A Glossary of Video Content Production Terms
A Glossary of Video Content Production Terms
Video production carries a vocabulary that gets used loosely, with the same thing called three different names across a single team. This glossary gathers the terms that recur in script writing, filming, and publishing, with a short definition for each, so you and your collaborators can settle on one shared language instead of arguing about labels.
Writing terms
Hook. The first 15 to 30 seconds that decide whether the viewer stays. Detailed in How to Write a Strong Hook for a YouTube Video.
Content card. An independent unit of the script with its own title and text, movable and deletable without dismantling the rest.
Voiceover (VO). Recorded narration heard without the speaker appearing on screen.
Piece to camera (PTC). Appearing on screen addressing the viewer directly.
Call to action (CTA). The line stating what you want the viewer to do after the video.
Narrative. The ordering of events and ideas that carries the viewer from start to finish.
Filming terms
Wide shot. Shows the location in full and establishes where we are.
Medium shot. Follows the action, showing a person from roughly the waist up.
Close-up. Shows detail, or emotion on a face.
B-roll. Supplementary footage laid over the voiceover to illustrate what's being said or to cover a cut.
Coverage. Filming one scene from more than one shot, to allow freedom to cut in the edit.
Ambient sound. The location's sound alone without speech, recorded to patch audio gaps.
Shot list. A table translating script cards into what will actually be filmed, as covered in From Script to Shot List: The Bridge Between Writing and Filming.
Publishing and performance terms
Thumbnail. The image shown before anyone clicks the video.
Click-through rate (CTR). The proportion of people who clicked among those shown the video.
Watch time. The total time viewers spent in the video, as distinct from view count.
Retention curve. A graph showing when viewers left — more useful than view count for diagnosing a script.
Original content. Content filmed or produced by its creator, as opposed to re-uploaded or minimally edited material — now a classification with direct consequences for distribution, as covered in Facebook's Original Content Rules and What They Mean for How You Write.
Tooling terms
MCP. A protocol letting an AI assistant reach a specific app's data directly instead of via copy and paste.
Idea backlog. Saved ideas not yet produced, returned to instead of starting from zero.
Workflow. The sequence of stages from idea to publication.
A note on usage
Don't be rigid about terminology. Some terms have settled into use among creators, and replacing them with an unfamiliar alternative confuses your team more than it clarifies. The practical standard: use the term that's understood without explanation, and keep the common name when that's what people actually say — and above all, agree on one label within the team and stick to it.