Sorry folks, but we’re not “filming” anything!

When you’ve worked in the media business as long as I have I think that one becomes a bit sensitized to terminology. After all, accuracy is a part of the process, and it’s only professional to label activities accordingly. So I guess that’s why I tend to get a tiny bit vexed when people (including some very experienced pros) refer to videography as “filming.” The truth of the matter is that we’re not “filming” anything if we’re not using a film camera that photo-chemically records images onto a reel of flexible emulsion coated celluloid. We’re not even “videotaping” anymore because virtually no one, save students and some stodgy consumers, still uses tape-based camcorders. I venture that the proper response when someone asks you to “film” something should be “I can make a video recording” or “I can digitally capture video content,” both of which reflect what’s actually going on: recording sound and light signals as digitally-based files.

I know, I know, I’m being pedantic about all this, but I think that the sooner we in the industry use correct terminology the better we can communicate exactly what it is we do.