Cable (VT) cable television, very well-liked in the USA, is now becoming increasingly visible in Europe. The main difference is that cable is transmitted down cables, or wires, which are plugged into TV sets rather as telephone connections are made, while Broadcast television is transmitted over the air waves to aerials on roofs.
Cabtyre (BT) stage cable, packed around with thick rubber. The stage cable may also be stuck sown with gaffer tape, in the hope that performers and crew won’t trip over it.
CAD (VT) acronym for computer aided draft. Using a special computer, it is possible to instruct the machine to make a graphics animation sequence, three-dimensional if required, with the only human input being one ordinary two-dimensional picture or other piece of artwork. A UK example of this, at the time of writing, is the animation of the Channel four television loge. You may also hear the expression CAD/CAM. The first part translates as above, and the next half stands for Computer Aided Manufacture – not an area that concerns this very much, but a closely-related process nonetheless. Computer-aided draft in, this context, are more common in industry – for example, design and manufacture of motor car parts, etc.
Call (VT, film, BT)
(1) The noun is a rendezvous, appointment or closing date. So, if you’re to shoot on location and you want everyone to be there by 9 am, they will all have a 9 o’clock call.
(2) As a verb, to call a show means to five out instructions to the crew over the cans while the show is in progress. Normally, this task falls to the producer or the programmer. The instructions include all lighting and sound cues, plus cues for film, videotape and slide projectionists, teleprompt worker, etc.
Camera left (VT, film, ST) the direction as of you were looking through the lens of the camera, as opposed to stage left or right, which is the other way around.
See also stage directions
Camera right see camera left
Camera script (VT, film) the full script containing the dialogue and/or narration, plus detailed camera instructions for each shot. Also called shooting script or dope sheet.
Cans (BT, sound) slang for heandsfree. In the recording studio, cans tend only to receive sound. However in business theatre
the production crew will use headsets that also have a fixed microphone, so the producer can give them instructions and so that one and all can communicate back to him or her should a problem arise. These microphones are sensitive enough to pick up a whisper, so the crew can chat even when there is a speaker performing on stage.
Cap gen (VT) acronym for caption generator. A machine which electronically generates and automatically records capturing to be put on to a videotape programme.
Captions (VT, film) originally, words superimposed over an image. Now taken more generally to mean any words or artwork appearing in a moving picture. However, it’s still used in its original sense as well. Captions or credits can roll, which means they come up as if they were rolling vertically up or down the screen, or they can crawl from right to left. (No doubt if the captions are in Arabic, they’d roll from left to right – a little point to remember in our global village . . .)