Terms: Z - Zzz
| Term (optional text) {Frame of Reference} |
Definition |
| Category |
| Z | Abbreviation For: | impedance | |
| Measurements |
| zebra pattern | AKA: | zebra stripes | A camera viewfinder display that places "stripes" over the parts of an image which has reached a pre-determined video level. Usually set at about 70 IRE units and used to assure correct exposure of skin tones. |
| Video Camera |
| zebra stripes | See: | zebra pattern | |
| Video Camera |
| zenith | See: | story structure - climax | |
| Film Theory |
| zero crossing point {Electronics} |
The point at which a signal waveform crosses from being positive to negative or vice versa. This is the instant the signal has zero value, which makes it the spot where you want to make changes with the least amount of zipper (or other) noise (e.g., change gain in VCAs or activate switches, transfer data, etc.). |
| Measurements |
| zero cut | A method of negative cutting specifically for blow up, where every shot is given frame handles so that the registration pin of the printer is never engaging with a splice, which can cause the image to wobble at the cut. It is most commonly used when you are blowing up from 16 mm to 35 mm. Zero cut should be done only if really necessary, because the lab can only print the film as an optical, which is far more expensive than a contact print. Zero cutting is a little more complicated than standard A&B rolls, so the negative cutter also charges more for it. |
| Post General |
| zero level | See: | zero reference | |
| Sound |
| zero reference | AKA: | zero level | The reference point used for setting audio signal levels throughout a sound system. Usually +4 dBu for pro audio use. Named for the original practice of using 0 dBm (then 0 dBu) as the reference level and even earlier using 0 VU readings. |
| Sound |
| zero-based mixing {Live Sound} |
Rick Chinn of Uneeda Audio explains it this way: ″Zero-based mixing refers to starting the mix with all faders down, then listening to the stage sound and only adding those sources to the mix that can′t be heard in the house. The goal is to minimize the build in volume level caused by amplification and to make the overall performance as acoustical as possible.″ ″Things that work against zero-based mixing are Really Large Venues, loud monitors and highly directional, but loud instruments such as trumpets which need the sound system for coverage rather than amplification.″ |
| Sound |
| Z-film | AKA: | grade-Z movie | Z-movie | Refers to a very low-budgeted, independently-made, non-union, less than B-film grade movie, usually with first-time Director and Actors. Often quickly-made for the teenaged youth market and amateurish-looking, but with campy appeal. With exploitational subject matter that includes surfing films, motorcycle flicks, cheap horror films, etc. Z-films become prime candidates for cult film status. |
| Film Theory |
| Ziegfeld | Large first-run movie theater in midtown Manhattan. This is the proper spelling, not "Ziegfield". |
| Film Theory |
| zip pan | See: | swish pan | |
| Shots & Coverage |
| zipper noise | Audible steps that occur when a parameter is being varied in a digital audio processor, analog VCA, digitally-controlled attenuator, etc. |
| Science of Sound |
| Z-movie | See: | Z-film | |
| Film Theory |
| zonal staging | Placement of the Actors by designating areas in the Set where action will take place. |
| Talent |
| zone | See: | region | |
| Post Picture |
| zone 5 | See: | zone system | |
| Camera, Grip & Electric |
| zone focusing | A method of focusing the lens so that the depth of field extends over a preselected range of distances. |
| Shots & Coverage |
| zone of silence {Acoustics} |
AKA: | sound shadow | For a given source a region into which acoustic rays cannot penetrate; also known as a sound shadow. In outdoor sound propagation, upward refraction due to a decrease in temperature with height can combine with the ground to produce a zone of silence near the ground, beyond a certain radius from the source. |
| Sound |
| zone system | AKA: | zone 5 | A series of ten zones (or tones) from 0 (black) to 9 (white) with 5 being middle gray and reflecting 18% of the light. Each zone reflects double or half of the light (1 Stop) of the adjacent one. Specific subject tones can be placed in predetermined zones that best suit a particular subject, contrast range and stylistic intent. Developed by Ansel Adams, the system is widely taught and is detailed in books by Minor White and others. |
| Camera, Grip & Electric |
| zoom | See: | zoom shot | |
| Shots & Coverage |
| zoom, types of | NOTE: Optical zooms are superior to digital zooms.
optical zoom: constructed to allow a continuously variable focal-length, without disturbing focus. To achieve this, the optical zoom uses a combination of lenses that magnify the image prior to being registered at high resolution by the sensor. digital zoom: only changes the presentation of existing data. |
| Camera Lens |
| zoom back | See: | zoom-out | |
| Shots & Coverage |
| zoom lens | AKA: | variable focal-length lens | A variable focal-length lens. A zoom lens will have a third ring, in addition to those controlling focus and iris, that will allow you to change the focal-length within a range of wide to long. |
| Camera Lens |
| zoom ratio | Numbers indicating zoom range for a lens. The mathematical ratio for a zoom lens derived by dividing its shortest focal-length into its longest focal-length. (A 10 mm – 100 mm zoom would be a 10:1 zoom.) |
| Camera Lens |
| zoom shot | AKA: | zoom | zooming | A single shot taken with a lens that has a variable focal-length, thereby permitting the Cinematographer to change the distance between the camera and the object being filmed, and rapidly move from a wide-angle shot to a telephoto shot in one continuous movement. This camera technique makes an object in the frame appear larger. Movement toward a subject to magnify it is known as zoom in or forward zoom, or reversed to reduce its size is known as zoom out/back or backward zoom. |
| Shots & Coverage |
| zoom-in | AKA: | forward zoom | push-in shot | A continuous changing of the camera lens focal-length, which gradually narrows down the area of the picture being photographed, giving the effect of continuously enlarging the subject. |
| Shots & Coverage |
| zooming | See: | zoom shot | |
| Shots & Coverage |
| zoom-out | AKA: | backward zoom | pull back shot | zoom back | A continuous changing of the camera lens focal-length, which gradually enlarges the area being photographed, giving the effect of a continuously shrinking subject. |
| Shots & Coverage |
| zoptic special effects | A revolutionary special effects, 3-D process invented by Cameraman Zorian Perisic, incorporating a camera system and a projector with synchronized zoom lenses. |
| Post Picture |
| Zulu Time | See: | Universal Time Coordinated | |
| Sound |
| Z-weighting | See In: | weighting filters - Z-weighting | |
| Measurements |
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— indicates new data. 
— indicates updated data. (Retained for 30 days.)
