If you’re a person who regularly watches the news, you’ve run into something called a “lower third.” And, hey, if the news isn’t your thing right now (and who could blame you), you’ve still probably seen this graphical element in other settings. Today, this text and graphics are staples of the television screen. You cannot imagine a television news program running without some kind of information supporting the news throughout its telecast in the form of scrolling text along the bottom. This visual element of text and graphics is called the “graphic overlay,” and this particular type of overlay is called the “lower third.” Let’s dive deeper into it. What is the Lower Third? George Clooney talks about his Broadway debut as CBS News legend Edward R. MurrowCredit: CBS The lower third, in reference to the image above, is the white strip that carries the logo and other news-related text. In simpler words, it is the lower third portion of the TV screen. Yet, for the sake of more clarity, let’s define it in more sophisticated terms. The lower third (or in industry jargon, “L3,” or sometimes “supers” in screenplays or “chyrons”) is a broadcast graphic, or a combined textual and graphical element, that adds a supportive reference to the primary on-screen content, by and large within the lower third of the television screen. However, the term “third” needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as it’s not a hard-and-fast rule. The graphical overlay can span a...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Yesterday