If you haven't been on location
shooting a TV commercial, this might be a fun post for you. And for all
the old timers who do this for a living, just turn the page......
A
Gaffer is an electrician, sometimes head of the electrical department, responsible for the execution (and sometimes the design) of the lighting plan for a production. The gaffer's assistant is the
Best Boy Electric.
To understand what a gaffer
does, let's look at the entire crew and see how the players interface
with one another. Did you know production companies often rent a
person's home for a TV show, commercial, or film shoot? It's often less
expensive than building a set for a production, so a Location Scout or Location Manager will offer the production company a number of properties from which to choose. Lisa Rothmueller,
Location and Production Manager of San Diego Locations can find the
best spot for anyone coming into San Diego. She's a spunky, can-do kind
of gal who you can always count on.
Last
week we shot a commercial for Kroger in this San Diego home to
introduce a new line of organic products to their stores. (Out here on
the West Coast we know them as Ralph's.)
I'm sure I had the best view in the house! I
set up my kitchen on the second floor patio overlooking the Pacific
Ocean. Not a bad way to spend a day on location!
I shared the patio with
Chris Andrus Lighting
and his crew. He's got a fabulous group of guys who make me feel
special, even though they know they're not getting any of the food I'm
making for the shoot.
Grips are the technicians who handle all the lighting and rigging.
They
work closely with the camera department to provide camera support,
especially if the camera is mounted to a dolly, crane, or in an unusual
position, such as the top of a ladder. Some
grips may even specialize in operating camera dollies or camera cranes.
The second main function of grips is to work closely with the
electrical department to create lighting set-ups under the direction of the
Director of Photography. Often there is a
Key Grip as well as an assistant, the
Best Boy Grip.
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| Looking into the back of Chris Andrus' truck. |
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| The DP showing the Food Stylist placement of the items on the grill. |
There is also the DP, or Director of Photography, who is responsible for the overall look of the production and the translation of that look to the Gaffer.
With
the camera fixed on the subject, everyone can see exactly what the
"camera sees" by looking into the monitor, so everything and everyone
can be strategically placed to best convey the story to the eventual TV
viewer.
This is an extremely
important part of production because our eyes will never see the set
exactly as the camera does since we can't be in the exact same angle as
the lens. Nor can our eyes capture depth of field (what's in focus and
out of focus). Looking at the scene through the monitor also allows the
lighting to be tweaked to insure there are no unwanted shadows or glare.
The
Director is ultimately in charge making sure the entire vision of the production is carried out successfully.
The
Executive Producer is responsible for the overall quality control of the
production, and for ensuring that final product conform to
the project's specifications. The
Producer is
in charge of the overall shooting and post production of the commercial
(or film, TV show, etc.). He takes the job from concept to completion
and has a
creative say in the project. The
Producer may have a
PM or
Production Manager to assist him with the managing the crew. Ticking away madly at his laptop is the
Production Coordinator who handles all the paperwork for the shoot: invoices, release forms, schedules, and anything else funneling through the office. Money matters are handled by the
Line Producer who usually hires the key members of the crew and is the one responsible for every line item in the budget.
The Sound Designer does
the sound recording during the shoot. He will also handle the
interjection of music, voice overs, or special sound effects in post
production.
We Food Stylists make all the food in the shoot look appetizing on camera. I had the great pleasure of working with one of my favorite Food Stylists, Heather Bowen. Now semi- retired, Heather comes into town for her VIP clients. Working with her is a dream. She's fun, thorough, highly skilled, and a brilliant stylist. (Can you tell I'm fond of her?)....and no, we
don't shellac the chicken, but we certainly doll it up with food-safe dyes like Kitchen Bouquet, soy sauce, bitters, and other agents.
The Prop Master searches out every single prop used in the production, and the prop tables are laden with a multitude of choices for the Director and Producers
to choose from. For something as simple as a salad bowl there might be
ten or more to select from: glass bowls, wooden bowls, round bowls,
square bowls, large bowls, small bowls....you get the picture. The Prop Master, wanting to offer the best possible selection for the the Director and Producers
will have tables of props laid out for easy selection. So now image the
huge array of props needed for a commercial where the set is the
kitchen! Every gadget and gismo is on those tables.
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| Props and more props |
The
Wardrobe Stylist(s) and
Hair and Makeup Stylist(s) dress the talent/actors. The
Wardrobe Stylists come with racks of clothes, steamers, irons, and a bag of tricks to customize fit. The
Hair and Makeup Artists have color pallets of eye makeup, foundation, blush, brushes, blow dryers, curling irons, and everything you can possibly think of to make the talent look fabulous on camera. They are also constantly making touch ups to be sure the actors always look their best.
And then there are the
Production Assistants, or
PA's,
who do anything that needs to be done to make shooting go as smoothly
as possible. They serve as the runners or go-fers of the production, and
often work the longest and hardest of anyone on the crew. God bless all
the PA's, because without them, life on set would be miserable. Sadly,
they often get the least credit, so here's a big fat BRAVO for the
wonderful, life-saving
PA's! That means you Chris Speed!
By far the most beloved people on set are Craft Services or Crafty,
as they're sometimes called. They feed us breakfast, lunch, and
sometimes dinner, keep us caffeinated, hydrated, and energized with
every possible snack imaginable, including the ever present Peanut
M&M's. They have bandaids, gum, aspirin, and breath mints for
the actors. They are the "moms and dads" who take care of all of us.
So now you know what the
gaffer
does, along with the rest of the crew. So when you see the credits roll
at the end of the film you can say, "I know what that guy does!"
