Über editor: A to C

© 2004 Ginny Lowndes

Actors
Actors are hired either by audition or by being cast into their role by a professional casting director. In television, different types of actors are hired at different rates of pay. For example, an extra or non-speaker is an individual who works in the background or crowd scenes. A 50-word actor is hired to speak 50 words or under. A daily actor is hired to work for one day in one episode of a serial or series. Actors in a major sustaining role can be hired in a serial for three episodes per week or for two. A guest actor is usually well-known who is hired to work for several weeks usually to accelerate interest in the storylines. The type of actor hired and how many influences the film or television budget so rates should be checked before the structure of the story takes place. Any decision made from this research is done by the story editor.

[Lowndes, G. (1988). Writing for Television . Sydney : Allen & Unwin. http://www.ginnylowndes.com , and Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) from http://www.alliance.org.au ]

Adaptation
The right to adapt a work means to transform the way in which the work is expressed. Examples include developing a stage play or film script from a novel; translating a short story; and making a new arrangement of a musical work. Adaptation takes an established work, either in the form of a novel, play, poem or speech and it is written in the form of a completed screenplay, a proposal or treatment. A story or script editor can suggest to a producer that a work from another source may be able to be adapted for screen. An option fee is paid to the originator of the work for adaptation. The story editor or the writer takes the idea, the most appealing characters and the location and creates a new work. A novel or a play cannot be duplicated on screen. It should not attempt to as the work is moving from one genre to another, and what works in one genre usually does not work in another.

[Wikipedia. Retrieval July 27, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org ]

Added scenes
Added scenes are material, shots, sequences or scenes that have been written into a script during its filming or after its completion. The tracking of these scenes and insertion into a script is the responsibility of the script editor or the script supervisor.

Additional dialogue recording
Additional dialogue recording ( ADR) is a term used for the dubbing or re-recording of additional dialogue in a film. ADR is tracked by the script supervisor or script editor.

Ad lib
An ad lib is term given to the i mprovised lines or the spontaneous reactions by an actor to a situation in a scene. When they have forgotten their lines, an actor, in keeping with their character and their situation, can sometimes make up an appropriate line on the spot or ad lib. T he director can ask non-speaking actors or extras to ad lib when the words cannot be heard or singled out by an audience, such as in crowd scenes. The use of the ad lib should be limited and controlled by a director. It is tracked by a script editor or script supervisor and reported to a story editor, because in some cases, an ad lib can alter story progression.

Agent
An agent is an individual responsible for the professional management of the business dealings of a writer or other artists.

Annotation
Annotation is the comment specifying the source of each script element that is not wholly fictional, including all characters, events, settings, and segments of dialogue.

Antagonist
An antagonist is the v illain in the script who is in conflict with the protagonist. They are the opposite of the protagonist.

Anticlimax
An anticlimax occurs when the audience experiences dampened or unsatisfied emotions because the expectation of an exciting climax or ending to the story has not been met. The audience feels let down. They can express this dissatisfaction through ‘word-of-mouth', which can spread far more rapidly than any counter-advertising campaign.

Antihero
An antihero is a protagonist who has a pronounced personality or character defect or eccentricity that is not usually associated with the hero archetype.

Asset and equipment registers
An assets register is a document that contains all the work written by a writer. (See Chapter X, The business of being an editor). The register contains the name of the writer's work, the copyright date, what genre the work is, its log line, any registration details such as using the Australian Post Registered Letter system or the Australian Writers' Guild's register; names, addresses and contact numbers of where the work has been sent, to whom and on what date plus the response are also recorded. A note of how the work was archived or filed should be in the register so that the work can be found easily to add any papers to it or access it in a hurry.

An equipment register should also be established with all equipment receipts, warranties or guarantees filed in logical order so that it can be produced immediately for interested parties such as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), if necessary. Another file will hold all the manuals, discs and associated other material for the equipment.

Editors always have a list of tradespeople, computer technicians and other professionals associated with running a business updated, and on hand.

It is recommended that all writers and editors undertake a home-based entrepreneurial or small business based course to understand the legal requirements of operating as a sole trader. A five-year business plan is also recommended to help keep focused on your career, especially one that has a large rejection component in it and personnel that is constantly changing.

