Geoff Fletcher
Papers are full of factual errors all the damn time. In “The Telegraph” obit for dear old Mike Bond they had him FILMING programmes when he was a studio Senior Cameraman at the BBC. That mistake always makes me see red.
Dave Plowman
I know what you mean – but it’s a lost battle. The public don’t really understand the difference, especially these days where “films” are usually electronic anyway.
Mike Jordan
Regarding “film” – I was back at my old school to watch a stage show and there was a young female student recording it on a little camera. As I went out for interval drinks, I passed her and said, “Don’t forget to re-wind the tape” at which point she seemed totally confused so I added, “or take out the film ready for developing” and that threw her. So I had to give a very brief explanation of what film was and left her to change cards!
As I left, I passed a teacher’s small office which was our dark room in these way back early 1960s’ days where we were allowed to mix and use all the chemicals ourselves.
The (mis) use of “film” grates every time I hear it, but times change. Also I have to find an alternative in speech to properly using the word “live” when nowadays it seems to punctuate every younger persons sentences rather like (sic) eh!
Happy days!
Pat Heigham
Another phrase I hated occurred in Peter Noble’s column, reporting on films being in production:
“(Film Title), currently lensing at Pinewood/Shepperton etc…”
Ugh!
Nick Ware
The use of the word “filming” has always been mildly irritating to me too. It must be at least 15 years since I was on a shoot that was actually on film. Sadly, I think we have only ourselves to blame though, because no-one ever bothered to invent a better word. I think we made a point of not saying “videoing” because of the home video implications associated with that.
During all my CBS “60 Minutes” years we were careful not to say “shooting” lest that be misconstrued. We were as often as not in situations where that could have got us shot!
So how about finding a better word for going out filming … er.., I mean….
Or, since the recording media most commonly used now is Compact Flash, how about going out Flashing?
No, maybe not!
Pat Heigham
Yes, careful use of words, indeed!
For example, in H.M. Naval ships, when the order was given to let off their big guns,
the command was ‘shoot’, as ‘fire’ had another, more alarming meaning!
Tony Crake
You have to be very careful what you say and when and how…
Whilst “shooting or filming on videotape” in 1983 at Rockingham Castle near Corby… Joe Driver and I were on Panamics and Doug Whittaker on the Sound Desk. We had a lot of very varied levels from ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ I asked Doug if he would like a bit of level from the actor… “Good idea” he said
Without thinking I asked for a bit of his next dialogue… “No problem” he said. He climbed up on the parapet and with a mighty roar bellowed forth “Open Fire!”
The entire companies of the “Sealed Knot”, “The Honourable Regiment of Field Artillery” , “Cromwellian Society” and goodness only knows who else, charged up the hill towards the castle and proceeded to knock seven bells out of each other… Once started they have to fight to the finish… The Sound Crew departed to the Catering Tent for coffee … there was at least a 30 minute reset!
Mike Jordan
“… no-one ever bothered to invent a better word …”
It brings a whole new language as well. What replaces
| Original | Possible New Usage |
| Cut | Pause or stop? |
| In the can | card full? |
| Filmstock | ? |
| Film studio | expensive space hired out for recording shows? |
| Film crew | lots of underpaid inexperienced assistants |
| Film editor – as in credits – | computer operator? |
Peter Neill
I argued for years that video tape is film – it just has a different coating.
On a slight tangent, I get irritated by those who complain about using nouns as verbs. I say that we have been doing it for ages, it’s only the new usages that upset people.
“Film” is one of the examples I give of accepted usage (along with paint, plaster, land (as in plane) and countless others.
Bill Jenkin
I have never really had a problem with using the word “film” or “filming” in the sense that it is a description of the process of making a TV or Film production of some sort.
I see that the Oxford dictionaries have as one of the definitions of the noun “…A story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving images and shown in a cinema or on television..” – that is, it doesn‘t have to be on “…A thin flexible strip of plastic or other material coated with light-sensitive emulsion for exposure in a camera, used to produce photographs or motion pictures…” which is another of the definitions.
Dave Plowman
Same here really – and just think of the savings. Imagine a sign beside a location:
“Caution. Recording to tape, hard disc, or solid state memory using electronic cameras.”
You’d trip over the cables while reading it.
Bill Jenkin
Words change their meaning and use over the years and it will always be thus. The word film is probably derived from Old English ‘fell’ which means an animal hide. If we had a carved-in-stone rule that “NO WORD CAN EVER CHANGE ITS MEANING – EVER” we could only use the word in that sense which is clearly idiotic.
The important thing is that the current users of the language know what is understood by the word and even in the more isolated world of those who actually work in the industry it is now understood that the ‘filming’ doesn’t mean that it has to be on ‘film’ in the literal sense of the word.
John Howell
I wonder what terms are being perpetuated on a shoot these days? I’ll bet it’s still ‘a wrap’ but what about ‘turnover’, ‘speed’, ‘wild track’, or even ‘cut’? There used to be quite strange names, how about ‘the non-sync’ for a grams turntable?
Apropos of nothing at all I remember being given a box of quarter inch tapes from the film inserts of a show and after a large label reading “URGENT Sound Rushes”, some wag had written “Does it?”
Peter Leverick
We do still record ‘Wildtrack’ but interior wild track is often referred to as ‘Roomtone’.
Peter Neill
“Rushes” is a term which lost its original meaning years ago – It used to mean yesterday’s work which had been rush processed overnight for viewing the following morning. Nowadays it’s just unedited raw material (footage?)
