Mark LeBlanc Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 Just completed a job with a reality producer out of Chicago. My first day he's attempting to describe how the day was going to unfold. My boom op and I are listening as he rattles off all these MOS shots. We look at each other and think, easy day half of what he called out was MOS. An hour passes and the camera crew is scrambling around as usual as he calls out MOS, we call out MOS and promptly get out of the way.. A few minutes pass and suddenly the producer appears screaming where's sound!! He finds us relaxing and asks why aren't we rolling sound. I politely point out you just called this shot as MOS. Well, in his world MOS means Man on Street interviews and not break time. We explained, that to us MOS was Mita Out'n Sound!! A nice chuckle was shared and the day proceded into normal Reality Chaos! Till then I had always heard it called OTF (On the fly), Interview, Standup Never crossing over to the very sacred MOS! Mark L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 MOS, in ENG work, has meant Man On the Street for a really long time, but I have never hear it "called out" in a way that would imply a "MOS" (Mit Out Sound) before a shot. In the preamble to the day, the term might have been more confusing as in "... then we'll be getting some MOS stuff" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Wow! LOL! That's crazy! I, in my years of doing reality, haven't run into a field director/ producer (atleast not yet) that ever shortened the term 'Man on the Street' down to MOS. I mean they should know it would conflict with the more predominant meaning of the acronym, Mit Out Sound, which means OMIT SOUND or without SOUND. You can eliminate possible confusion by saying the words in full, Man On the Street, or if you want to use initials, then use OTF? OTF can't possibly be confused with anything else. If you were sending audio to camera, I take it your shooter wasn't alarmed that there was no audio, because he probably interpreted MOS the same way you did. Or did he have a mounted shotgun in the close-up interviews? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Steigerwald Posted June 29, 2011 Report Share Posted June 29, 2011 OTF can't possibly be confused with anything else. As a substitute for man on the street? On all the stuff I do it means to just pull a cast member aside for a couple quick questions. The new one I keep hearing is ITM, or In The Moment. Same thing as OTF tho. On another show we kept trying to tell the producers that it's not an OTF if it involves grip equipment, it's an interview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted June 29, 2011 Report Share Posted June 29, 2011 Too many acronyms in the world. I wish more people would just F'in' say what they mean. On the Fly is easy to understand. OTF... not so much. On the other hand, "WTF" is always useful. --Marc W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted June 29, 2011 Report Share Posted June 29, 2011 "In my years of doing reality, haven't run into a field director/ producer (at least not yet) that ever shortened the term 'Man on the Street' down to MOS. " MOS for Man on the street is not a "reality" term. It has been an ENG term, that is in the news field, for many, many years, and while I don't have specific historical data, it has been around since at least the 1950's for radio interviews which were, back then, often recorded on NAGRA recorders!... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelo Waldron Posted July 1, 2011 Report Share Posted July 1, 2011 Too many acronyms in the world. I wish more people would just F'in' say what they mean. On the Fly is easy to understand. OTF... not so much. On the other hand, "WTF" is always useful. --Marc W. I never abbreviate: SOB is always spoken in plain english, and always with enough vocal projection to be heard. Same with MF'er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted July 1, 2011 Report Share Posted July 1, 2011 I was taught that in film MOS came from some German émigré director saying "Mit Out Sound" but check out the wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_(filmmaking) > It stands for "Motor Only Sync" or "Motor Only Shot". WTF? I'm not a Hollywood guy, so what do I know. What do you all say? As for MOS in news, I'm pretty sure it pre-dates, or at least co-dates, radio and ENG. I know some old print guys who use the term... you know, the city editor yells to the reporter "Balance those damn experts' opinions with some MOS." I also still hear MOTS (man in the street), and voxpop (Vox Populi). I like voxpop, distinct, not confused with anything else. Seems like regional differences... >I wish more people would just F'in' say what they mean. Falafeling? I wish you would just say what you mean. And how would we establish insider cred without TLAs*? Jim "kidding" Feeley *Three Letter Acronyms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Paine Posted July 1, 2011 Report Share Posted July 1, 2011 I thought the "Mit Out Sound" for MOS was acutally an urban legend. I thought the true meaning was " Minus Optical Sound" referring to the film stock being used, no containing the magnetic strip on the side for sound recording. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Gilbert Posted July 1, 2011 Report Share Posted July 1, 2011 MOS is always called Vox Pops in the UK, when first asked to do MOS by a US client, I hadn't got a clue what he meant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted July 1, 2011 Report Share Posted July 1, 2011 Yes, "Mit Out Sound" is probably a legend...or at least, the source is probably not a director but a crew member with a prop monocle and whip making a joke that stuck... Like FUBAR, SNAFU, and lots of other great acronyms... But the "Mit Out Sound" origin myth makes a much better story than "Minus Optical Sound," "Motor Only Sound," or any other explanation. And remember, it's all about the story. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted July 1, 2011 Report Share Posted July 1, 2011 (edited) " http://en.wikipedia....MOS_(filmmaking) > It stands for "Motor Only Sync" or "Motor Only Shot". " The wikipedia article did a good job of explaining on "posibility" of the meaning, and mentioned a couple others "This article needs additional citations for verification " it was a Script Supervisor who abbreviated MOS Edited July 1, 2011 by studiomprd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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