Chief Lighting Tech, Gaffer, Electric...

D

DDirector

Veteran
Just want a better understanding about this.

There is the DOP who is in charge of the overall camera & lighting.
There is a low-budget shoot asking for a Chief Lighting Technician. But, there is also a Key Gaffer and a Key Grip underneath along with more gaffers and grips.
Have they worded this all wrong?
Because now I'm confused.

From my understanding the Chief Lighting Technician IS the Key Gaffer.
And the 'key gaffers and grips' they were referring to are Best Boys or just electrics/grips.
Aren't I right?
Or is a Chief Lighting Technician different from a Key Gaffer? I never heard of that before.


I'm also wondering how this works.
I haven't worked on a set as a Key Gaffer who had other electrics below me. I mean, I had someone help me Gaff once.
But, how it worked was I worked with the DOP to figure out how to power the lights he wanted and my assistant and myself setup the lights.
But they want the Chief Lighting Tech to communicate to the other members so they set it up... which makes sense. BUT...

...What does the Gaffer do then after he tells the electrics/best boys what to do? He doesn't actually setup the lighting on set does he?
What does the Gaffer do in the mean time? Kinda confused.
If you don't go through pre-production designing the lighting with the DOP and your working with electrics and grips below you, other than passing the word off to them, what else do you do?
 
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well i usually hang around unit drink coffee and eat the donuts

when i get bored i amble over to makeup and chat up the girls...
 
ian dart said:
well i usually hang around unit drink coffee and eat the donuts

when i get bored i amble over to makeup and chat up the girls...
Click to expand...

I thought it was the Best Boy who got to chat up the girls... Gaffer sounds like some one running around with a pole and a hook at the end... perhaps that may be a way to chat up girls... having caught them...

As for a 'craigslist' indy asking for a long list of labeled skills... I suspect that it is not a production that is led by someone who knows what they really want... but could be proved wrong... I mean, every once in a while lightening could strike on a craigslist ad...
 
Uh...?
This is a bigger production, and not one of those craigslist things. They are asking me to be Chief Lighting Tech.
But, like I said, when I worked on other productions, there was not Chief Lighting Tech, but a Gaffer. So, Im assuming thats what they mean.
and as the Gaffer, I told my electrics what needs to be done, but I didnt have them do all the work, I did the work. and they helped me out.
But, seeing its a bigger production, the Gaffer doesnt setup all the time.
 
Any time I see the word "technician", I think operator. Is this intelligent lighting, or using a light board? Think: light show at a concert.

A gaffer hangs and strikes, grip provides the support and shapes the light, electric/sparky wires it, DP says where they want it, a technician operates, IMO. That's how I would look at it if I saw this.

LOL, or it could be someone coming up with a new job description because they don't know what it's called normally.
 
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I don't do a lot of work on big sets but the last one I was on, the guy at the top of the totem pole, be that the Gaffer or the so-called CLT, is the one closest to camera. Everyone else minds the gear at the truck/cart/outside and runs the stuff in to set or tweaks the stuff outside.
 
This is the way I have always known it: DOP -> Gaffer AKA Chief lighting technician (he/she works with the DOP during prep to decide what might be needed in terms of material, power, space etc... helps the DOP with lighting decisions as he knows the equipment and techniques really well) -> Best boy (works together with the gaffer and is in charge of managing the electric crew, material etc...) -> Electrician (screw bulbs and haul heavy stuff) -> trainee Electrician (well you know what they do...)

This may be different depending on union /local/traditional rules/laws etc...
 
DDirector said:
There is a low-budget shoot asking for a Chief Lighting Technician. But, there is also a Key Gaffer and a Key Grip underneath along with more gaffers and grips.
Have they worded this all wrong?
Because now I'm confused.
Click to expand...

DDirector said:
Uh...?
This is a bigger production, and not one of those craigslist things.
Click to expand...

