Gaffer tape

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Matte black gaffer tape Black gaffer tape.jpg
Matte black gaffer tape
Red gaffer tape Gaffatape.jpg
Red gaffer tape

Gaffer tape (also known as gaffer's tape, gaff tape or gaffa tape [1] as well as spike tape for narrow, colored gaffer tape) is a heavy cotton cloth pressure-sensitive tape with strong adhesive and tensile properties. It is widely used in theatre, photography, film, radio and television production, and industrial staging work.

Contents

While sometimes confused with duct tape, gaffer tape differs in the composition of both the backing, which is made from fabric as opposed to vinyl or other plastics, and the adhesive, which is more resistant to heat and more easily removed without damaging the surface to which it adhered. [2]

History

The precise origin of the name is unknown, one hypothesis being that it is named for the gaffer (chief lighting technician) on a film crew. [3] When cables are taped down on a stage or other surface, either to prevent tripping hazards or conceal them from view of the audience or camera, [4] they are said to be gaffed or gaffered. [5]

Gaffer tape was invented in 1959 by Ross Lowell, director, cinematographer, and founder of Lowel-Light. [6] Lowell reworked Johnson & Johnson's Permacel duct tape product by combining the Permacel adhesive with a silver fabric backing to create gaffer tape which could hold a flat metal plate to a window. [7]

Properties and uses

Yellow gaffer tape used for marking a camera department remote on a film set Eubank-Love-2011-Figur-Panavision-Remote.jpg
Yellow gaffer tape used for marking a camera department remote on a film set

Gaffer tape is manufactured in many colors, including fluorescent and custom colors, but perhaps the most common variety is matte black. A matte finish keeps the tape from reflecting light, so that it blends in with a typical stage floor. It is sold in a variety of widths, from 14 in (6 mm) to 4 in (102 mm), with 1 in (25 mm) and 2 in (51 mm) being the most common. [8] Gaffer tape is strong, yet can be torn by hand, so no cutting tools are necessary, and it can easily be ripped into narrower strips when desired. The synthetic adhesive typically leaves little or no residue and will generally not damage most surfaces when it is removed. [9] Gaffer tape is usually more expensive than duct tape because it is manufactured in smaller quantities, has more exacting specifications, and is marketed for professional use.

Rolls of gaffer tape in a variety of colors Gaffer Tape, Black, White and Gray.jpg
Rolls of gaffer tape in a variety of colors

A common application for gaffer tape is securing cables to a stage floor, podium, or other surface, either for safety or concealment. [10] It is also frequently used whenever a quick ad hoc fix is required, from temporarily attaching fixtures or props, to salvaging a broken piece of production equipment. A narrow version of gaffer tape, called spike tape , is used in theater productions for floor layout. [11] [12]

In the absence of console tape or artist tape, live sound engineers or light board operators may use a strip of white gaffer tape along the bottom of a mixing board to label the channels or submasters used for a particular show. [3]

In rock climbing gyms, gaffer tape can be used to mark climbs on the wall. It is preferable to duct tape because it is stronger and lasts longer on the wall.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duct tape</span> Type of adhesive tape

Duct tape is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesives, and the term 'duct tape' has been genericized to refer to different cloth tapes with differing purposes. A variation is heat-resistant foil tape useful for sealing heating and cooling ducts, produced because the adhesive on standard duct tape fails and the synthetic fabric reinforcement mesh deteriorates when used on heating ducts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Key grip</span> Person in charge of grip crews and equipment management

A key grip is a senior role for an experienced professional on every movie set. Their responsibilities are extensive and range from supervising grip crews, assessing what equipment is necessary for each shooting location, coordinating the transportation of this equipment and its set up, arranging the general movement and positioning of the camera and collaborating with the director of photography. The key grip relies on the best boy as their foreperson to supervise the grip crew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grip (occupation)</span> Camera supporting equipment technician

In the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, grips are camera support equipment technicians in the filmmaking and video production 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 function 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.

