Reference
The working filmmaker's glossary.
Canonical definitions of the terms you'll see on every production. Built from a working AD's vocabulary, not a film-school textbook.
Cast
Sides
aka Audition sides, Shoot-day sides
A printable extract of just the scenes shooting today (or the scenes an actor reads in an audition), formatted to fit half-page sides for the cast.
Day Player
aka Daily contract, Day-rate cast
An actor hired for one or more individual shooting days on a daily rate, rather than weekly or contracted to the run of the show.
Director
Look Book
aka Lookbook, Visual treatment
A curated reference deck — stills, palette boards, mood, costume samples, location references — pitched to a director, financier, or production designer before prep starts.
Animatic
aka Animated storyboard, Story reel
A timed sequence of storyboard frames cut against dialogue, scratch music, and sound effects — the closest thing to seeing the film before you shoot it.
Storyboard
aka Boards
A sequence of drawn or AI-generated frames that visualise the film shot-by-shot before principal photography.
Shot List
aka Shotlist, Director's shot list
The director's per-scene list of every shot to be captured — shot number, type, angle, movement, lens, and any special notes.
Editorial
EDL
aka Edit Decision List
A text file listing every clip used in an edit — source tape, in-point, out-point, and timeline position — so an editor can recreate a cut in another system.
XMEML
aka Premiere XML, Final Cut XML
Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro's XML interchange format — carries every clip, every cut, every effect, and every label between editing systems.
OTIO
aka OpenTimelineIO
Pixar's open-source timeline interchange format — vendor-neutral, Python-native, designed to move sequences between every modern editing and VFX system.
Producer
DPR
aka Daily Production Report
The end-of-day report the production office sends to the studio, financier, and completion bond company summarising the day's actual progress.
Script Breakdown
aka Breakdown, Screenplay breakdown
Reading the screenplay scene-by-scene and tagging every element (cast, props, wardrobe, vehicles, stunts, SFX, animals, music, sound, atmosphere, extras, set dressing) into 12 industry-standard colour-coded categories.
Wrap Book
aka Wrap report, Wrap binder
The final report assembled at the end of principal photography summarising actual versus budgeted cost, schedule slip, departmental notes, and lessons learned.
Call Sheet
aka Callsheet
The one-page (or two-page) document sent to every cast and crew member the night before a shoot day with their call time, wardrobe time, scenes shooting, and locations.
Scheduling
DOOD
aka Day Out Of Days
A grid showing every cast member, every day, with their status — on call, hold, work, travel, drop, or pickup — across the full shoot.
Stripboard
aka Production board, Production strip board
A vertical strip per scene colour-coded by INT/EXT and DAY/NIGHT, arranged into shoot days so the production can be scheduled by location and time-of-day clusters.
One-Liner Schedule
aka Oneliner, One liner
A compact summary of the shoot — one line per scene — with scene number, location, INT/EXT, DAY/NIGHT, page count, cast list, and short description.
Script
FDX
aka Final Draft format, Final Draft XML
Final Draft's proprietary XML screenplay file format — the industry-default exchange format for sending screenplays between writers, agents, and production offices.
Fountain
aka Fountain format, Fountain screenplay format
A plain-text screenplay format — write in any text editor, convert to industry-formatted PDF/FDX. The open-standard alternative to Final Draft's proprietary FDX.