I'd bet money they don't know what these titles even mean. It's not "key gaffer" it's gaffer. There is only one on set and below him is the best boy and under him are electrics. If I was hired to gaff a show and showed up to meet someone else who was there to gaff, I'd be having a serious talk to the DP and the production. You need to get clarification from them asap before you sign on to this. Because it doesn't matter if this is a low budget-bigger production, I've been around the block to know small anomalies like this are usually signs that the production isn't experienced and there will be more problems on the day.

DDirector said:
I'm also wondering how this works.
I haven't worked on a set as a Key Gaffer who had other electrics below me. I mean, I had someone help me Gaff once.
But, how it worked was I worked with the DOP to figure out how to power the lights he wanted and my assistant and myself setup the lights.
But they want the Chief Lighting Tech to communicate to the other members so they set it up... which makes sense. BUT...

...What does the Gaffer do then after he tells the electrics/best boys what to do? He doesn't actually setup the lighting on set does he?
What does the Gaffer do in the mean time? Kinda confused.
If you don't go through pre-production designing the lighting with the DOP and your working with electrics and grips below you, other than passing the word off to them, what else do you do?
Click to expand...

Your friend didn't help you gaff, he was your best boy.

A gaffer's role is huge on set. And it's in flux between each DP you work with. Some DP's are very specific on what they want, even using their laser points to mark the exact spot where a light has to be. And some DP's are more vague and open, leaving the gaffer to create the DP's vision on their own. So you as the gaffer have to be an expert on lighting and the gear. Sure you dictate down to your crew what needs to be done but it's so much more. You have to be able to think fast to put out fires. You have to think ahead and organize the next setup. You have to make sure any rentals are properly placed with production as well as any expendables you may need.

Just my .02, hope that helps.
 
"Chief Lighting Technician will be in charge of the whole lighting departments making sure that the Key Gaffer and Key Grips are doing their jobs correctly and safely"

DOP > Chief Lighting Technician > Key Gaffer > Best Boy > Electric
___________________________> Key Grip > Grips
 
DDirector said:
"Chief Lighting Technician will be in charge of the whole lighting departments making sure that the Key Gaffer and Key Grips are doing their jobs correctly and safely"

DOP > Chief Lighting Technician > Key Gaffer > Best Boy > Electric
___________________________> Key Grip > Grips
Click to expand...

Sounds like an ADoP similar to what an AD would be to a director.
 
Here, let me look it up for you...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaffer_(filmmaking)

A gaffer in the motion picture industry and on a television crew is an electrician, sometimes head of the electrical department, responsible for the execution (and sometimes the design) of the lighting plan for a production's grips. The term Gaffer originally related to the moving of overhead equipment to control lighting levels using a gaff.

The term has been used for the chief electrician in films since 1936.
The gaffer's assistant is the best boy.
Sometimes the gaffer is credited as Chief Lighting Technician (CLT).

Gaffers are responsible for managing lighting including associated resources such as labor and electrical under the directions of 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 they may delegate some tasks to gaffers. The gaffer works with the key grip, who is in charge of some of the equipment related to the lighting. The gaffer will usually have an assistant called a best boy and, depending on the size of the job, crew members who are called "electricians", although not all of them are trained as electricians in the usual sense of the term. The gaffer, or chief electrician, works with assistants who are known as grips. The gripsrep manage cables, position lighting fixtures and install dolly track.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_crew

Grips are trained Lighting and Rigging Technicians. Their main responsibility is to work closely with the Electrical Department to put in the non-electrical components of lighting set-ups required for a shot, such as flags, overheads, and bounces.
On the sound stage, they move and adjust major set pieces when something needs to be moved to get a camera into position. In the US and Canada they may belong to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

The Key Grip is the chief Grip on a set, and is the head of the Set Operations Department. The Key Grip works with the Director of Photography to help set up the set and to achieve correct lighting and blocking.

Best boy (Grip) is chief assistant to the Key Grip. They are also responsible for organizing the grip truck throughout the day.


That was nearly as easy as asking "So, arn't I right? This position doesnt exist,does it.."... wasn't it?
 
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