18-To-Play-Younger: A performer legally 18 years old, who can convincingly be cast as a younger age.
3/4 Shot: An actor's picture that shows three quarters of the body.
3 Voucher System: Three SAG work vouchers enables an actor to become eligible to join SAG.
8 x 10: Another name for a headshot, referring to the picture's dimensions - 8" by 10".
Above the Line: A budgetary term for movies and TV. The line refers to money budgeted for creative talent, such as actors, writers, directors, and producers.
Above the title: In advertisements, when the performer's name appears before the title of the show or play. Reserved for the big stars!
Academy Players Directory: This is a Hollywood directory of actors with headshots with agent or manager contacts. Actors must be union or be represented by a union agent to get listed, and the actor pays for the listing, which is inexpensive and worth it. A casting director can be told by telephone that an actor is on page xxx of the directory. There are four volumes to this directory, which is reprinted three times a year. The volumes list the following: leading women and ingénues, leading men and younger leading men, character men & character women, and kids.
Act Curtain: Curtain usually closest to the proscenium, which when opened reveals the scene of playing area to the audience. Also called Front Curtain, Main Curtain, Working Curtain, or Grand Curtain.
Acting Area: The area of the stage where the play is performed. Also called the Playing Area.
Action: The director's cue to the actors to begin the scene. They don't yell 'lights, camera, action, anymore. The 1st A. D. yells "We are rolling." The camera operator repeats "rolling," and the film begins to roll. The clapper/loader claps the slate in front of the camera, which specifies which scene is being shot, and says 'marking.' The clap of the slate will be used to synchronize picture and sound later. The soundman will say "speed." The director will yell "background action," and the extras will begin to move. Then the director says "action," and the actors go to work.
A.D.: An assistant director, and usually part of a hierarchy, whose duties will include helping to set up shots, coordinating and writing call sheets, and directing and corralling extras.
Ad-Lib: To improvise lines or speeches that are not part of the script.
ADR: Automatic digital recording, or additional dialogue recording.
AEA: Actors' Equity Association; often referred to as "Equity".
AFI: The American Film Institute.
AFL-CIO: The American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations.
AFM: American Federation of Musicians.
AFTRA: The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Age Range: The range in the ages of characters which an actor can play believably.
Agency Commission: SAG franchised agencies can only receive a 10% commission from their clients.
AGMA: The American Guild of Musical Artists.
AGVA: The American Guild of Variety Artists.
Airbrushing: A photographic process whereby certain flaws in a picture are gently blown off of a master print.
Air Checks: A recording made of a televised show on 3/4" tape to be used for demo reels.
Alan Smithee: A fictional name taken by a writer or director who doesn't want their real name credited on a film.
All-American Look: Middle-American appearance; a.k.a. "white bread", "P&G" look.
Amplifier: Sound term. A piece of equipment which amplifies or increases the sound captured by a microphone or replayed from record, CD or tape. Each loudspeaker needs a separate amplifier.
AMPTP: Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Anamorphic Lens: Camera lens that distorts a wide image to fit on a narrower 35mm frame of film; the film projector that later presents the film to audiences must then also have an anamorphic lens to reproduce the image to fit on the wider screen
Anchor: To secure a set piece to the stage floor.
Animation - The process of photographing drawings or objects a frame at a time; by changing a drawing or moving an object slightly before each frame is taken, the illusion of motion is realized.
Appropriate energy: The energy required to bring a part and a unit of action to life. Appropriateness relates to the size and style of the performance and may vary considerably.
Approved writer: A writer whom a television network trusts to deliver a good script once hired.
Apron: In a traditional theatre, the part of the stage which projects in front of the curtain. In many theatres this can be extended, sometimes by building out over the pit.
Arbor: The metal frame that holds the counterweights.
Areas: In lighting design, the divided portions of the stage used to apportion the light.
Arena Stage: A stage in which the audience is seated on all four sides. Also called Theatre in the Round.
Art Director: Person who conceives and designs the sets, usually on a commercial.
Aspect Ratio: The width divided by the height of a film/TV screen. Modern TVs and pre-1950 films typically have an aspect ratio of 1.33; films made after 1950 typically have one ranging from 1.66 to 2.35
ATA: Association of Talent Agents, a professional association created for establishing professional standards for talent agents, as well as for sharing information and promoting common self-interests.
Attached: Agreement by name actors and/or a director to be a part of the making of a movie.
Attitude: The habitual or occasional state of mind &/or emotion that a character brings to a situation, idea or person. It is expressed physically in body language usually through the relationship of the joints to each other.
Atmosphere: The extras in a film/TV production who appear in a scene to help establish the time, place, or mood of a scene.
Audition: A formally arranged session (usually by appointment through an agent) for an actor to display his or her talents when seeking a role in an upcoming production of a play, film or television project, usually to a casting director, director or producers.
Audio/Visual Script: A dual column screenplay with video description on the left and audio and dialogue on the right, used in advertising, corporate videos, documentaries and training films.
Auditorium: The part of the theatre in which the audience sits. Also known as the House.
Auteur (French for "author"): literally the director, who is regarded as the "author" of a film because he/she has primary control and responsibility for the final product. The Auteur theory insists that a film be considered in terms of the entire canon of a director and that each Auteur earns that title by displaying a unique cinematic style.
Avail: A courtesy situation extended by an agent to a producer indicating that a performer is available to work a certain job. Avails have no legal or contractual status.