Grips' responsibility is to build and maintain all the equipment that supports cameras. This equipment, which includes tripods, dollies, tracks, jibs, cranes, and static rigs, is constructed of delicate yet heavy duty parts requiring a high level of experience to operate and move. Every scene in a feature film is shot using one or more cameras, each mounted on highly complex, extremely expensive, heavy duty equipment. Grips assemble this equipment according to meticulous specifications and push, pull, mount or hang it from a variety of settings. The equipment can be as basic as a tripod standing on a studio floor, to hazardous operations such as mounting a camera on a 100 ft crane, or hanging it from a helicopter swooping above a mountain range.

Good Grips perform a crucial role in ensuring that the artifice of film is maintained, and that camera moves are as seamless as possible. Grips are usually requested by the DoP or the camera operator. Although the work is physically demanding and the hours are long, the work can be very rewarding. Many Grips work on both commercials and features.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masking tape</span> Pressure sensitive tape made of paper

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cotton duck</span> Plain woven cotton fabric

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pressure-sensitive adhesive</span> Type of non reactive adhesive

Pressure-sensitive adhesive is a type of nonreactive adhesive which forms a bond when pressure is applied to bond the adhesive with a surface. No solvent, water, or heat is needed to activate the adhesive. It is used in pressure-sensitive tapes, labels, glue dots, stickers, sticky note pads, automobile trim, and a wide variety of other products.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duct (flow)</span> Conduit used in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spike (stagecraft)</span>

In stagecraft, a spike is a marking, usually made with a piece of tape, put on or around the stage. This marking is used to show the correct position for set pieces, furniture, actors and other items which move during the course of a performance and are required to stop or be placed in a specific location.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaffer (occupation)</span> Chief lighting technician

In film and television crews, the gaffer or chief lighting technician is the head electrician, responsible for the execution of the lighting plan for a production. The gaffer's assistant is the best boy electric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adhesive tape</span> Strip of material backed with adhesive

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pressure-sensitive tape</span> Type of adhesive

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Lowell</span>

Ross Kohut Lowell was an American inventor, photographer, cinematographer, lighting designer, author and entrepreneur who changed the film production industry with two inventions: a widely used quick-clamp lighting mount system, and gaffer tape. He founded Lowel-Light, a manufacturer of highly portable lighting equipment used in TV, film and stage lighting, with 20 patents filed by Lowell. Lowell was the cinematographer for the Academy Award-winning short A Year Toward Tomorrow (1966), and he won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 1980 for his compact lighting system. The same year, he was nominated for Best Short Film, Live Action for his 14-minute film Oh Brother, My Brother (1979), depicting two of his young children. In 1987 Lowell was awarded the John Grierson Gold Medal by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), "in recognition of his many achievements, inventions, and innovative developments in the field of lightweight lighting and of grip equipment."

References

  1. Lawler, Mike (2007), Careers in Technical Theater, Allworth Communications, Inc., p. 97, ISBN   9781581154856
  2. Lehman, J. (2005). "Sticking With What Works". EventDV. 18 (12): 23. ISSN   1554-2009.
  3. 1 2 "What is Gaffer's Tape?". wiseGEEK. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  4. Church of the Holy Gaffer Tape - Top Tips for Gaffer Tape, archived from the original on 2007-11-12, retrieved 2007-10-29
  5. "Gaffing cable to the floor". ControlBooth. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  6. "About Lowel Light". lowel.tiffen.com. Archived from the original on 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
  7. "Obituary: Ross Lowell, Founder of Lowel-Light and Creator of Gaffer Tape, 92". PDNPulse. 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  8. British Standards Document BS EN 12034—Self-adhesive tapes. Measurement of the length of a roll of adhesive tape, BSI Group, doi:10.3403/00971263u
  9. Mitsui, Toshiyuki; Satoh, Hiroyasu; Hida, Minemasa (2002). "Comparative Study of a Cluster Analysis and a Principal-Component Analysis Using a Polarized Imaging Technique for Discriminating Adhesive Cloth Tapes". Analytical Sciences. 18 (6): 717–22. doi:10.2116/analsci.18.717. ISSN   0910-6340. PMID   12083565.
  10. Johnson, Kevin (March 2009). "What's In Your Bag". Broadcast Engineering. 51 (3): 26–31. ISSN   0007-1994.
  11. Uva, Michael (2014). The Grip Book. ISBN   9780415842372. OCLC   879632388.
  12. "Types Of Tape (And Not The Recording Type) For Audio/Production". www.prosoundweb.com. Retrieved 23 February 2015.