"We've got it on tape"

[Boyd Ostroff]

I still constantly hear this on major news outlets for things like cellphone video and digital audio recordings. How long do you think this expression can survive? I'm sure that my 10-year-old granddaughter has no idea what it means.

[Doug Jensen]

I hear so-called professionals call our work "filming" all the time, which is even more ridiculous. The younger you are the more likely you are to use the term "filming", yet the younger you are the less likely it is that you have ever touched a piece of film in your entire life.

[Greg Smith]

I taught media production in a local high school up until a year ago. I always had a futile one man campaign going to try and stamp out the terms "film" and "filming" in reference to electronic images. At one point I actually carried a little coil of 16mm film in my pocket that I would whip out whenever a student used the words inappropriately, along with a canned speech about how it wasn't "film" unless you were using that stuff.

My crusade went down in total defeat. Finally, one of my respected co-teachers told me to drop it since I was annoying and turning off more students from getting involved with my class than I was enlightening about the technology and history. So I quit pushing it in people's faces although I was still careful to point out the distinctions in lectures and when we would view actual works shot in the different media.

I think this one is a lost cause.

[Doug Jensen]

I agree that it is not worth correcting people about because it just makes you look like a dick. Actually, it has become so mainstream, with so many people who I respect saying it, I've considered giving in and joining the crowd. My preferred term has always been "shooting", but that has some bad connotations all of its own. "Filming" might be in my future. Never say never.

[Boyd Ostroff]

I don't think the term "filmmaker" is going away anytime soon either....

[Greg Smith]

I've substituted "recording," "shooting" or "photographing" in my vocabulary for the most part. Still can't bring myself to say "film" unless actual perforated cellulose is involved. Probably it's because I'm one of the few still around in my peer group whose career actually started out shooting real film, and I'm still slightly in awe of the process.

[W. Bill Magac]

I still occasionally refer to a video clip as “footage”.

[Donald McPherson]

Did you google or yahoo or just a simple search for the right term for digital image cature?

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by W. Bill Magac

I still occasionally refer to a video clip as “footage”.

I see nothing wrong with "footage".

[Paul R Johnson]

I think it's because the 'film' refers to the process of recording moving images - so used as a verb, not a noun. So "I'm going to film this, and stick it on a memory card" is fine. The same as when we use the word 'Hoover' as a verb - I'm going hoover that room now - there's rubbish all over the carpet. The actual device might be made by Dyson, Shark, Panasonic or even Hoover.

I must admit, it doesn't so much annoy me using film, but I try to avoid using the term at all, just in case,

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by Doug Jensen

I see nothing wrong with "footage".

How many feet per gigabyte? Do people in countries that use the metric system say "footage"?

[Paul R Johnson]

Yes, indeed we do. We actually use both systems. Worst being a sheet of plywood - 8' x 4' x 18mm

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

How many feet per gigabyte? Do people in countries that use the metric system say "footage"?

1 GB = exactly 10 meters. Everybody knows that.

[Bryan Worsley]

I still say 'filming' because 'video-ing' just doesn't sound right and 'shooting or recording a video' is mouthful.

Likewise its easier to say 'footage' than some 'video clips' or 'video recordings'.

[Doug Jensen]

"Rolling" is just as meaningless in today's tapeless and filmless world. BTW, so is "dialing" a telephone.