Talking of which, do you remember those stopwatches calibrated in feet? You could have 16mm feet or 35mm feet.
John Howell
Surely not Footage? Or will it depend on Brexit? Metreage doesn’t look or sound right!
I’d not heard of the stopwatches, they would get the watch collectors scratching their heads!
Pat Heigham
I still have mine – Heuer Film-Master, bought while on a film in Switzerland. Calibrated for 24 fps.
Extremely handy for the Transfer Dept to give them the footage of each take, since they could avoid running out at the end of a 1,000ft roll of magnetic.
Here’s a pic of the Heuer Film-master stopwatch, identical to mine. Marked in 35mm and 16mm footage at 24 fps.
This example is advertised at US$370 (£285) rather more than I paid for it – I think around £80. Insured at present for £140 – ye gods!
(Click on the picture below to see a larger or clearer version of this picture:
Click the “X” button (top right) to close the newly opened picture.)
Alasdair Lawrance
Once in a pub somewhere we had a great argument about “It’s a wrap”, most thinking it meant “We’re finished, let’s wrap the gear up and go home”, but someone said it was “It’s a rap”, a term from silent film days meaning ” Rewind and print”, (it was a good take). I couldn’t find any evidence for this but it passed time until the next round.
(see also: http://tech-ops.co.uk/next/retake-thats-a-wrap/ (ed)
We had a graphics dept. with a mischievous sense of humour. They printed sheets of sticky labels – ‘Who’s Armitage? And ‘What’s Shanking?
John Vincent
I worked with a director who, on location in order to get the actors to sit up and pay attention, went through the ritual of shouting “Run Up”. I’d shout “Running Up”, wait 6 seconds (that was what VT editors wanted) shout “Speed” and he’d call “Mark it”, and we’d do a proper clapperboard routine and he’d shout “Action”. All a bit of a kerffuffle really! After “Cut”, I’d do a quick spot check and shout “Gate Clear”. We had a caption of a hare we could put up if there was a problem!
Roger Bunce
I bet you focussed with a tape measure!
And, of course, if you didn’t manage to put bars and tone on at the beginning, you could always put them on at then end – but upside down.
See also: Flippin’ shots
Nick Ware
OK, so here’s a tale you might find hard to believe, but I promise you it’s true.
We were shooting a commercial up on the Yorkshire Moors for British Rail, one of an ad campaign: “Let the train take the strain”. This particular commercial was basically one shot, starting as an over-shoulder shot of two people in the front seats of an open top sports car. Not unusually for a commercial, it had literally taken most of the day to set this shot up. At this stage we don’t know it’s open top. We’re moving at about 5mph, and there’s clearly a long queue of slow moving cars ahead. As the voice-over says something along the lines of “Why get stuck in traffic when you can let the train take the strain?”, the camera lifts up out of the car and slowly tracks along the queue, then panning left to reveal a railway line running parallel to the road, sees a carefully timed passenger express train hurtling past us all.
It’s a helicopter shot, of course with the camera underslung on a robotic mount of some sort. Elaborate stuff in those days.
The shot ends at the head of the queue where there’s a second camera pointing at a five bar gate leading into a field, into which the culprit, a tractor is about to turn. At the end of all this carefully choreographed action, both cameras cut, and the helicopter lands in the field. A few seconds later the static camera assistant shouts: “Oh, no, there’s a hair in the gate!”. Potentially, a catastrophe. From where I’m standing, pole in hand, I can see that there actually was indeed, a HARE in the gate! Not a rabbit, a hare, just sitting there wondering what all the kerfuffle was about!
Peter Hider
He wouldn’t have been there the next day. Hare today, gone tomorrow!
John Howell
I seem to remember director Viktors Ritelis would do a 5 second countdown into a rehearsal, this also focused minds.
Roger Bunce
On the subject of pedantry – A friend told me recently that he had “appeared” on the Radio. While there are obvious problems with this word, I’ve no idea what the correct word should be. Any ideas?
Geoff Fletcher
Had “spoken” on the radio?
Had “featured” on the radio?
John Howell
No doubt on a Radio “Show”.
Bill Jenkin
I suppose he could merely have been “On the radio” as long as this didn’t imply he had been sitting on it!
Pat Heigham
Another phrase I hated, occurred in Peter Noble’s column reporting on films being in production:
“… (Film Title), currently lensing at Pinewood/Shepperton etc …”
John Howell
Can we then expect:
“… (Film Title) is currently posting at Pinewood/Shepperton etc…”?
I hated “on-going” from the first time I heard it, but had to accept it because a very old road sign in the depths of Surrey warned of “On-coming traffic in the centre of the road”!
Bill Jenkin
I’ve had three gastroscopies – and they remind me of a story about Neil Chant (a cameraman colleague of mine who used to work in News).
Neil is an ex squaddie from Dorset, he started doing cameras while in the army. You may not be surprised to learn that he is a fairly stocky character and tends to be quite abrupt with people.
Anyway, working in news studios means you spend an awful lot of time doing “Newsnight” and at that time Breakfast etc so you have a lot of politicians of various hues the other side of the camera.
Neil was about to have an endoscopy of the other end of the alimentary canal and while it was all being prepared the consultant asked him what he did for a living.
“Same as you, mate,” answers Neil.
The consultant looks somewhat surprised at this and asked which part of the NHS he worked for.
Neil replies, “I points cameras at arseholes”.
Now this may not be entirely true, it was told by Neil himself, but never let facts get in the way of a good story . . . as they (don’t) say in News.
