WHAT IS A GAFFER AND A GRIP?
Bruce Bisbey
A gaffer in the motion picture
industry and on a television crew is the head electrician, responsible for the
execution (and sometimes the design) of the lighting plan for a production. ...
The key grip is the head grip, in charge of the labor and non-electrical
equipment used to support and modify the lighting. The term gaffer originally
related to the moving of overhead equipment to control lighting levels using a
gaff. The gaffer's assistant is the best boy.
A gaffer in the motion picture
industry and on a television crew is the head electrician, responsible for the
execution (and sometimes the design) of the lighting plan for a production. The
term gaffer originally related to the moving of overhead equipment to control
lighting levels using a gaff. The gaffer's assistant is the best boy.
Sometimes the gaffer is credited
as Chief Lighting Technician (CLT).
The term has been used for the
chief electrician in films since the 1930s. The Oxford English Dictionary has a
citation from 1936; a 1929 book on motion picture production also uses the
term.
The gaffer is responsible for
managing lighting, including associated resources such as labor, lighting
instruments and electrical equipment under the direction of the Director of Photography
(the DP or DOP) or, in television, the Lighting Director (LD)
.
The DP/LD is responsible for the
overall lighting design, but delegates the implementation of the design to the
gaffer and the key grip. The key grip is the head grip, in charge of the labor
and non-electrical equipment used to support and modify the lighting. Grip
equipment includes stands, flags and gobos. The gaffer will usually have an
assistant called a best boy and, depending on the size of the job, crew members
who are called "set lighting technicians" or
"electricians", although not all of them are trained as electricians
in the usual sense of the term.
Although gaffer tape is used
within the film/TV Industry as a strong cloth-backed adhesive tape, many other
types of tape are also used, such as paper tape, pressure-sensitive tape
(A.K.A. snot tape), electrical tape, J-LAR, and cloth tape. Gaffer tape is
typically utilized by set lighting technicians under the supervision of, and
not directly by, a gaffer. The gaffer is the head electrician in a movie crew;
it's their job to manage the lighting, making sure the levels are appropriate
for the desired effect in the scene. The gaffer is assisted by the best boy,
and may have a crew of electricians. A grip is also concerned with lighting,
but from the mechanical side.
WHAT IS A KEY GRIP IN A MOVIE?
In the U.S. and Canada, grips are
lighting and rigging technicians in the filmmaking and video production
industries. They constitute their own department on a film set and are directed
by a key grip. Grips have two main functions. The first is to work closely with
the camera department to provide camera support, especially if the camera is
mounted to a dolly, crane, or in an unusual position, such as the top of a
ladder. Some grips may specialize in operating camera dollies or camera cranes.
The second main function of grips is to work closely with the electrical
department to create lighting set-ups necessary for a shot under the direction
of the director of photography.
Grips' responsibility is to build
and maintain all the equipment that supports cameras. This equipment, which
includes tripods, dollies, tracks, jibs, cranes, and static rigs, is
constructed of delicate yet heavy duty parts requiring a high level of
experience to operate and move. Every scene in a feature film is shot using one
or more cameras, each mounted on highly complex, extremely expensive, heavy
duty equipment. Grips assemble this equipment according to meticulous
specifications and push, pull, mount or hang it from a variety of settings. The
equipment can be as basic as a tripod standing on a studio floor, to hazardous
operations such as mounting a camera on a 100 ft. crane, or hanging it from a
helicopter swooping above a mountain range.
— Media Match Inc.
Good Grips perform a crucial role
in ensuring that the artifice of film is maintained, and that camera moves are
as seamless as possible. Grips are usually requested by the DoP (Director of
Photography) or the camera operator. Although the work is physically demanding
and the hours are long, the work can be very rewarding. Many Grips work on both
commercials and features.
— Media Match Inc.
In the UK, Australia and most
parts of Europe, grips are not involved in lighting. In the "British
System", adopted throughout Europe and the British Commonwealth (excluding
Canada), a grip is solely responsible for camera mounting and support.
