IEC
ABBREVIATIONS
Technical | Organizations & Film Schools | Awards
TECHNICAL
2u - 2nd unit
2uc/3uc - 2nd/3rd unit camera/photography
2ud - 2nd unit director
35bu - blown-up to 35mm
70bu - blown-up to 70mm
a - artist [singer/group]
a.o. - and others
add - additional
addph - additional photography
adv - advisor
altern - alternative
anim - animation/animated
aph - aerial photography
art dir - art director
as - Agascope
assoc - associate
av - ArriVision
b&w - black & white
BetaSP - Betacam Superior Performance [video system by Sony]
c - color
c.asst - camera assistant
c.op - camera operator
cam - camera
CGI - Computer-Generated Imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media
cin - cinematography/cinematographer
co-ord - coordinator
collab - collaborator/collaborating
comm - film commissioned by...
comp - compilation
cons - consultant/consulting
cph - co-director of photography
cr - Cinerama
cred - credited
cs - CinemaScope
d/dir - director
dec - decorator
des - designer
DigiBeta - Digital Betacam, aka DigiBeta or D-Beta, was introduced by Sony in 1993 as a replacement for the analog Betacam SP format. Digital Betacam was superior in performance to DVCAM and DVCPRO, while being cheaper than D1. Digital Betacam attracted a fair amount of professional support but didn't go as far as to become an industry standard like it's predecessor
DIT - Digital Imaging Technician; works in collaboration with the cinematographer on workflow, systemization, signal integrity - responsible for the safe storage and archiving of data - and image manipulation, to achieve the highest image quality and creative goals of cinematography in the digital realm
doc - documentary
doph/DoPh/DP - director of photography/cinematographer
dram - dramatized
ds - DyaliScope
dv - shot on digital video; DV [dv - Digital Video] is a video standard launched in 1996. It was created by a consortium of companies and given the official name IEC 61834. The DV standard has spawned a few variations, including DVCAM [Sony] and DVCPRO [Panasonic]. Consumers know DV in it's smaller format MiniDV [mdv]. The high-definition version is HDV, which uses the same style tapes but uses MPEG-2 for compression
DVcam - digital video system/camera
DVCPRO - DVCPRO is a format developed by Panasonic. It is a variation of the DV format, aimed at the professional market [in particular for ENG work]. DVCPRO is also known as DVCPRO Standard or DVCPRO25, to differentiate it from other variations. DVCPRO HD is an enhanced version of DVCPRO and DVCPRO50. DVCPRO HD increases the data rate to 100MBps, which is why it is sometimes called DVCPRO100. Despite the 'HD' tag, DVCPRO HD is not true high-definition in the current sense. Signals can be upscaled on playback for better compatibility with high-definition equipment
ed - editing/editor/edited
efx - effects
ep - episode[s]
EPK - Electronic Press Kit
exp - experiment/experimental
ext - exterior
fs - Franscope
HD - High Definition Digital Video/High Definition Television; see also UHD
Hi8 - Hi8 was the higher-resolution version of Video8. Hi8 was introduced to compete with the VHS-equivalent S-VHS. Hi8 camcorders were popular with amateur enthusiasts and were also used in television productions which required lightweight portable equipment. Hi8, like S-VHS, used a combination of higher-grade tape and improved recording mechanisms to increase bandwidth. Hi8 was eventually replaced by Digital8 and MiniDV
hph - helicopter photography
incl - including/includes
int - interior
interv - interview
loc - location
m - minutes
mdv - shot with MiniDV camera - mini digital video; MiniDV is a digital video tape format which, for a while, was the most popular format for home video cameras. MiniDV uses the same compression as DV. MiniDV cassettes are 65 x 48 x 12mm. Record time is 60 minutes [standard play] or 90 minutes [extended/long play]. 80/120 minute tapes are also available
mm - millimeter
mtr - meters
mus - music/musical
nom - nomination/nominated
p - Panavision
perf - performance
pfx - photographic effects
ph - photographer/photography/photographed by/cinematographer/director of photography
prod - producer/produced by/production
prod des - production designer
PSA - Public Service Announcement or Public Service Ad
s8/s16/s35/s70 - Super 8mm/Super 16mm/Super 35mm/Super 70mm
s16-35bu - Super 16mm blown up to 35mm
scope - aspect ratio 2.35:1 [variations on CinemaScope]
scrpl - screenplay
seg - segment/segments
seq - sequence
set dec - set decorator
sfx - special effects
sp - Super Panavision
spec - special
spph - special photography
ss - Sovscope
str - Super Technirama
sts - Super Techniscope
superv - supervision/supervisor
sus - Superscope
tao - Todd-AO
tech - technician/technical
tr - Technirama
ts - Techniscope
tv - television
tvi - Technovision
tvm - [feature length] movie made for television
UHD - Ultra High Definition Digital Video/Ultra High Definition Television (4K UHD = 3840 pixels by 2160 pixels; 8K UHD = 7680 pixels by 4320 pixels)
uncred - uncredited
up - Ultra Panavision
us - UltraScope
uwph - underwater photography
V - released directly to videotape [e.g. VHS] or DVD
v - recorded on videotape
v8 - Video High-8
vfx - visual effects
vg - video game
VOD - video-on-demand [systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content when they choose to]
vv - VistaVision
ws - widescreen [1.85:1, etc.]
splinter unit - A splinter unit is a small group that shoots usually concurrently at some location while the main unit operates somewhere else. At times the splinter unit will shoot pick up shots, establishing shots, or shots that do not require the main actor or actors to be present.
