Hollywood Oracle
Curious about some of the unique lingo, terms, and job titles found in the Hollywood Oracle deck?
Here’s a quick explanation of some you may not be familiar with.
ALAN SMITHEE: This is a pseudonym used by a director (or other creative person) who no longer wants their name attached to their own film or TV project. A lot can go wrong with any project, but in this case, things got so bad and the end quality was so terrible, it could potentially ruin their career. Go ahead and look up Alan Smithee on IMDb. It’s a list of some of the worst movies and shows you’ve never heard of.
ANIMAL WRANGLER: This person is in charge of animal actors on set. Did you know that sometimes animal actors get paid more money than human actors? It’s true!
APPLE BOX: This is literally just a sturdy box. They can be used on set for a variety of things, but commonly a short actor will stand on one to appear taller on camera.
BACK TO ONE: Actors (and/or the cameras) will move from one spot to another over the course of a scene. That’s called “blocking”. They need to do the same blocking during each take for continuity. After finishing a take, they may be told to go “back to one”, meaning, to return to their initial starting position at the beginning of the scene, and to get ready to do another take just like before.
BACKGROUND: Background actors were previously called “extras”. Background actors are unnamed characters in a scene who don’t have any scripted, spoken dialog. (They may, however, be part of a chanting or yelling crowd.) A “featured” background actor will be seen clearly and predominately in the shot. In contrast, “deep background” actors are so far in the distance, they’re out of focus and barely visible at all. All background actors help populate the world and make the scene feel more alive and realistic.
BASE CAMP: This is kind of like the production’s temporary on site headquarters, when filming on location somewhere. You’ll sign in when you first arrive to set here. You’ll find trailers for hair, make-up, costumes, actors, and other departments here. This is probably where you’ll find the food, too. It’s usually somewhere that’s close and convenient to where they’re actually filming, but far enough away to stay out of sight of the cameras and won’t interfere with the audio.
BLOOPER: A funny mistake, goof, fumble, or foible while filming. Like when an actor totally messes up their line or trips over their own feet. It (usually) won’t end up in the final cut, but makes everyone laugh when it happens. Sometimes these bloopers will be shown during the end credits of a movie or inside the DVD bonus features. (Does anyone still use DVDs?)
C-47: A clothespin. Seriously. That’s all it is. They’re typically used to hold gels or filters in place over lights, as well as other various uses on set. The rumor is that back in the early days of Hollywood, budget-conscious studio executives felt they were spending too much money on ordinary, cheap clothespins. But the crew actually needed and used them, so on a budget line item, they were renamed to “C-47” to make it sound technical and more official.
CALL SHEET: An important piece of paper (usually sent to you by email as a PDF) that has a list of the cast and crew for the next shoot day, the address where you’ll be filming, the time everyone is required to arrive to set, any special parking information, the nearest hospital in case of an emergency, the list and order of the scenes scheduled to be filmed that day, and more. Amazingly, all that information is often miraculously squeezed onto a single page, too!
CRAFT SERVICES: The people who provide the free food to the cast and crew. Depending on the size of the production that day, they might need to feed anywhere from a dozen to several hundred people. Lunch may be provided by a caterer, and will often be setup in a buffet line style. The entire cast and crew needs to break for lunch at the same time. In the entertainment industry, people can legally work up to 6 hours without a break, so by the time we stop for lunch, everyone’s hungry and ready!
CREATIVE ACCOUNTING: A “legal” way of somehow magically making even the most profitable blockbuster hits look like a financial loss on paper. Is it legal? Yes. Moral and ethical? That depends on who you ask.
CRITIC: Someone who doesn’t do creative work themselves, but will complain, criticize, and/or critique how somebody else “should” or “could” have done creative work differently. Constructive criticism will give specific notes and guidance that the artist finds helpful, empowering, and beneficial for self-improvement. In my own personal experience, working artists will rarely, if ever, criticize another artist. If they do, it’ll be constructive and supportive. If you’re an artist, you can safely ignore any trolls or other non-constructive critics. Their opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it: nothing. Remember, you’re the one actually creating and doing something. They’re consuming YOUR original content. You keep working and being the best artist you can be. Nobody’s perfect and there’s always room for growth. Try to get constructive criticism from a mentor or fellow artist. That’s the kind of feedback that’ll actually help you grow, and won’t crush your spirit in the process.
DAILIES: During production, the editor will piece together a rough cut of what was filmed earlier that day or the previous day. The director will review these rough scenes to make sure everything’s looking and sounding good. If there’s any problems, now’s the time to find out, while they can still reshoot and correct it. Dailies are also sometimes called “rushes”.
DAY PLAYER: This is somebody who’s hired temporarily for just a day or so. Typically you’ll have the same crew members working on the same project from start to finish over multiple weeks or months. But sometimes they’ll need an extra pair of hands to help one day for a variety of potential reasons.
