What does a spark person do on set?

It's a nickname for an electrician. Usually 'Sparky' or something similar.

They deal with anything that plugs into power on a set, mainly lighting and power distro.
 
thanks for the info Ryan, now if I may, what makes it different than a gaffer? Are they assistants to the gaffer, thus the Best Boy (nicknamed sparks)?

thank you for your time,
Derrick
 
I don't recall what position, if any, within the electrical department this name is given. It's a nickname though, so whomever is being called a spark or sparky will also have a traditional name of either gaffer, best-boy electric, or electrician.

It can also be used as a verb... i/e "i was sparking on this set last week..." slang for being an electrician. As to the position of that person, I dunno exactly.
 
Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
It's a nickname for an electrician. Usually 'Sparky' or something similar.

They deal with anything that plugs into power on a set, mainly lighting and power distro.
Click to expand...

Though one hopes they don't live up to the descriptive name. In construction, electricians are called "sparkies" And legend has it, that is where the term came from, as many electricians and other tradesmen were recruited from general construction to the film industry.

The first time I was called that as an apprentice, I about flipped, thinking it was a derogatory term, "kid" "pup", until my foreman, laughing, explained. Said I should be happy, as normally apprentices are "sparkie jr.'s"

Yep, I was IBEW for over 10 years. LOL, I told you have done a lot of $hit.
 
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