Glossary

This video glossary covers the terminology and defines the meaning of common video terms related to cameras, codecs, lighting, film set lingo, post-production workflows, and everything else you ever wanted to know about film and video production.

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There are currently 4 names in this directory beginning with the letter G.

Gaff Tape

Gaff tape refers to a specific type of tape carried by gaffers and grips that works best for applying to lights, rigging equipment, and camera gear. It’s very durable, but easily removable, as it doesn’t stick so strongly to walls or equipment that removing it will damage paint or leave thick tape residue.

Gels

Gels are colored plastic filters that are used to cover the front of a light. In the same way, a polarizer or colored filter can change the colors your camera picks up, gels are used to change the color of the lights themselves.

For example, you might use a blue gel to make a light cooler in temperature or use a red gel to create a warmer temperature light.

Golden Hour

The Golden hour is when the sky offers a wide range of warm colors such as yellow, orange and red. This moment of the day starts immediately after sunrise and usually lasts for an hour. Golden hour is also visible during the last hour of the daytime before the sun sets below the horizon.

Green Screen

A green screen is a highly saturated, colored screen designed to purposefully clash with whatever is in front of it. This helps VFX teams paint out the specific background color (very bright green in this case) and replace it with the desired image or video, giving the illusion that the subject is in a different setting. Green screens are not limited to backgrounds (or to the color green) but can stretch to any object in the space, as long as it is coated in the same color being painted out. See also: Introduction To Green Screen, Blue Screen, And Chroma Keying & Guide: How To Shoot And Key Green Screen Footage

Grant Harvey is a freelance writer, screenwriter, and filmmaker based out of Los Angeles. When he’s not working on his own feature-length screenplays and television pilots, Grant uses his passion and experience in film and videography to help others learn the tools, strategies, and equipment needed to create high-quality videos as a filmmaker of any skill level.

About the author:

Jan Sørup is a videographer and photographer from Denmark. He owns filmdaft.com and the Danish company Apertura, which produces video content for big companies in Denmark and Scandinavia. Jan has a background in music, has drawn webcomics, and is a former lecturer at the University of Copenhagen.