a cutthroat blog: 2011

20111115

broadcast terms lingo terminology, blah blah blah

Lower Third Super (lower third, super strap, strap, banner): A graphic that sits at the bottom third of the screen and includes information, most commonly someone’s name. The type on them can be a “slug” (ex. 5-alarm fire) or a “locator” (123 west elm st) or an “identifier”. (Joe Six-Pack from East Wherever)

Full Frame Super: A graphic, usually text, that covers the entire frame.

Snipe: 5-10 second lower third animations that play during the show promoting some other show or what’s coming up.

Interstitial (Clusterbuster): A short show (up to 5 minutes) that is broadcast in-between full length shows.

Promo (Promotion): A sequence that advertises an upcoming show.

Bumper (Next, Promo): A short sequence (5-10 seconds) that plays in-between shows, that advertises an upcoming show(s).

Play Off (Pingel, Bump in): A short sequence that plays before an advertising break.

Play On (Pingel, Bump out): A short sequence that plays after an advertising break.

Packshot (End Page, End Board): A graphic at the end of a promotion that includes the date and time of a show(s).

Ident (Station ID): A short animation that culminates with a channel’s name/logo. Used to brand a channel.

Animatic: A rough animated storyboard used to give some idea about the timing of a sequence.

Opening Title (Open, Leader, Intro, Intro sequence): The sequence that plays at the beginning of a show to open the show.

Billboard: A commercial right after a show or promo. For example, “This program was made possible by “brandname”. Preferably with the same design treatment as the program before it.

Classification (Netherlands = NICAM, Ratings bug): Graphic before a program designed to inform viewer of age suitability for that program. Can also be a bug.

Bug: A small graphic (well usually small ) that appears in the corner of the screen, used to identify a channel, show etc.

Transition (Swipe): A short animation that acts as a transition between segments of a show. It has a logo or is designed according to the content.

Slate: A graphic placed at the beginning of sequence used to display information about the sequence, for example Duration, Format, etc.

Over The Shoulder (OTS): The graphic that sits over a news anchors’s shoulder.