film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television crew Television crew positions are derived from those of film crew, but with several differences. Pre-production : Work before shooting begins is called the pre-production stage. The crew in this stage include the casting director, costume de ...

s, the gaffer or chief lighting technician is the head

electrician An electrician is a tradesman, tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the ...

, responsible for the execution (and sometimes the design) of the

lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight. ...

plan for a production. The gaffer's assistant is the ''

best boy In a film crew, there are two kinds of best boy: best boy electric (also known as the assistant chief lighting technician) and best boy grip (also known as the 2nd company grip). They are assistants to their department heads, the gaffer (in ch ...

electric''.

Etymology

There are several possible explanations for the history of the term ''gaffer''. One possibility is that the term originally referred to the moving of overhead equipment, or before electricity and in Shakespeare-era play theatres, lighting louvres to control lighting levels using a long pole with a wide grappling hook on its end, called a

gaff Gaff may refer to: Ankle-worn devices * Spurs in variations of cockfighting * Climbing spikes used to ascend wood poles, such as utility poles Arts and entertainment * A character in the ''Blade Runner'' film franchise * Penny gaff, a 19th- ...

. Another potential origin is as a contraction of " godfather", originally applied by country people to an elderly man, or one whose position entitled him to respect; the female equivalent was "gammer", a contraction of "godmother". Both words are found in the comic play '' Gammer Gurton's Needle'', printed in 1575 but possibly written earlier. In this etymology, "gaffer" later became used more generally for a "master" or "governor", and by 1841 was applied to foremen and supervisors of gangs of workmen. In any case, it has been applied specifically to the chief electrician on a film set since the 1920s. The ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'' includes a citation from '' Picture-Play Magazine'' of 1926 and a 1929 book on motion picture production also uses the term.

Role

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 cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

(DP, DOP or Cinematographer) 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 A key grip is a senior role on movie sets, involved with a wide variety of behind-the-scenes tasks. The key grip supervises grip crews who support camera and lighting technicians; assesses what equipment is necessary for each shooting location ...

. 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 A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and flags have ...

and gobos. The gaffer will usually have an assistant called a

and, depending on the size of the job, crew members who are called "set lighting technicians" or "

electricians An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...

", although not all of them are trained as

s in the usual sense of the term.

Gaffer tape

The name of the position gives its name by association to

gaffer tape Gaffer tape (also known as gaffer's tape, gaff tape or gaffa tape as well as spike tape for narrow, colored gaffer tape) is a heavy cotton cloth pressure-sensitive tape with strong adhesive and tensile properties. It is widely used in theatre, p ...

, a strong cloth-backed adhesive tape used within the film and TV industry. Gaffer tape is typically used by set lighting technicians under the supervision of, and not directly by, a gaffer. Many other types of tape are also used in the industry, such as paper tape,

pressure-sensitive tape Pressure-sensitive tape or pressure-sensitive adhesive tape (PSA tape) is an adhesive tape that sticks when pressure is applied without the need for a solvent (such as water) or heat for activation. It is also known in various countries as self ...

(A.K.A. snot tape),

electrical tape Electrical tape (or insulating tape) is a type of pressure-sensitive tape used to insulate electrical wires and other materials that conduct electricity. It can be made of many plastics but PVC (polyvinyl chloride, "vinyl") is the most popula ...

, J-LAR, and cloth tape.

References

{{Authority control Filmmaking occupations Electrical trades