DEVELOPMENT HELL: Before a screenplay goes into production, it typically first goes through one or more rewrites to make it as good as possible. Sometimes, however, a screenplay needs a LOT of rewrites. Or the script gets sold to or inherited by a new owner, who isn’t sure what they want to do with it. If a screenplay gets stuck in this early development stage, it’s known as “development hell”. Hopefully, eventually, it’ll receive a rewrite that everybody loves or a new owner who’s excited and ready to film it. Until then, the script’s stuck in limbo, with no one knowing if it’ll ever get made.
DIRECTOR / PRODUCER: A lot of people aren’t sure of the difference between a director and a producer. Both are important leadership roles. Basically, a director is in charge of all the “creative” decisions on a project and the producer is responsible for the practical “business” side of things — budgeting, scheduling, hiring the crew, marketing, etc. The producer usually hires the director, and hopefully they work well together with mutual trust and a shared vision. They depend heavily on each other to do their jobs well and tell a multimedia story they’re both proud of.
FIX IT IN POST: Sometimes during filming, there’s a known problem or issue, but the director may not have the time, desire, or ability to fix it right now. The director might say, “we’ll fix it in post” — meaning he or she will resolve the issue later with the editor, during the post-production phase of the project. However, as a general rule in film production and in life, NEVER delay or push off your problems until later if you can solve them now. But sometimes, unfortunately, it becomes necessary, and “fixing it in post” really is your only available option.
FLYING IN: This is an expression that means someone or something is currently on the way and will get to the intended destination shortly. It could be an actor, prop, piece of equipment, or anything else that’s needed somewhere as soon as possible. In reality, “flying in” usually means they’re walking swiftly. But it sounds more exciting this way.
FOURTH WALL: From any given camera angle, you’ll never see more than 3 walls in a room or location at any given time. That’s because, obviously, the “camera” (and therefore audience) is where the fourth wall would normally be. “Breaking the fourth wall” is when an actor looks directly into the camera, causing audiences to feel like the actor is looking directly at them. When used appropriately, this can be highly effective and often funny. But generally, in most films and shows, the fourth wall is invisible and completely ignored.
GAFFER: The gaffer is in charge of the lights and electricity on set. They work closely with the cinematographer and key grip to properly light the scene.
GREENLIGHT: A wonderful word to hear in Hollywood. When a project receives a “greenlight”, it means it’s being funded and will finally get made! Until then, no matter how much researching, planning, and preparation was done, there’s never a guarantee the project will ever get produced. In fact, most projects in Hollywood DON’T ever receive a greenlight. So when one finally does, it’s a joyful moment for everyone involved.
GREEN ROOM: This is a dedicated room for an actor or special guest to hang out and wait, before they’re needed to come on stage or report for filming. It’s usually at least moderately comfortable, quiet, and secure, where they won’t be bothered by the general public or in the way of the working crew. However, despite the name, the rooms are not always colored green.
GREENS: Did you know there’s an actual job for taking care of and placing plants, trees, and other greenery on set? Not all plants you see in a scene are fake. If you’ve got a green thumb and want to work in the movie business, this is an option for you.
HOT BRICK: This is a fully-charged battery, usually for a radio. (An empty battery is called a “cold brick”.) We have to swap out batteries on set a lot more often than you’d think. Always be charging one while using another.
INTIMACY COORDINATOR: This person supervises and guides actors performing intimate scenes on camera. Whether it’s just soft kissing or passionate love-making, intimacy coordinators help actors feel comfortable doing this physically vulnerable work with a stranger in front of a camera. They’ll also help choreograph specific movements and actions that meet the needs of the scene and director’s vision, while also making the actors feel safe, respected, and in control at all times too.
KEY GRIP: This person works with the gaffer and cinematographer to help shape and control the lights on set. Grips physically handle all the gear, stands, rigs, etc. The key grip is the person in charge of the whole grip department. Because grips often have to carry and move heavy equipment around, they tend to be very physically strong too.
MACGUFFIN: This is a plot device used to get the story going and initially motivate the characters. But it’s usually not that big or important in the end.
MAGIC HOUR: Sometimes also called “golden hour”, this is the time of day in the morning or evening when the sunlight is exceptionally beautiful. It has an almost golden hue to it and makes everyone and everything look gorgeous on camera.
MARTINI SHOT: When filming, this is the final shot of the day. Once the director’s happy with the last take, everyone’s wrapped for the day. Sometimes people will go out for a drink afterwards — and then the only “shot” they’re concerned with comes in a glass.
MAYONNAISE COMMERCIAL: This is an industry insider joke. Whenever you’re filming on location somewhere, the general public will see all the trucks and lights and cameras and crew. Nearby pedestrians might want to linger and watch and ask a lot of questions. “What movie is this? Is anybody famous here? Can I get a selfie with them?” To make the project sound boring and hopefully motivate the person to lose interest and move on, the crew member might respond by saying they were filming a “mayonnaise commercial”. There’s nothing exciting or sexy about that — and it usually works!
MEAL PENALTY: In most industries in the United States, every employee is entitled to an off-the-clock lunch break no later than 5 hours after they started working each day. In the entertainment industry, employees are legally allowed to work 6 hours before receiving a lunch break. And even then, that’s no guaranntee. But if they don’t receive their break, the production company has to pay a meal penalty. It’s a small bonus on top of their paycheck that day. But those meal penalties can really add up and start to impact the budget. So productions will only go into meal penalties when absolutely necessary.
