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TV Glossary | Live Shot Tips
Would-be television reporters joined established journalists and representatives from the Television News Center in downtown Chicago during SPJ's 2006 National Convention, and the result was a lively, exciting trial by fire as television cameras rolled. Participants in the sold-out "Going Live!" workshop learned how to ad lib around basic facts, better interact with their environment, choreograph live shots and more.
If you couldn't be there, you missed a great event. As a consolation prize, here are the handouts the Television News Center distributed during the event.
TV Glossary
SOUND BITE: Part of a recorded statement.
B ROLL or COVER SHOTS: Pictures over which narration is made. It’s an old film term, when narration and sound were on one projection chain (A roll) and pictures on another (B roll).
PACKAGE: A TV story with narration, sound, and pictures.
STAND-UP: The reporter’s on camera delivery in the field.
ON CAMERA BRIDGE: A reporter’s stand-up in the middle of a package, used for transition and/or when there are not pictures to talk over.
CLOSER: The reporter’s on camera close.
SIGN OFF, SIG, SIG OUT: Reporter giving name and dateline.
TAG LINE: The reporter’s closing line, usually coming out of a sound bite and narrated over pictures before the sig out or sign off.
LIVE SHOT: A live report.
DONUT: The produced news package within a live shot.
V/O: Voice over pictures.
VOSOT: Voice over followed by sound on tape.
VOSOTVO: Voice over followed by sound on tape followed by voice over.
NATURAL SOUND, NAT SOUND, NATS: Any ambient sound, as distinguished from sound bite.
TIME CODE: The time on a camera or tape deck, actual time a story is being shot on a 24 hour basis, i.e., 1300 is 1 p.m., 0900 is 9 a.m.
NARRATION or TRACK: The reporter’s written and recorded script in a news package.
TRACKING: The act of recording a script.
CHYRON, FONT, CHARACTER GENERATOR, CG: The words on the TV screen. Chyron is a trade name.
SUPER: The person’s name under a sound bite. Also called Chryron, CG, etc.
WIDE SHOT: An establishing shot of a building, scene.
MEDIUM SHOT or MS; TIGHT SHOT or TS: Self descriptive. Other shots taken by a field crew.
ZOOM: Photographer pushing in on a subject.
PAN: Moving camera from left to right or vice-versa.
TILT: Moving the camera up or down.
VIDEO JOURNALIST or VJ: A reporter who shoots her on tape. May even edit.
VIDEOGRAPHER: A name for a photographer or camera person implying greater creativity and independence.
EJ: Electronic Journalism, as opposed to film.
ENG: Electronic News Gathering. Same as above.
IFB or INTERRUPT FEEDBACK: The ear piece through which a director or producer instructs a correspondent in the field or in the studio. The producer interrupts whatever feedback the reporter is getting in the ear piece.
MIX MINUS: An IFB feed minus a correspondent’s narration, which can be a distraction.
LINE PRODUCER: A newscast producer.
HEADLINE: Headline at the top of a news program.
TEASE: A short description of an upcoming story designed to keep the viewer during commercial.
STACKING: Lining up stories within a new program based on their importance and relationship to one another.
— © 2005, Television News Center
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Live Shot Tips
• Be conversational, as if talking to a friend.
• Organize your thoughts and ad lib around basic facts.
• Be yourself!
• Explain why you are there, what is happening, the mood.
• Interact with the environment. Give our sensory observations.
• Make hand and body movements meaningful. Your gestures should be content driven, not programmed.
• Use props when appropriate.
• Communicate with your photographer before the live shot and rehearse with camera movements if you have time.
• Direct your photographer to show what you are talking about; maximize that live camera.
• Check your hair, ties, makeup, etc. before you go on.
• Get as close to the scene as possible.
• If you need to use notes, look at them deliberately and with authority. They add credibility, but don’t use them as a crutch.
• Know when to shut up and let the pictures and sound tell the story.
• If you are in a crowd, talk with someone who can add substance and color to the story.
• Avoid clichés like “as you can see behind me.”
• Keep the story shot and focused; don’t ramble.
• Get coaching. It helps to have someone you trust assess your work.
— © 2005, Television News Center
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Journalism Education Committee Chair
Jeff South
Associate Professor
VCU School of Mass Communications
Bio (click to expand)
Jeff South was state editor and database editor at the Austin American-Statesman before heading to academia in 1997 under the mistaken impression he’d have summers off. He is an associate professor in the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he teaches news writing, legislative reporting, communications technology and media ethics. South has served as a trainer for SPJ, IRE, AP and other organizations. He frequently conducts workshops on, and writes about, computer-assisted reporting, online journalism and media convergence. In 2003, South was awarded a fellowship from the American Society of Newspaper Editors to work at The Charlotte Observer. In 2007, he will serve a six-month Knight International Press Fellowship in Ukraine. For more than 20 years, he was a reporter and editor in Texas, Arizona and Virginia for newspapers such as the Dallas Times Herald, the Phoenix Gazette and The Virginian-Pilot. He also served two years with the U.S. Peace Corps in Morocco.
Lee Anne Peck, vice chair
Assistant Professor
School of Communication
Journalism and Mass Communications
University of Northern Colorado
Bio (click to expand)
Lee Anne Peck has taught English, journalism, and communications courses since 1988. Most recently she was an assistant professor of international communications at Franklin College Switzerland, Lugano. Over the years, she has advised three student newspapers.
Peck's professional experience began in 1976 as a correspondent for the Moline Daily Dispatch. After graduating with her bachelor's degree, she edited and then managed the regional Choice Magazine of the Front Range. In the mid-1980s, she edited and wrote for publications in Indiana and Delaware; she has worked for the Fort Collins Coloradoan as an editor, a columnist and writing coach and for the Rocky Mountain News as a copy editor. Peck has also worked at the Tampa Tribune's online product, Tampa Bay Online, and for Microsoft's online publication, Denver Sidewalk. Peck began free-lance work in the late 1970s and continues to do free-lance editing, writing, and public relations work.
Her research focuses on all aspects of media ethics. She received a Fulbright to teach journalism at the University of Dubrovnik in Croatia fduring spring semester 2007.
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