ORGANIZATIONS & FILM SCHOOLS
AAC - Austrian Association of Cinematographers/Verband Österreichischer Kameraleute
ABC - Associação Brasileira de Cinematografia/Association of Brazilian Cinematographers
ACK - Asociace ceských kameramanu/Association of Czech Cinematographers [founded in 1990]
ACS - Australian Cinematographers Society [founded in 1957]
ADF - Asociación Argentina de Autores de Fotografía Cinematográfica
AEC - Asociación Española de Autores de Obras Fotográficas Cinematográficas [Spain; founded in 1993]
AFC - Association Française des Directeurs de la Photographie Cinematographique [founded in 1990]
AFI [Aus] - Australian Film Institute
AFI [USA] - American Film Institute, Los Angeles, CA
AFTRS - Australian Film Television and Radio School, Sydney [with offices/courses in other states] [started in 1973 as the Australian Film and Television School (AFTS); in 1981 radio courses were added to the curriculum]
AFTS - see AFTRS
AGRFT - Akademija za gledalisce, radio, film in televizijo/Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, Ljubljana, Slovenia [since 1975 a Faculty of the University of Ljubljana]
AIC - Associazione Autori Italiani della Cinematografia [Italy] [founded in May 1950 as the Associazione Italiana Cineoperatori]
AIP - Associação de Imagem Cinema - Televisão Portuguesa [Portugal] [founded in 1998]
AMC - Asociación Mexicana de Cinefotografos/Mexican Society of Cinematographers [founded in 1992]
AMPAS - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences [founded in May 1927 by 36 of the most influential men and women in the motion picture industry at the time, the Academy is an honorary membership organization whose ranks now include more than 6,000 artists and professionals]
ASC - American Society of Cinematographers [formed in 1918; official charter issued in January 1919]
ASK - Asociácia slovenských kameramanov/Slovak Association of Cinematographers [Slovakia] [founded in 1991]
BAC - Asociacia na Balgarskite Operatori [Bulgaria]
BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation [formed in October 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company]
BFI - British Film Institute
BSC - British Society of Cinematographers [founded in 1949]
BVK - Berufsverband Kinematografie/German Society of Cinematographers
BYU - Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
CALARTS [CalArts] - California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, USA
CSC - Canadian Society of Cinematographers [founded in 1957]
DFF - Dansk Filmfotograf Forbund [Denmark] [founded in 1954]
DFFB - Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin/German Film and Television Academy, Berlin
DGA - Directors Guild of America
ÉNSLL - l'École Nationale Supérieure Louis-Lumière, Paris [Noisy-le-Grand], France [started in 1926 as the l'École technique de photographie et de cinéma (l'ÉTPC) in the rue de Vaugirard, hence the name 'l'École de Vaugirard'; later l'École nationale de photographie et cinématographie (ENPC) and in 1964 the Lycée Technique d'État de Photographie et de Cinématographie (LTÉPC)]
ESC - Society of Cinematographers in Estonia
FAMU - Filmová a Televizní Fakulta Akademie Múzických Umení v Praze/Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague [Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic]
FÉMIS [La Fémis] - École Nationale Supérieure des Métiers de l'Image et du Son, Paris [the former Pathé Studios in the rue Francoeur], France [founded in 1986 and successor to the IDHEC]
FNF - Foreningen Norske Filmfotografer/Norwegian Society of Cinematographers [Norway]
FSC - Finnish Society of Cinematographers/Suomen Elokuvaajien Yhdistys
FSF - Föreningen Sveriges Filmfotografer/Swedish Society of Cinematographers
GSC - Greek Society of Cinematographers [founded in 2013]
HFFM - Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film [TV & Film Academy], Munich, Germany
HKSC - Hong Kong Society of Cinematographers
HSC - Magyar operatörök társasága/Hungarian Society of Cinematographers [founded on 19 April 1990]
ICA - Israeli Cinematographers Association
ICG [600] - International Cinematographers Guild [Local 600 IATSE], USA
IDHEC - Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographique, Paris, France [founded in 1943; succeeded by la Fémis]
INSAS - Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle et des Techniques de Diffusion, Brussels, Belgium [film school for 'la communauté française de Belgique']
ISC - Indian Society of Cinematographers
JSC - Japanese Society of Cinematographers
LFS - The London Film School, UK [founded in 1956 as the London School of Film Technique (LSFT) (Electric Avenue, Brixton); from 1974-2001: The London International Film School (LIFS)]
LIFS - see LFS
LNFS - London National Film School, UK
LSFT - see LFS
LWT - London Weekend Television
