Film & Television Dictionary – Letter U

Ubangi: A mount that extends the camera away from the center of the dolly.

Umbrella light: A soft, tungsten light source. The light bounces into the white interior of an umbrella and reflects soft light onto the subject.

Uncredited: Not credited for your participation in a project. This is sometimes an oversight, but can also be requested by a performer or crew member who does not want to be credited.

Undercranking: Slowing down the frame rate during capture so that when played back at normal frame rate the image is sped up.

Underexposed: Underexposed film is film that was not exposed to light long enough to capture a proper image. If a scene is underexposed it is generally too dark and hard to make out details.

Unions: There are multiple unions across the world that represent all roles on a film set. There are unions for all performers and crew members such as SAG-AFTRA, ACTRA, DGA, WGA, IATSE, NABET, etc.

Unit Manager: If a film is large enough that it requires a second crew or the PM needs help, the UM is hired to take care of the crew and production requirements. Also referred to as a Unit Production Manager or UPM.

Upstage: This refers to the part of set that is furthest from camera. It also refers to the act of trying to take attention away from other performers and make yourself stand out.