Written by real camera crew
8 min read
Last updated: 13/9/2026
On-set lingo is the shorthand UK film and TV crews use so the day moves without long explanations. As a camera trainee, you need the general set terms and the camera-department jargon first (call sheet, call time, sticks, check the gate, marks, MOS, 10-1) so you can act on instructions instead of freezing.
Here's what you'll walk away with:
General on-set terms you’ll hear before, during, and after a take
Camera-department jargon (sticks, gate, marks, MOS, 10-1, and more)
How to use the language without slowing the day down
Sean Beasley
These aren't camera-specific, but you'll hear them constantly regardless of department, and misunderstanding one can genuinely slow the day down.
Before you get to set
Call sheet - The daily schedule: call times, scenes being shot, cast and crew needed, location, weather, contacts. Read it the night before, not on the drive in. Full breakdown: how to read a call sheet as a camera trainee.
Call time - The time you're required to be on set, ready to work, not the time you arrive at the gate.
Sides - The day's script pages, usually printed small (A5), so cast and crew can carry them in a pocket. Know where spare sides live and hand out to your camera team (mainly DP, Operator, and 1st AC)
Crafty/Craft services - The snack and drinks table. Learn where it is early; you'll be sent there often as a trainee.
If you're new to set, read our 2026 camera trainee guide.
Once you're on set
Video village - Where monitors are set up for the director, DP, and script supervisor to watch the shot. If you're a camera trainee without a dedicated video department, you may be the one setting this up and keeping it running.
Green room - Where talent rests between setups. Not somewhere you wander into without reason.
Closed set - Restricted access, often for sensitive or intimate scenes. If you hear this, don't walk on without being told to.
Last looks - The final hair, makeup, and costume check immediately before a take. If you're near set at this point, freeze and stay quiet.
Hot set - The set is dressed and ready. Don't move props, furniture, or marks unless someone asks you to.
Lock it up - 1st AD call for quiet and stillness before a take. Stop walking and talking.
Watch your back - Warning that someone is coming through with kit. Step aside and keep the path clear.
Slate / clapper - The clapper board used at the start (or end) of a take so picture and sound can sync. As a trainee you'll often clean this at the start of each day and or may be asked to slate yourself if the 2nd AC needs to step off set.
When the camera rolls
Quiet on set - Full stop. No talking, no movement, phones off. This applies to everyone, not just cast.
Standing by - A warning that filming is about to start. Get ready to stop what you're doing.
Speed - Confirmation that camera (and sound) is running. Stop fiddling with kit and stay quiet; "speed" means they're about to go for a take.
Rolling / Turnover - The camera has started recording. Treat it like a take is live: no chatter and no crossing the lens unless cleared.
Action - The director's (or 1st Assistant Director's) cue for performers to begin. Hold position until “cut” is mentioned.
Cut - Filming has stopped for this take. Wait for the 2nd AC or 1st AC before you reset anything.
Crossing - A warning shout when someone needs to walk in front of, or near, a running camera. Say it before you move, every time.
Martini shot - The last shot of the shooting day. Stay useful until wrap is actually called. Don’t pack personal kit early unless you’ve been told to.
Behaviour on set matters as much as the words. See set etiquette for camera trainees.
Wrapping the day
Wrap - The day's filming is finished, or the whole production has finished shooting.
Strike - Taking down and packing away equipment after a scene or the day wraps.
Dailies / rushes - The footage shot that day, often reviewed by the director and DP, often that evening.
If you want jargon from all areas of film, see ScreenSkills' production glossary.
Sean Beasley
This is the vocabulary that's specific to your department. Get comfortable with these and you'll follow what your 2nd AC and 1st AC are actually asking for, instead of guessing.
General camera jargon
The barrel - Slang for the camera lens. If someone says "look down the barrel," they mean look straight into the lens.
Sticks / legs - The tripod. "Sticks" can also refer to the whole tripod-and-head setup.
Mag - Short for magazine, the film canister loaded onto a camera on productions still shooting on film. On digital productions, the equivalent conversation is about cards or drives, and "downloading" them at the end of a setup.
Camera report - The paperwork tracking what was shot on each roll, card, or scene: takes, timecodes, notes for the lab or editor. As a trainee, you'll often help fill these in.
Check the gate - Traditionally, checking the film gate for hair or dust after a take, on film cameras. The phrase has stuck around on digital sets too, as a general "confirm everything looked clean" check before moving on.
Marks - Tape on the floor showing where an actor should stand, or where focus should land. Camera marks and actor marks aren't always the same thing, and mixing them up is a classic early mistake.
Points - Focus distances a focus puller uses to pull focus smoothly between two positions during a take. You might hear "give me your first point, second point" during a rehearsal.
Eyeline - The direction an actor is meant to look. Camera trainees are told to stay out of it, constantly, for good reason: breaking an actor's eyeline can ruin a take.
Insert - A close-up or detail shot, often picked up separately from the main coverage (a hand reaching for a phone, a close-up of a note).
A cam / B cam - Shorthand for which camera is which, when more than one is shooting the same setup.
MOS - Filming without sound. Nobody agrees on what it actually stands for (the most common story is a mangled "mit out sound" from an early German-accented director), but it means don't worry about audio for this shot.
10-1 - Radio code for a bathroom break.
Nobody expects a trainee to walk in fluent. Most of this becomes second nature within a few weeks on set, simply from hearing it repeated in context. If you want a head start on everything else that comes with the job, not just the vocabulary, join our free online workshop, hosted by working UK camera crew:
What lingo should a camera trainee learn first?
How long does it take to get fluent?
Is UK set slang different from US film jargon?
Is there more film lingo to learn?
