Tuesday, December 22, 2009

gaffer

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. 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.

Sometimes the gaffer is credited as Chief Lighting Technician (CLT).

2 comments:

Joanne Casey said...

So would this gaff pole be the one seen hooking people by the neck on stage by the neck in some films? :-)

Ben said...

That makes sense. It would fit with gaffe.

talk nineteen to the dozen

  to speak rapidly and without stopping