A gaffer in the motion picture industry is the head of the electrical department, responsible for the execution (and sometimes the design) of the lighting plan for a production. In British English the term gaffer is long established as meaning an old man, or the foreman of a squad of workmen. The term was also used to describe men who adjusted lighting in English theatre and men who tended street lamps, after the "gaff" they used, a pole with a hook on its end. For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... Lighting refers to either artificial light sources such as lamps or to natural illumination of interiors from daylight. ... British English (BrE) is a broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere. ...

Sometimes the gaffer is credited as Chief Lighting Technician (CLT). In television the term Lighting Director is often used, but sometimes the Technical Director (T.D.) will light the studio set.

Experienced gaffers can coordinate the entire job of lighting, given knowledge of the time of day and conditions to be portrayed, managing resources as broad as electrical generators, lights, cable, and manpower. Gaffers are responsible for knowing the appropriate color of gel (plastic sheeting) to put on the lights or windows to achieve a variety of effects, such as transforming midday into a beautiful sunset. They can re-create the flicker of lights in a subway car, the motion of light inside a turning airplane, or the passage of night into day. An electrical generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy, generally using electromagnetic induction. ... 6 or 15cm outside diameter, oil-cooled cables, traversing the Grand Coulee Dam throughout. ... A color gel or color filter (US color gel or color filter), or a lighting gel or simply gel, is a transparent colored material that is used in theatre, event production, photography, videography and cinematography to colour light and for color correction. ... A rapid transit, underground, subway, tube, elevated, or metro(politan) system is a railway—usually in an urban area—with a high capacity and frequency of service, and grade separation from other traffic. ...

Usually, the gaffer works for and reports to the director of photography (the DP or DOP). The DP is responsible for the overall lighting design, but he or she may give a little or a lot of latitude to the gaffer on these matters, depending on their working relationship. 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. A cinematographer (from cinema photographer) is one photographing with a motion picture camera. ... In American film-making, the key grip is the chief grip on the set. ... In a film crew there are two kinds of best boy; Best Boy Electric and Best Boy Grip. ... An electrician hooking up a generator to a homes electrical panel. ...

Many gaffers are expected to own a truck complete with most basic lighting equipment and then rent extra lighting equipment as needed.

Derivation

The exact origin of gaffer remains obscure. There are, however, a few hypotheses:

Early studios were "available light" only, so there were articulated mirrored panels in the roof of the studio buildings that could be pushed from the floor by long "gaff" poles to bounce the sunlight to where it was needed on the set. Because the Earth moves continuously these hinged panels would need to be gaffed after each take. Once electric lighting instruments became the standard equipment, the light operators were known as electricians while the older, more experienced lighting technicians were still known as gaffers. Eventually it came to mean someone in charge of lighting. Adjectives: Terrestrial, Terran, Telluric, Tellurian, Earthly Atmosphere Surface pressure: 101. ...

Also posited: early films used mostly natural light, which stagehands controlled with large tent cloths using long poles called gaffs (stagehands were often beached sailors or stevedores, and a gaff is a type of boom on a sailing ship), or a pole with a hook on the end to assist in bringing nets or large fish aboard. Stevedores on a New York dock loading barrels of corn syrup onto a barge on the Hudson River. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Gaff rig. ... Traditional wooden cutter under sail. ...

It should also be noted that gaff tape, an adhesive tape used on the theatrical stage and the film set may have its name derived from the job of gaffer. It is known for having many uses, and its wide-spread utilitarian use could be easily likened to duct tape. Gaffer tape is a tough, fabric backed adhesive tape that has become legendary for usefulness in the movie and entertainment industry. ... A piece of transparent duct tape, left, and of silver duct tape, right. ...

See also

• Best boy
• Lighting technician