What does Monitor mean?
Monitor refers to any screen or display device used on a film or television production to view footage — either live camera feeds during filming or recorded material during review. Monitors serve multiple functions on set: the director and key creatives watch the live camera output at video village, the DIT monitors technical image quality, the script supervisor reviews continuity on a smaller personal monitor, and performers may use monitors to review their performances between takes. Monitor quality varies from small personal screens to large high-resolution reference monitors used for critical color evaluation.
Example:The director watched the child actor’s performance on the monitor at video village — the screen giving her a precise view of what the camera was capturing, including framing, depth of field, and the specific facial expressions that would only be visible at the camera’s close proximity.
Example: Between takes, the child actor’s parent was invited to view the footage on a monitor near the set — a common practice that allowed parents to see what the production was capturing without being physically close enough to distract the performer.
Did you know?
The proliferation of monitors on modern film sets has transformed the relationship between directors and their camera operators. In the pre-monitor era, directors had to position themselves next to the camera to see what was being filmed, creating a physical intimacy between director and lens. Today directors routinely watch from video village through monitors, sometimes at considerable distance from the action. Some directors — Werner Herzog and Christopher Nolan among them — deliberately minimize their monitor use, preferring to watch the live performance rather than the mediated image, arguing that the screen creates a false sense of security about what is actually being captured.
You can also find “Monitor” and related terms in this category: Filming and Production.
