivalent of 23.98 film frames per second. This must be done to line it up with a video transfer of picture when transferring sync sound to video. |
| Post Sound |
| pull(ing) focus | See: | rack focus(ing) | |
| Shots & Coverage |
| pull list | A list of camera rolls and start and end keykode numbers for each edit in the final locked reel. The pull list is used by the negative cutter to pull (acquire from the vault) the camera rolls in preparation for match cutting the negative. |
| Documents |
| pull up | This term can be a little confusing since it has three meanings that apply to sound.
#1: A transfer of the sound from a video, sped up from video speed, 29.97 video frames per second, which is the equivalent of 23.98 film frames per second, to film speed, 24 film frames per second. This must be done when the optical track is made after having mixed in video. #2: The process of offsetting the sound 26 frames ahead of picture when making a print. See: | picture & sound sync - printer′s sync | |
| Post Sound |
| pull ups |
Are transfers of the first 26 frames of sound from a reel that are spliced onto the outgoing sound of the previous reel so that sound is not lost when the film is printed with the sound pulled up, since 26 frames of sound are cut off when reels are joined. |
| Post Lab |
| pulldown claw | Is part of the camera movement, which advances the film from the exposed frame to the next unexposed frame while the camera′s shutter is closed. |
| Film Camera |
| pull-out shot | See: | dolly shot - dolly out shot | |
| Shots & Coverage |
| "pulp fiction" | See: | potboiler | |
| Film Theory |
| pulse | A rise and then fall in amplitude, similar to a square wave but staying up for less time than staying down. |
| Sound |
| pulse code modulation | (Abbreviation: | PCM | ) This is the most common and basic method of representing an analog waveform in uncompressed digital form. Essentially the amplitude of the waveform is measured at uniform intervals and stored as a series of numbers. For example, audio for use on a CD is measured (sampled) 44,100 times per second. At each point the amplitude is stored as a 16-bit binary number having 65,536 different possible values. Both channels are represented separately using the same technique. When stored as a computer WAV file, the resulting string of numbers is simply stored with a header defining the format used. Storage on CD requires further encoding to enable the mechanics of the CD to work properly, but the digital audio when recovered from the disk essentially remains encoded as a series of 16-bit numbers at the rate of 44,100 per second. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Pulse-code modulation | |
| Science of Sound |
| pulse wave modulation | Moving smoothly from a square wave to pulse wave according to a control voltage input (usually from a LFO). Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Pulse wave | |
| Science of Sound |
| pulse width | The amount of time that a pulse is at maximum voltage. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Pulse-width modulation | |
| Sound |
| pulse width modulation | (Abbreviation: | PWM | ) Digital representation of an analog signal where the magnitude of the signal is sampled at regular intervals, then quantized to a series of symbols in a digital (usually binary) code. PCM is used in digital telephone systems and is also the standard form for digital audio in computers, compact disc and digital video. However, straight PCM is not typically used for video in consumer applications such as DVD or DVR due to it′s high bit rate. (PCM audio is supported by the DVD standard but rarely used). Instead, compressed variants of PCM are normally employed. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Pulse-width modulation | See Also: | pulse code modulation | |
| Science of Sound |
| pumping | See: | breathing {Sound} | |
| Sound |
| punch {Light} |
See: | specular highlight(s) | |
| Grip & Electric |
| punch {Sound} |
See: | presence | |
| Science of Sound |
| punching in | See In: | punching in and out | |
| Sound |
| punching in and out | Putting the recorder in record on a previously-recorded track while the tape is playing in sync playback and the singer or musician is singing or playing along is called punching in. Once the that is complete, going back into playback only is called punching-out. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Punch in/out | |
| Sound |
| punching out | See In: | punching in and out | |
| Sound |
| punchline |
A funny, witty line that culminates a story, joke or Scene. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Punch line | Contrast With: | one-liner | payoff | |
| Film Theory |
| Puppeteer | Someone who operates puppets: Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Puppeteer |
#1: These may be either physically controlled (e.g., worn), cable operated or radio controlled. #2: This may also refer to remote-controlled portions of a costume. |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| puppetry | Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Puppetry | See In: | animation - puppetry | |
| Film Theory |
| pure cinema |
See: | cinéma pur | |
| Film Theory |
| pure film | See: | cinéma pur | |
| Film Theory |
| pure tone | A tone without harmonic frequencies except for the fundamental frequency and with a sine wave shape. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Pure tone | |
| Science of Sound |
| pure waveform | A waveform of a single frequency, a sine wave. A pure tone is the perceived sound of such a wave. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Pure tone | |
| Science of Sound |
| purple noise | See In: | noise colors - purple noise | |
| Science of Sound |
| push (processing) | AKA: | forced development | pushing | upgrading | Push processing is a special type of processing where the film is developed for a longer time than normal, usually to make up for intended underexposure. This permits shooting at a dimmer light level, a faster shutter or a smaller aperture than would otherwise be possible. It should be noted that only entire rolls can be pushed, not individual Takes. Pushing film will add some contrast and graininess. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Push processing | |
| Film Camera, Post Lab |
| push-in shot | See: | zoom-in | |
| Shots & Coverage |
| pushing | See: | push (processing) | |
| Film, Film Camera |
| push-out shot | See: | dolly shot - dolly out shot | |
| Shots & Coverage |
| push-over | See: | wipe {Editing} | |
| Post Picture |
| putty knife | The putty knife is designed to place a 5/8" pin where it is nearly impossible to put any other brackets. It is wedged into an area, such as a door frame or window sill. |
| Grip & Electric |
| PVC cable sheath | See: | cable - polyvinyl chloride cable sheath | |
| Equipment & Components |
| PWM | Abbreviation For: | pulse width modulation | |
| Sound |
| pyros | See: | pyrotechnics | |
| Set/Location Related |
| Pyrotechnician | A member of the Crew with expertise in fire or explosions. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Pyrotechnician | |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| pyrotechnics | AKA: | pyros | The use of fire, explosions, flashes and smoke in a films special effects. Anything which burns, smolders or explodes to produce a visual effect will be included in pyrotechnic effects, including: fire, smoke flares, flash powder, lightning and explosions. Reference(s): | Wikipedia – Pyrotechnics | |
| Set/Location Related |
| Python Wrangler | See: | Utility Sound Technician | |
| Roles & Responsibilities |
| PZM | Abbreviation For: | pressure zone mic(rophone) | |
| Microphone Related |
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