The term "grip" is from
the early era of the circus. From there it was used in vaudeville and then in
today’s film sound stages and sets. Some have suggested the name comes from the
1930s–40s slang term for a tool bag or "grip" that these technicians
use to carry their tools. Another theory is that in the days of hand-cranked
cameras, it was necessary for a few burly men to hang onto the tripod legs to
stop excessive movement of the camera. These men became known as the "good
grips"—as they were constantly being instructed to "keep a good grip
on the tripod".
US grips typically belong to the
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Canadian grips
may also belong to IATSE or to Canada's other professional trade unions
including Toronto's Nabet 700, or Vancouver's ACFC. British grips usually
belong to BECTU (Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematographic & Theatre Union).They
constitute their own department on a film set and are directed by a key grip.
Grips have two main functions. The first is to work closely with the camera
department to provide camera support, especially if the camera is mounted to a
dolly, crane, or in an unusual position, such as the top of a ladder.
In a film crew there are two
kinds of best boy: best boy electric and best boy grip. They are assistants to
their department heads, the gaffer (in charge of electricians) and the key grip
(lighting and rigging), respectively.
7 Grip Tools You Need:
·
C-Wrench. …
·
Multitool. …
·
4 Foot Level. …
·
Measuring Tape. …
·
Screw Driver. …
·
Knife. …
·
Speed Wrench. …
LIGHTING
On all union jobs, grips do not
touch the lights themselves. The placement of lighting instruments and electric
power distribution is handled by the electricians who work under a gaffer.
Grips handle all the non-electrical equipment that modifies the light. This
work is done by setting stands that hold flags, nets, diffusing materials or
other gobos that control the quality, intensity, or shape of the light.
Grips also set "passive
fill" which is a term for the reflected light that is "bounced"
back onto a subject on the fill or non-key light side. The first choice for
most film-makers' fill is a product known in the US as bead board and called
"poly", short for polystyrene, in Europe. It is rigid insulation made
for the construction trade, but was adopted by the film trade because of its
"true-white" color and "soft" bounce.
Grips may also be called on to
set "negative fill", which is the reduction of ambient or
non-directional light, such as ambient sunlight, to raise contrast on the
subject. This is achieved by setting "solids", made of black fabric,
either flags (up to 4' × 4') or rags (6' × 6' or larger) on the non-key light
side or wherever the negative fill is desired.
When shooting day exteriors,
grips perform similar functions, but with the sun as the primary light source.
Grips use overhead frames up to 20' × 20' or larger for the shaping or
filtering of sunlight. The lighting set-ups for these exterior shots can become
quite extensive, and the use of boom lifts (called "condors") is
common. Condors are especially useful at night when they are rigged to raise
lights or diffusing material (up to 120 feet in the air) to create moon-effect
lighting.
RIGGING
Grips also satisfy rigging needs
on set. Examples of simple rigs include the menace arm, which allows a light to
be boomed over set using one stand, or goalposts that span over top of set
using two stands. More advanced rigs can include working with pulleys, steel
cable or trusses. Grips also rig picture cars on process trailers, placing
camera and lights around the vehicle for driving shots. This often includes the
use of hood mounts, side mounts, suction cup mounts and proprietary clamps to
attach film equipment to vehicles without causing damage.
Grips also do
"blackouts" and "tenting-out" windows and doors. When
shooting interiors day-for-night on location, grips need to eliminate all
daylight entering the set. If windows or other openings are not visible in a
shot, the light may be blacked out with a cloth known as duvetyne or rags, and
in rare cases, plastic sheeting. When windows or doors are seen from camera,
black out tents must be created outside of windows to allow lights to be placed
outside, or green screens to be seen through the window, lit only by lights
placed by electricians.
SAFETY
Grips are also responsible for
safety on the set as it relates to the force of gravity. Insofar as stands,
ladders, scaffolds, and overhead rigs are properly installed, grips are charged
with making them safe because the other crew members must climb on, walk
around, or otherwise negotiate the different grip set-ups. The key grip may
even be held responsible for injuries that happen on set, especially if the
injury is caused by a falling lighting instrument.
TOOLS
A grip uses some tools typically
used by mechanics and construction workers. As in those vocations, grips need
hand tools at the ready.(Tools such as ratchet straps, wedges and a normal tool
box)
Sources: Google, Wikipedia, How
to Film School, Info Please, Media Match Inc., IMDB, BH Photo Video, Forbes
Very informative. Thank you.
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