What does MOS stand for?
“Write an MOS script,” they say. ”Remember this is MOS,” they warn. But what does that mean exactly?
Explanations offered:
Mit Aus Sound.
This is doubly wrong. First of all the English word “without” cannot be broken into “with” and “out” and translated into German and retain the same meaning. The German word for “without” is “ohne”. And in any case Mit Aus Sound, would be MAS not MOS.
Mise-en-scène
As above this is also wrong twice. Mise-en-scène doesn’t mean without sync sound. It’s a philosophic French term for the unified gestalt of direction, production design, and image composition. And the acronym is MES.
The wikipedia page doesn’t offer any concrete answers either, but it does better explain its meaning and uses.
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.filthyandcomplicated.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://www.filthyandcomplicated.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://www.filthyandcomplicated.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Reddit]](http://www.filthyandcomplicated.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/reddit.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://www.filthyandcomplicated.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Technorati]](http://www.filthyandcomplicated.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Twitter]](http://www.filthyandcomplicated.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Email]](http://www.filthyandcomplicated.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
Yes, my favorite remains Motor Only Shot or Minus Optical Sound. They make the most sense in the context of the early days of sound filming.
The camera and the sound “camera” (because that’s what the sound recorder was in a way, a camera that recorded the fluctuations of the optical valve on to the side of the film) both ran off the same source for their sync, the 60hz current from the wall outlet. They didn’t even have to be plugged into the same outlets.
Microsoft Office System..does that count for MOS abbr..??