Glossary
If there's a term you think should be added to the Glossary, please e-mail star@queertet.net with your suggestion.
Angst - a descriptive term, but not in itself a video category; angst should be considered a subgenre of other categories (narrative, character study, episodic, etc.). A video may be filled with angst-ridden lyrics and scenes, but there's usually a story behind it.
.AVI - see Video For Windows.
Bandwidth - the amount and rate of data that can be processed or transmitted by a device. A dial-up modem, for example, has very little bandwidth and cannot download video files from the Internet as quickly as a cable modem. Some servers restrict the amount of daily bandwidth usage, so some videos may download more slowly or might be temporarily unavailable during times of higher traffic to those websites.
Canon - the root of this word means "rule" or "measurement"; in terms of television shows and movies, canon means the historical standard around which a show is written. In other words, canon is what actually happens in context, on screen.
- action: primarily action-oriented: lots of kick-punch-run-fight, and the song generally rocks.
- character study: concentrates on a single character and his or her development through a story arc, or his or her personal struggles. Other characters are usually not present except in very minor roles.
- comedy: scene and/or song selection is primarily based on humor, satire, or other forms of comedy.
- constructed reality: creates a story completely different from the one canonically represented in the show source. In fanfiction, you would call this an "alternate universe".
- crossover: contains material from more than one television show, movie, or other source.
- episodic: based on scene selection from within a single episode.
- experimental: uses unusual visual techniques or musical sources -- filters, stills, foreign language lyrics (or no lyrics), deliberate lack of narrative/theme, anything that doesn't fit in the standard definitions.
- narrative: illustrates a storyline, relationship or specific point about a given show. Includes dramatic or "angsty" as well as comedy and romantic videos.
- recruiter: intended to provoke the response "Where can I get tapes of this show?" These vids can be understood by someone who isn't familiar with the series; they're compelling not because of the context of the source material, but because of stunning visuals or the succinct suggestions of relationships and storylines.
- romance: this has been removed, and is now covered in the three options below. A vid can be marked one, two or all three of the below options.
- romance: het: scene and/or song selection is primarily based in romance of a heterosexual nature, whether this pairing is cannon on the show or not. For example, Buffy/Spike, and Willow/Giles both come under this heading.
- romance: slash: focuses on a same-sex pairing of a romantic or sexually suggestive nature. Laura and Sarah define slash as any homosexual pairing, whether shown on the show or not. Both Xander/Spike and Willow/Tara are considered slash by our reckoning.
- romance: unconventional: focuses on a pairing, whether het or slash, of a romantic or sexually suggestive nature, using the show's subtext to create a relationship not shown on screen. This covers all non-cannon couples. While Buffy/Faith is quite a mainstream ship, it is not "conventional", based on the fact that Buffy and Faith did not get together on the show. To further cover it, if the couple did not have a relationship, then it is considered unconventional. For example, Anya/Giles is unconventional, yes, they kissed once, but they were under the influence of a spell, and did not have a relationship. I hope this leaves no grey area, since Laura and Sarah spent some time working out exactly what the ground rules of "unconventional" should be defined as.
Disclaimer - a written message at the beginning or end of your video or somewhere on your videos page stating that you don't own the source material from which the video was developed, or any of the rights to any of the characters represented within. This is a tool that people use to protect themselves from litigation. Since videos use source clips and musical tracks that are owned by people other than the vidder, it is a good idea to have a disclaimer on your vidding page or within the video itself.
DiVX - an MPEG-4 (see MPEG) format that enables the compression of high quality video using a low bitrate, essentially providing DVD quality using CD-ROM space.
Ensemble - avideo in which all or most of the cast of a show appear.
Gen - short for "general" or "generic," a video that does not contain a romantic pairing.
Het - short for "heterosexual," a video that focuses on a heterosexual romantic pairing.
Meta - a style of music video usually characterized by an external point of view; often a commentary on a topic outside the confines of show storylines (something like "look at all the cute boys in this video" or "watch these various heroic girls kick some butt"). Often these may be multi-fandom or crossover videos.
.MOV r11; see QuickTime.
MPEG - apopular type of multimedia file formats and compression schemes defined by the Moving Pictures Expert Group. For example, MPEG-1 video provides a quality similar to VHS and was designed for use on CD-ROMs, while MPEG-2 video was designed for use on DVDs and can provide higher quality in a smaller size file.
Nummy_Treat - the mailing list at Yahoo Groups where updates to the Database get posted. It is also a list for promotion and discussion of Buffy-related music videos and music video sites.
Progressive Download - a technique for downloading Internet video and/or audio so that they can be viewed while they are transferring to a computer, in between downloading and streaming without requiring a special streaming server.
QuickTime - a multi-platform, multimedia Movie file format (.mov) from Apple Computers
.RAM - see RealMedia
ratings - system used in the United States to designate the appropriate audience for films:
- G: General Audiences. No nudity, sex scenes, or scenes of drug use. Violence is minimal.
- PG: Parental Guidance Suggested. No explicit sex scenes or scenes of drug use. Horror and violence do not exceed moderate levels.
- PG-13: Parents Strongly Cautioned. No rough or persistent violence, or sexually-oriented nudity. Some scenes of drug use may be seen; some use of harsh sexually derived words.
- R: Restricted. Contains adult material. An R may be assigned for use of language, theme, violence, nudity, sex or portrayal of drug use.
- NC-17: No One Under 17. May contain explicit sex scenes, an accumulation of sexually-oriented language, and/or scenes of excessive violence. The NC-17 designation does not signify that the rated film is obscene or pornographic, simply that it addresses these topics.
RealMedia - a multi-platform, multimedia web streaming file format (.rm, .ram) from Real Networks.
.RM - see RealMedia.
Slash - see under Categories.
Streaming media - internet video and/or audio clips that can play directly over the Internet without needing to be downloaded onto a computer first.
Vidder - a person who creates a music video.
Video For Windows - media file format used with Microsoft Windows (.avi).
.WMV - Windows Media file.