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Usenet Posted 21 years ago
Usage

Off-screen vs. off-camera, and associated terms

Greetings.
In a movie or television show, action that is not directly depicted but is rather assumed or alluded to is said to occur "off-screen" or "off-camera". In my personal usage, the former puts more emphasis on the fact that the viewer is greatly removed in time and/or space from the events, whereas with the latter the unseen action is assumed to be going on nearby.
Example #1: A movie opens showing a man sitting in his house. From the next room he hears a gunshot, followed by his wife screaming and falling to the floor. Thus a murder has occurred off-camera.

Example #2: A movie opens showing a man sitting in his house. He receives a telephone call from the police informing him that his wife has just been shot to death at her workplace. Thus a murder has occurred off-screen.

Question #1: Is the off-screen/off-camera distinction I tend to make idiosyncratic, or would others also make this distinction?

Question #2: What are the equivalent terms for other media, such as books and radio plays? Off-page? Off-book? Off-microphone? Off-speaker?

Regards,
Tristan

V.-o Tristan Miller (en,(fr,de,ia)) >`-' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= <> In a haiku, so it's hard (7 \\ http://www.nothingisreal.com/ >
  

Top answer

[nq:1]Question #2: What are the equivalent terms for other media, such as books and radio plays? Off-page? Off-book?

  • [nq:1]Question #2: What are the equivalent terms for other media, such as books and radio plays?
  • Off-page?
  • Off-book?
  • Off-microphone?
  • [/nq] Sophocles had, for example, Oedipus put out his eyes off-stage.
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1 Answers
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[nq:1]Question #2: What are the equivalent terms for other media, such as books and radio plays? Off-page? Off-book? Off-microphone? Off-speaker?[/nq]
Sophocles had, for example, Oedipus put out his eyes off-stage.

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