NFA - Nederlandse Filmacademie/Dutch Film Academy [founded in 1958; renamed in 1975: Nederlandse Film en Televisie Academie (NFTA); renamed in 2013: Nederlandse Filmacademie (NFA); since 1987 part of the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten]
NFBC - National Film Board of Canada
NFS - see NFTS
NFTA - see NFA
NFTS - National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield, UK [founded in 1970 as the National Film School; opened in 1971 in the old Beaconsfield Studios, Buckinghamshire; changed its name to NFTS in 1982]
NSC - Netherlands Society of Cinematographers [founded in 1994]
NYU - New York University/Tisch School of the Arts, New York, New York, USA
NZCS - New Zealand Cinematographers Society [formed in January 2008]
PSC - Stowarzyszenie Autorów Zdjeć Filmowych/Polish Society of Cinematographers [founded in 1994 as Stowarzyszenie Twórców Obrazu Filmu Fabularnego (STOFF); in 2012 the name was changed to Stowarzyszenie Autorów Zdjeć Filmowych (PSC)]
PWSFTviT - Panstwowa Wyzsza Szkola Filmowa Telewizyjna i Teatralna/The Polish National Film School, Lódz, Poland
RGC - Russian Guild of Cinematographers
RTS - Royal Television Society [U.K.]
SASC - South African Society of Cinematographers [founded in 1954]
SBC - Belgian Society of Cinematographers/Belgische Vereniging van Kineasten/Association Belge des Cinéastes [founded in 1993]
SCS - Société Suisse des Chefs Opérateurs/Swiss Cinematographers Society [founded in 1996]
SMPTE - Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
SOC - Society of Camera Operators
STOFF - see PSC
SzFF - Szinház- és Filmmüvészeti Föiskola/[State] Academy of Drama and Film, Budapest, Hungary [Faculty of Film (and Television)] [established in 1949; since 2000: Szinház- és Filmmüvészeti Egyetem/University of Theatre and Film (SzFE)]
UCLA - University of California, Los Angeles, USA
USC - University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif., USA [the USC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences established a motion picture study course in 1929; 1940: the Department of Cinematography becomes the Department of Cinema; 1983: USC School of Cinema-Television; 2006: USC School of Cinematic Arts]
VGIK - Vserossijskij Gosudarstvennyj Institut Kinematografii [State Institute of Cinematography], Moscow
WICA - Western India Cinematographers Association
ZFS - Zdruzenje filmskih snemalcev Slovenije/Slovenian Association of Cinematographers
AWARDS
AA - Academy Award ['Oscar'] given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences [USA]
AFI [Aus] - Australian Film Institute
AFI [USA] - American Film Institute
Ariel - Award given by the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas
BAFTA - British Academy of Film and Television Arts
BIFA - British Independent Film Award [since 1998]
Bodil - Award given by the Filmmedarbejderforeningen [Film Workers Association] in Copenhagen. The members of the Association are the film critics of the Copenhagen newspapers. Awarded for the first time in 1948; named after Bodil Kjer and Bodil Ipsen, two Danish actresses
BSFC - Boston Society of Film Critics
César - Award given by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma [France] since 1976
CFCA - Chicago Film Critics Association
CST - Commission Supérieure Technique de l'Image et du Son ['Le Prix Vulcain de l'Artiste Technicien' (formerly 'Grand Prix Technique') is awarded during the Cannes Film Festival]
DKP - Deutsche Kamerapreis Köln; award given by WDR-tv, the city of Cologne and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie since 1980. The first time the prize was awarded was during the Photokina of 1982.
Edda - Award given by the Icelandic Film and TV Academy [IKSA] since 1999
Emmy - Award given by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences [USA]
FI - Film Institute
Genie - Awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
Guldbagge - ['Golden Beetle'] main Swedish film award given by the Swedish Film Institute since 1964
[I]FF - [International] Film Festival
IFTA - The Irish Film and Television Academy [awards since 2003]
LAFCA - Los Angeles Film Critics Association [formed in 1975]
Leo - Award given by the Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Foundation of British Columbia
Milli - Annual award [since 1958] presented to the 'Australian Cinematographer of the Year'. The award gets its name from the millimeters used to measure film lenses; its design represents the lenses of an early model camera.
MVPA - Music Video Production Association
Nika - Main national film award in Russia
NSFC - National Society of Film Critics [USA] [formed in 1966]
NYFCC - New York Film Critics Circle [formed in 1935]
Robert - Award given by the Danish Film Academy. Awarded for the first time in 1983; designed by and named after the Danish sculptor Robert Jacobsen. The award is given to films, actors, directors and other technical staff
RTS - Royal Television Society [U.K.]