Assessor or reader
An assessor or reader is an individual who knows how to read a script and make comment upon it. They are usually an experienced writer or a story or script editor. The assessment process is the forensic examination of the script or screenplay for suitability for production. See Coverage.

Atmosphere
Atmosphere is the effect created by various elements such as rain, wind, heat, cold, danger, sneaky shadows, heart-stopping music, a stealthy quiet or a spooky noise.

Auction/bidding war
An auction or bidding war is a situation in which written material is presented to a wide variety of interested parties, all of whom want to buy the work.

Australian Writers' Guild
The Australian Writers Guild (AWG) is an a ssociation that represents writers in film, television and the creative industries.

[ Australian Writers Guild, from http:// www.awg.com.au ]

Guilds or unions represent writers in other countries, such as the United States of America at http:// www.wga.org ]

Automatic dialogue replacement
Automatic dialogue replacement (ADR) is the re-recording of dialogue by actors in a sound studio during post-production. It is usually performed to the playback of an edited picture in order to synchronise lip movements on screen. A script supervisor tracks it for any script changes.

Avant garde
Avant garde is an experimental or highly independent film that is often the forerunner of a new artistic genre.

Backdrop
A backdrop is the artificial background used to achieve the effect of a natural environment such as a forest, beach, desert, mountains or other landscape in a shot or sequence.

Beat
Beat, written in brackets in a script as (BEAT), is a directional word used to indicate a pause in an actor's speech or action. When using a stopwatch to time a scene, the script editor counts the beat as part of the dialogue by saying out loud the word “beat”.

Bible
A bible is a written guide for a television series or serial that records the original idea for the show, its intentions and direction. The bible also records each story, as well as the main characters/actors and minor, recurring or shadow (unseen) characters. It also includes the setting, format, genre, style, themes, sets, props, locations and continuing story elements. It tracks the ‘who, what, where, why, when and how' of characters and their stories. Production requirements may also be included. In musical productions, a bible is called a book.

Big print
Big print (TV) is written before the dialogue. It is the description of attitudes you'd like the characters in the scene to take. It is called an action line in film.

Biographic picture/bio-pic
A filmed story of a person's life story is called a biographic picture or a bio-pic.

Black comedy
Black comedy is a drama where humour is derived from characters who find themselves in an unsuitable or unwanted situation, such as a carefree holiday hotel, with a serious subject juxtaposed against it, e.g. war, a dead body or officialdom.

Blind spot
A blind spot is a false goal, held by a character, which is removed in the climatic scene. The character discovers some element in their environment or character they had not been aware of or had not previously taken into account.

Blockbuster
Blockbuster is a film that is a huge financial success. Its success has usually been achieved through positive ‘word of mouth'.

Breakdown script
A breakdown script is a detailed list of all items, people, props, etc. required for a shoot on a day-by-day basis.

Budget
A budget is the total (and final cost) required for production. It is derived by combining all projected expenses for scripting fees, equipment, salaries, locations, travel and all other above-the-line and below-the-line production costs. A certified budget is one that has been approved in writing by the completion guarantor. See Completion guarantor.

[ Jeffrey, T. (2006). Film Business. Sydney : Allen & Unwin]

Business
Business is the direction given to actors in the BIG PRINT of a television script or in the action line of a screenplay that adds to character or gives the actor appropriate action to undertake while they deliver dialogue. Business can take the form of making tea, serving beer, cleaning, bonsai, fixing a car, gardening, playing a musical instrument and so on, but it must be relevant to the story and add to character. It is usually devised by a story editor from their extensive character notes and written into the production bible.

Camp/campy
Camp or campy is the term used for a form of comedy where the cliché conventions of a dramatic form, like adventure, are deliberately exaggerated to the point of absurdity or parody.

Caricature
A caricature is a character that is portrayed very broadly or in a stereotypical fashion or in an objectionable manner.

Certificate of Authorship
Certificate of Authorship is a legal document signed by a writer. It states the work is original and it will not libel another party nor invade anyone's privacy. It will not cause the buyer of the work to be sued.

