Über editor: G to I

© 2004 Ginny Lowndes

General meeting
General meeting is a ‘look-see' type of meeting in which a writer meets with a producer, production executive, story and script editors and others as a form of introduction to each other. Generally this meeting's purpose is for each person to gauge the characteristics and/or philosophy of the other with a view to working together in some future production. It is a form of audition for all parties. General meetings are also held with authors as a ‘look-see' before optioning their work to gauge whether the author is comfortable with their work being adapted to another genre.

Go motion
Go motion is a form of animation similar to stop motion and it usually incorporates motion blur.

Green light
A green light is a statement that means a film or television project has the financial backing to proceed, as in my project has been green-lighted.

Guerrilla producer
Guerrilla producer is an individual who produces an effective video or similar on a shoestring budget.

Head writer
A head writer is an individual who, in addition to researching, writing or supplying material for a magazine-style program or variety show, supervises all written material for a program, including re-writing material as is necessary. They report to the producer with the finished script.

High concept
High concept is a phrase used about scripts that have a premise or storyline that is easily reduced to a simple and appealing one line (the log line). They are easy to pitch to a hiring body as you can use words that are iconic and self-suggesting. For example, a high concept pitch could be one word, Gladiator or two , Star Wars.

Hip-pocketing
Hip-pocketing is practised by an agent who represents only one project for an artist. There is no agreement to represent an artist long-term.

Hook
A hook is a dramatic or comedic storyline that entices an audience into watching your production.

Hunter-gatherer style documentary
Hunter-gatherer is a ‘moving content' mini-documentary, which can be used as mobisode, webisode or episode. The hunter-gatherer documentary maker, using a client's brief and brand, finds/hunts ‘real people' to generate then capture a compelling humanistic story of a behind-the-scenes nature. The documentary maker is the researcher, writer, director and the camera, lighting, sound and editing technician as well as the interviewer and manager of clients and ‘talent'.

Hyper distribution
Hyper distribution is the blanket distribution of media content as a means of preventing piracy or unfavourable ‘word of mouth' or public opinion damaging the box office receipts.

Improvisation
Improvisation is spur-of-the-moment comedy. It happens when the minds fools with ideas and invents ways of expressing them. It makes jokes out of everyday life. It is high-risk comedy that tests the ingenuity of a performer – it can fall flat on its face if it doesn't come off. However, an actor in a television series or serial or in a film should not be allowed to improvise except under strict supervision and in limited circumstances. All improvisation undertaken by an actor in a television production should be reported immediately to the story editor.

Inciting incident
The inciting incident, as suggested by the author, Syd Field in Screenplay is the single action that initiates the major conflict of in the film, television or radio script. It has to happen within the first three minutes of a script to set the drama in motion.

[Field, S. (1994). Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. New York : Dell Publishing].

Internet production/new media
Internet production or new media is an original audio-visual production made for an internet-only exhibition.

Independent film/indie
Independent film/indie is one that has not been funded nor produced by a major studio or production company.

Ink
Ink means t o sign a contract. Wet ink means that a contract or legal document was signed in person on a piece of paper with a pen or similar. It was not signed electronically.

Insert
Insert is a c lose-up shot of an object, often produced by the second unit. Inserts can be used very creatively to quicken time. They are written into a script.

Interior/INT
Interior or INT. is a direction that is used to indicate that a scene occurs indoors.

Intertitles
Intertitles is a title card that intercuts with a scene.

Back to Über editor