ONE THE DAY: An expression that basically means “when it happens” or “when the time comes”. For example, someone may be giving you information ahead of time about something. It’s nothing you need to worry about or do right now (when they’re telling you about it), but later when the appropriate time comes, you’ll already know and be prepared for what to do. “On the day” can literally mean a different day or later that same day.
OVER UNDER: There’s a better way to roll up cable wires. The average person may just loop the cable around and around in a circle, but professionals know to wrap wires using the “over under” method. It prevents cables from getting tangled or messy, and when it’s time to uncoil them, the line rolls out quickly, smoothly, and perfectly straight.
PICK-UP: This is usually just a single shot or small part of a scene that’s missing something or needs to be redone for some reason. They don’t need to reshoot the whole scene, just this particular piece of it. Or if you fall really behind schedule, you may have a whole “pick-up day” to get what you missed.
PICTURE’S UP!: There’s a lot of setup involved in every shot and scene. The lights need to be perfect. The cameras need to be in place. The actors need to be rehearsed and blocked. Once everything’s ready and the director’s happy, the assistant director may yell “picture’s up” — letting everyone know we’re finally good to go and about to film a take!
SANDBAG: TV and film crews will use actual bags of sand to help weigh down and stabilize light stands or anything else that’s top heavy and at risk for falling over.
SCRIPT SUPERVISOR: This person has an eye for detail and is responsible for taking a lot of notes. They help with continuity, to make sure everything will edit together smoothly in post-production. They also keep track of the timing of each shot and overall daily progress. When a director especially loves a particular take, the script supervisor will make a note of that too, so the editor knows to prioritize and use that take if possible. And if an actor forgets their line? Guess who’s already staring at the script and ready to remind them.
SLATE: Also known as a “clapboard”, it’s the board you see at the start of every take that lists the project name, scene number, shot number, and other important information that’s very useful during the editing process. When they slap the stick on top, that’s for a very specific reason. On set, the video and audio are typically recorded separately on different devices. The editor will match the loud sound spike in the audio track made by the clapboard stick with the exact frame that stick hits the slate, to perfectly synchronize the audio with the video. However, nowadays editing software makes audio syncing much faster and easier, and the slate clap is less essential than it used to be.
SOUND MIXER: This person records, monitors, and adjusts the audio levels while filming on set. The “boom operator” is the person who holds the long pole with the microphone on the end. Actors may have individual lavalier microphones hidden on them too. The sound mixer receives and records clean, high quality, even-level audio from all those sources in real-time.
TEST SCREENING: Before a movie is released to the general public, producers will hold test screenings with small, limited test audiences. This helps them get a fresh perspective on the movie, identify potential problems that need to be fixed with the story, and see how audiences generally respond to the film overall. Usually during a test screening, the movie’s still not quite done. It may be missing certain special effects, final music, or other finishing polishes. Audiences understand they’re watching a work-in-progress, but it’s “mostly” complete and worth watching at this point. Based on the feedback test audiences give, producers may make small or significant changes to the final film before its official release.
THAT’S A WRAP!: This expression lets the cast and crew know they’re done filming. You’ll hear this at the end of each shooting day. A “picture wrap” means the entire movie is done being filmed. In television, a “season wrap” is the end of the current season and a “series wrap” means the entire TV series has completely finished… unless, of course, a new network or streaming service decides to buy the rights and continue the series after all. Anything can happen in Hollywood.
TRANSPORTATION: Sometimes when filming, the parking location or base camp is far away from set. “Transpo” (as industry people will sometimes say for short) will shuttle the cast and crew back and forth as needed. This department also transports all the gear, equipment, set dressing, etc to and from set as well. You can make a living driving Hollywood people and their gear around.
UNION: There are multiple unions or guilds in the entertainment industry — like SAG-AFTRA (for actors), WGA (for writers), DGA (for directors), and IATSE (for crew and more). The requirements to join each union are different. Once you’re part of a union, you typically get higher pay and better working conditions, and may become eligible for health insurance and retirement benefits too. The catch is, once you join a union, you’re not allowed to work on any non-union projects again — and there are many non-union projects available. You also have to pay fees to join your union and and stay an active member. But once you’re a working professional with enough experience and credits, most people will join their respective union. For some, it’s just a necessary business expense; for others, it’s a sense of pride and accomplishment, and a feeling of belonging to an exclusive community of fellow creative professionals.
VIRTUAL PRODUCTION: Rather than physically building an entire set or transporting the entire cast and crew to an exotic location half way around the world, TV and film productions are now starting to use virtual production. The actors perform in front of a giant high resolution video screen. A computer renders a 3-D background on that screen in real-time. And virtual reality sensors on the cameras tell the computer exactly where the camera is pointed at all times, so the background moves with depth and perspective as if they were actually there in person. This allows crews to film in nearly any environment or alien world, while still staying in a safe (and air conditioned) soundstage close to home.