Coloured adhesive tapes

F

finchy

Well-known member
Hi there,

I know this is may seem a pointless and mundane question but its something that i have been wondering for a little while now...
Do different coloured grip and AC tapes (Such as the ones in the link below) have different uses and meanings on set? Such as marking stopping points on tracks or focus marks etc.

http://www.filmtools.com/per1camtapwh.html

Thanks for any input!

Tom
 
Ahh gaff tape. I've never seen any official designation for tape colors. In theater usage, different colors mean different set pieces usually. I've used different colors to mark dolly stops, but I think it's up the the person in charge of putting the tape down which color to use (and to remember what it means.)
 
I've never heard of any industry standards, but certainly individual people use particular colours for particular purposes. It can also depend on the setting - sometimes you want tape to blend in with its surroundings (especially when it may be visible onscreen) and other times you want it to be very visible so that people can avoid touching or standing on it or tripping over it.
 
One inch colored camera tape can be used by any camera department member to differentiate between many different things.

Traditionally, the different colors of camera tape were used by camera assistants and loaders to identify film stocks inside magazines. This is really important considering that professional films usually shoot with 2-3 different film stocks for different conditions. There ARE very common industry color coding for different film stocks, although they are guidelines, not rules, thus some AC's have different uses.

But I like to use different color tape for many things. The most common is laying multiple blocking marks for multiple actors. If a man and a woman have three marks each, I'll make the man's blue and the woman's red, or etc.

Another purpose could include camera packages. One multiple camera shoots, accessories and magazines can get lost or intermixed... hence all camera cases and camera accessories will be taped with colored tape. Thus camera 'A' and all cases and accessories will have a piece of red tape. Camera B will be Green and camera C purple. (Colors are just examples.)
 
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Thanks for all of your input guys!
That is pretty much as i thought really... i just didn't want to end up making a big error by using a certain colour in the 'wrong' situation.

I shall be AC'ing on a short drama in the coming weeks so i shall make sure that all of the crew is aware of which colours i will liekly be using for what....blocking markers...etc also which cables are labeled with which tape i.e Audio = blue tape. and so on.


Many thanks

Tom
 
I'd stick a sample of each color on paper with an explanation for everyone .. including Murphy.

Iridescent pink on gear usually means something has been changed from standard or the last time it was used.
Cheers.
 
White tape on equipment can mean it isn't working properly, but there is commonly an explanation written on the tape
 
well different people and departments have different systems. I use red tape with an X or "nfg" if I wanna be a brat written with a sharpie. On the other hand white camera tape, for me is neutral... On a can of film it can mean unexposed film, as black tape can mean it's downloaded film. Just be sure your dept is.on the same page.
 
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