Change pages
W hen a script is being edited during production, changes are distributed to actors and the filmmakers on ‘change pages'. They are usually a different colour to the original pages of the script. Keeping track of change pages is the responsibility of the script editor. If these changes have altered story, the script editor reports it to the story editor.

Character
A character is the protagonist, antagonist or other, which is performed by an actor. Characters may or may not be based on real people.

Character actor
A character actor is one who specialises in playing a particular style of character such as a nosy person, a criminal, a police officer, a spy and so on.

Character arc
A character arc traces the development, growth and transformation of a character over the course of a script.

Cinema verité
Cinema verité or cinema truth is a documentary style film that is not written by a writer nor controlled by a director. The subject or the subject matter tells its own truth.

Cinematographer
A cinematographer is an i ndividual whose art and expertise captures images electronically or on film stock with visual recording devices. They also select and arrange lighting.

Claymation
Claymation is the name of a m odel constructed from clay or plasticine for use in animation. Before the model is made, the characters and their story have to be written and the script has to be edited.

Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger is the climax or high drama used at the end of television serials to suspend action and story for another time. Cliffhangers can present a problem with a production budget especially for those actors who are only employed for one episode. As the cliffhanger is repeated the next day to bring the audience up to date on the serial or series, a non-speaker, 50-worder or a daily actor should not appear in a cliffhanger, unless their contracts allow it.

Climax
The end scene where the conflicts in the script have reached their highest point of tension is called a climax. It is the scene in which the mystery or problem presented at the outset of the story is finally faced and resolved. It is when the blind spot is removed.

Co-incidence
There is no such thing as co-incidence in a well-structured script nor are there accidental meetings. Co-incidences and improbable storylines occur most often in daytime soap operas.

Comedy
Comedy is essentially a drama that treats light or serious subjects in an amusing way. Situation comedy is probably the most commonly seen drama on television.

Comic relief
Comic relief provides an ironic counterpoint to a tragic action.

Commissioning conference
A commissioning conference is a meeting held between the story editor and the script editor and other relevant parties to hire or cast a scriptwriter to write for a television series or serial or film.

Compensation/consideration
Compensation is an agreed upon sum of money paid to a writer for writing services or for the sale of a script or screenplay.

Completion guarantee
A completion guarantee is a legal document that guarantees investors that the production they have financed will be delivered using the script, budget, production personnel and contracts they have agreed to. The completion guarantee includes an allowance, under certain circumstances, for over and above funding agreed to in the budget so that the production can be completed.

Completion guarantor
A completion guarantor is an individual that provides expert services to both the investor and the producer, which includes monitoring the production progress as well as the budget, personnel and general management.

Composer
A composer is an individual who writes original music for a film or television script.

[Australian Guild of Screen Composers, from http://www.agsc.org.au/ ;

Australian Performing Rights Association, from http://www.apra.com.au/]

Concept/concept document
A concept document is the material written to submit and support an idea for film, television or new media to a production company. It consists of an outline of the idea, a paragraph describing the background to the story, format, synopsis, dramatic description of the areas of drama and conflict, extended background, description of major and minor characters, storyline, same scene containing dialogue, suggestion for a time slot, your resume. (See Chapter X, The written pitch).

Concept meeting
A concept meeting is held between the producer, director, casting director, editor and writer to reach an initial agreement about how a project will look and the quality of each character in the script.

Contingent compensation
Contingent compensation is a form of compensation received by a writer, after the writing services have been completed, if they are awarded writing credit for the project. The contingent compensation may include a production bonus, net profits, reserved rights, and/or additional payments in the event of a film or television sequel, remake or spin-off. It is rarely entered into by an Australian writer.

Continuity/link material
Material not written by the contracted or first writer that is used to link one program element with another is called continuity or link material.

Continuity writer
A continuity writer is an individual who is contracted on a magazine-style program to write material to link program elements that have not been written or provided by the original or first writer. The first writer is given the right of first refusal to write continuity material for the entire television series. Sometimes continuity writing is undertaken by the script editor.

Contributing writer
A contributing writer is an individual who is contracted to write specific segments or units for use in a variety program or a magazine-style program.

Co-production/CoPro
A co-production (CoPro) raises investment money from different countries to make a common project. Canadian film and television production is mainly financed by co-production.

