a leader placed at the head of release prints containing information for the projectionist and featuring numbers which are black on a clear background, counting from 11 to 3 at 16 frame intervals (see SMPTE leader).

AKA "S.M.P.T.E. leader." The countdown leader used at the beginning of a film which allows the lab to line up the sound.

A non-projected identification and timing count- down film leader designed to specifications of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and placed at the head end of a print reel. The countdown cuing information is related to "feet" which, in the silent days, meant projection at 16 frames per second, or 1 foot per sec- ond. See UNIVERSAL LEADER.