Having serve as a photographic camera operator on over 100 celluloid , Dave Knox knows a affair or two about the kooky slang used by pic industry insiders . His Bible , Strike the Baby and Kill the Blonde , is loaded with it . Here are a few illustration , from Knox and other sources .
1. BABY LEGS
These are n’t plump and dimply ; they ’re aluminum and adjustable . The terminal figure refers to a little tripod for making grim - slant shots .
2. BANANA
This means to interbreed in front of the camera in an arc away from the lens , which will appear as a straight line on concealment .
3. BOGIE (or BOGEY)
Bogie refer to a person who has go against the bent and is walk through the shaft . It comes from military slang for an nameless aircraft or missile , particularly one detected as a pip on radar .
4. MOS
This acronym resist for “ motor only shot ” and think of that a flick section has no synchronic audio track . According to a pop — but apocryphal — origin storey , in the former days of Hollywood talking picture , an expatriate German managing director like Ernst Lutbisch or Fritz Lang said , “ Vee vill do this conniption mit out sound , ” giving parentage to the abbreviation MOS .
5. MARTINI SHOT
The martini shot is the one hard - working crew see forward to : the last movie blastoff of the day . The next shot is out of a glass .
6. WHAT IS YOUR 20?
What is your precise location ? This expression and the next one add up from the “ 10 Code ” used by many law section for radio contagion .
7. 10-100
This indicate a shape or crew somebody has left gear up to go to the washroom .
8. CHOKER
A choker is n’t something Wardrobe borrowed from a local jeweller , but a tight close - up show only the eye .
9. FOUR-BANGER
Not a genre of pornography movie , but a big four - door trailer with dressing rooms , a production room , and a bathroom for the crew .
10. STRIKE
work stoppage means to remove something from the set .
11. BABY
A baby is a 750- or 1000 - watt lighter with a wavy Fresnel lens
12. KILL
Make it stop or work it off . It can have-to doe with to a loud noise that is disrupting the set ( “ vote out that lawnmower ” ) , an unneeded piece of dialogue ( “ Kill that line ” ) , or an external light .
13. BLONDE
A 2000 - W quartz bulb public eye without a lens .