Corporate production
Corporate production is material that includes programs containing visual, audio tape, animation, graphics, photographs, print, interactive video disk, CD-ROM, slide tape, computers, chips and any other existing or new technologies to advertise or showcase a corporation or business.

Convention
Convention is a custom that allows an audience to accept a situation without thinking about it because they have seen it in drama or writing before. It is a form of suspended disbelief (see disbelief, suspension of).

Convergence
Convergence places telecommunications, broadcasting, gaming, information technology and consumer electronic markets under one umbrella.

Co-producer
A co-producer is an individual who has equal responsibility for the completion of a film or television project.

Copyright
Copyright is a set of exclusive rights that regulate the use of a particular expression of an idea or information. At its most general, it is literally "the right to copy" an original creation. In most cases, these rights are of limited duration. The symbol for copyright is © , and in some jurisdictions may alternately be written (c) . Copyright may subsist in a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms or "works". Copyright is a type of intellectual property that covers only the particular form or manner in which ideas or information have been manifested, the "form of material expression". It is not designed or intended to cover the actual idea, concepts, facts, styles, or techniques which may be embodied in or represented by the copyright work. Copyright law provides scope for satirical or interpretive works, which themselves may be copyrighted. For example, the copyright which subsists in relation to a Mickey Mouse cartoon prohibits unauthorised parties from distributing copies of the cartoon or creating derivative works that copy or mimic Disney's particular type of mouse, but does not prohibit the creation of artistic works about mice in general, so long as they are sufficiently different to not be imitative of the original. Other laws may impose legal restrictions on reproduction or use where copyright does not - such as trademarks and patents. Copyright covers the expression of an idea, not the idea itself — this is called the idea/expression or fact/expression dichotomy. For example, if a book is written describing a new way to organize books in a library, a copyright does not prohibit a reader from freely using and describing that concept to others; it is only the particular expression of that process as originally described that is covered by copyright. One might be able to obtain a patent for the method, but that is a different area of law. Compilations of facts or data may also be copyrighted, but such a copyright is thin; it only applies to the particular selection and arrangement of the included items, not to the particular items themselves. In some jurisdictions the contents of databases are expressly covered by statute. In some cases, ideas may be capable of intelligible expression in only one or a limited number of ways. Therefore even the expression in these circumstances is not covered. In the United States this is known as the merger doctrine, because the expression is considered to be inextricably merged with the idea. Merger is often pleaded as an affirmative defence to charges of infringement. That doctrine is not necessarily accepted in other jurisdictions. [Wikipedia, retrieval July 27, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org ; Copyright Agency Limited (CAL), retrieval from July 27, 2006 from http://www.copyright.com.au/]

Coverage
Coverage is performed by a reader, usually a senior writer, story or script editor, on material submitted to a production company. Coverage involves the synopsis, review, evaluation and rating of the story, characters and their development, plot and so on. The reader then informs interested parties or hiring bodies as to whether or not the script is worth further consideration.

Co-writer
A co-writer is an individual who has joint authorship of one work written by two or more writers.

Credit
Credit is the authorship given to a written work. For example in film it is displayed as story by, screenplay by or written by. In television it is displayed as created by, story by or teleplay by.

Credit arbitration
Credit arbitration is a process run by the Australian Writers Guild (AWG) or similar Union or Guild in other countries in which disputes about the award of a writing credit are settled. The AWG sends all drafts of the disputed work to three individuals who, separately and without knowledge of each other, decide which writer deserves the award of the writing credit. When two of the three individuals agree on the award of the writing credit, the credit is awarded to the majority decision. The decision is considered final.

Cue/Cut in
The last word of one speech by an actor becomes the cue for the other to speak at the exact moment the first actor finishes. Sometimes, the words (CUT IN) are written into an actor's dialogue. This means that when one actor is speaking another may ‘cut in' to the dialogue at any time with their written dialogue.

Cute meet
A cute meet sets up the sticky circumstances of boy-meets-girl for the ensuing classic romantic comedy.

Cut to
Cut to or C2 is a written direction by a writer to indicate a new scene to the director. It also helps to create more white space on the page. This makes the script easier to read.

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