Stage Managing, Gripping and Gaffing
Instructor(s): April Dooley, David Brabaw, Clarice Bethers, tbd
Stage managers organize and coordinate theatrical productions. The job encompasses a variety of activities, including organizing the production and coordinating communications between various personnel (e.g., between director and backstage crew, or actors and production management). Stage management is a sub-discipline of stagecraft. The gaffer is the head electrician at the production set, and is in charge of lighting the stage under direction of the Cinematographer. In television, the term chief lighting director is often used instead of gaffer, and sometimes the technical director lights the set. The gaffer reports to the director of photography, lighting director. or lighting designer, and usually has an assistant called a best boy. In the U.S. and Canada, grips are lighting and rigging technicians in the film and video industries. They constitute their own department on a film set and are directed by a key grip. Grips have two main functions. The first is to 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 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 necessary for a shot under the direction of the director of photography. The key grip is the head grip. Grips affect shadow effects with lights, and occasionally maneuver camera cranes, dollies, and platforms under direction from the Cinematographer. The term grip is used in slightly different ways in American and British or Australian film making. In the British and Australian film industries, a grip mounts and supports cameras, which can include anything beyond a basic tripod. Lighting in British and Australian film-making is headed by the gaffer, who is also part of the camera department. Grips can also be the people that do the laborious work on sets. These type of grips push, pull, roll, and lift various pieces of equipment under direction from a television director, television producer, or set designer. In cinematography, the dolly grip places and moves the dolly track where required, and then pushes and pulls the dolly along that track during filming. A dolly grip works closely with the camera crew to perfect these complex movements through rehearsals. For moving shots, dolly grips may also push the wheeled platform that holds the microphone and Boom Operator. The dolly is a cart that the tripod and camera (and occasionally the camera crew) rest on. It transports the camera without bumps and visual interruptions throughout a shot. It is commonly used to follow beside an actor to give the audience the sense of walking with the actor, or as the actor.
Class Time: 1 Slot
Event Timeslots (1)
Wednesday
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Instructor(s): April Dooley, David Brabaw, Clarice Bethers, tbd
Stage managers organize and coordinate theatrical productions. The job encompasses a variety of activities, including organizing the production and coordinating communications between various personnel (e.g., between director and backstage crew, or actors and production management). Stage management is a sub-discipline of stagecraft. The gaffer is the head electrician at the production set, and is in charge of lighting the stage under direction of the Cinematographer. In television, the term chief lighting director is often used instead of gaffer, and sometimes the technical director lights the set. The gaffer reports to the director of photography, lighting director. or lighting designer, and usually has an assistant called a best boy. In the U.S. and Canada, grips are lighting and rigging technicians in the film and video industries. They constitute their own department on a film set and are directed by a key grip. Grips have two main functions. The first is to 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 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 necessary for a shot under the direction of the director of photography. The key grip is the head grip. Grips affect shadow effects with lights, and occasionally maneuver camera cranes, dollies, and platforms under direction from the Cinematographer. The term grip is used in slightly different ways in American and British or Australian film making. In the British and Australian film industries, a grip mounts and supports cameras, which can include anything beyond a basic tripod. Lighting in British and Australian film-making is headed by the gaffer, who is also part of the camera department. Grips can also be the people that do the laborious work on sets. These type of grips push, pull, roll, and lift various pieces of equipment under direction from a television director, television producer, or set designer. In cinematography, the dolly grip places and moves the dolly track where required, and then pushes and pulls the dolly along that track during filming. A dolly grip works closely with the camera crew to perfect these complex movements through rehearsals. For moving shots, dolly grips may also push the wheeled platform that holds the microphone and Boom Operator. The dolly is a cart that the tripod and camera (and occasionally the camera crew) rest on. It transports the camera without bumps and visual interruptions throughout a shot. It is commonly used to follow beside an actor to give the audience the sense of walking with the actor, or as the actor.
Class Time: 1 Slot
