Film & Television Dictionary – Letter W
Walk On Role: A minor role in a film or television show that usually has no lines.
Walk and Talk: The walk and talk, probably made most popular by The West Wing, is a shot when two or more characters are walking and talking in the scene. It can be used to get characters to a secondary location or more commonly it can be used as a more visually interesting way to have the characters exchange information.
Walla: Walla or Walla Walla is the background noise of a crowd used in the earlier days of filmmaking. The background performers would be asked to mumble words or phrases such as Walla Walla to create the effect of crowds speaking.
Wardrobe: Wardrobe refers to the clothing/costumes that characters wear throughout a production. There is a wardrobe department that works with the director to create the look of the wardrobe. The department can consist of the wardrobe supervisor, costume supervisor, costumer, costume designer, wardrobe assistant etc.
Western Dolly: A western dolly is similar to the doorway dolly, but is larger and can handle a heavier load.
Wedges: Wooden wedges of wood that are commonly used by the grip department. Wedges can be used to level dolly track and other gear, they can also be used by set dec to level props and furniture.
Wetdown: Wetting streets and sidewalks during night night shoots to give a more reflective look in camera.
WGA: Stands for Writers Guild of America, it is the union for writers working in the United States.
WGC: Stands for Writers Guild of Canada, it is the union for writers working in Canada.
Whip Pan: A quick pan of the camera that causes motion blur.
White Balance: Removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in camera. Proper white balance has to take into account color temperature.
Widescreen: Aspect ratio where the width is great than the height, such as 16×9.
Wide Shot: A wide shot is captured with a wide angle lens, it allows for a wider range of view and greater depth of field.
Wild Line: Wild lines or wild sound, is the recording of additional dialogue or sounds after the cameras stop rolling. They are recorded separately and without an image.
Window Shot: The Window is what you call the final shot of the day. The term comes from the early days of filmmaking when the crew went to the window at the end of the day for their pay. Also known as a Martini shot.
Winnie: Winnie is a nickname for a Winnebago. Winnies are commonly used on lower budget projects as honeywagons, wardrobe trailers, production offices, etc.
Wipe: A wipe is an editorial transition used between two scenes. The use of this transition results in one scene being “wiped” away by another. Not commonly used in filmmaking today.
Wire: Another term for a lavalier mic. A wire is attached to a performer and mixed with the audio recorded from the boom mic.
Workprint: A rough version of a film or television episode, used during the editing process. The workprint usually contains the sound that was recorded on set that is later re-dubbed, stock footage as placeholders for missing shots or special effects, and animation tests or sequences.
Work Trucks: Trucks that are parked close to set and used the most often. Generally these will be the grip and lighting trucks, camera truck, props truck, etc.
Working Title: A working title is the title given to a production while it is being worked on, a different or official title may be given to the production upon release.
Wrangler: There are generally two types of wranglers; animal and vehicle. These are the people responsible for the use of these things on set, they are usually specialists in their area and are brought onto set only when animals or vehicles are required.
Wrap: This refers to the end of the filming day or the end of the production. It comes from the acronym Wind, Reel and Print, but has become the common term for the end of any part of a production, such as meetings, scouts, shoot days, etc.