Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation.
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.
An electrical lighting technician, or simply lighting technician, are involved with rigging stage and location sets and controlling artificial, electric lights for art and entertainment venues or in video, television, or film production.
A key grip is a senior role on movie sets, involved with a wide variety of behind-the-scenes tasks. The key grip supervises grip crews who support camera and lighting technicians; assesses what equipment is necessary for each shooting location; coordinates the transportation of this equipment and its set up; and arranges 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.
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.
In a film crew, there are two kinds of best boy: best boy electric and best boy grip. They are assistants to their department heads, the gaffer and the key grip, respectively. In short, the best boy acts as the foreman for the department. A woman who performs these duties may be called best girl. Recently, some film crews are adopting gender-neutral terms for job titles, with one example being 'lead electric' as a replacement for the term 'best boy' in the electrical department. In 2024, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has most recently adopted the terms assistant chief lighting technician and 2nd company grip for the electric and grip departments, respectively.
Television crew positions are derived from those of film crew, but with several differences.
Cotton duck, also simply duck, sometimes duck cloth or duck canvas, is a heavy, plain woven cotton fabric. Duck canvas is more tightly woven than plain canvas. There is also linen duck, which is less often used.
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.
Inkjet transfer or inkjet photo transfer is a technique to transfer a photograph or graphic, printed with an inkjet printer onto textiles, cups, CDs, glass and other surfaces.
Ducts are conduits or passages used in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to deliver and remove air. The needed airflows include, for example, supply air, return air, and exhaust air. Ducts commonly also deliver ventilation air as part of the supply air. As such, air ducts are one method of ensuring acceptable indoor air quality as well as thermal comfort.
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.
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.
Adhesive tape is one of many varieties of backing materials coated with an adhesive. Several types of adhesives can be used.
A flag is a device used in lighting for motion picture and still photography to block light. It can be used to cast a shadow, provide negative fill, or protect the lens from a flare. Its usage is generally dictated by the director of photography, but the responsibility for placing them can vary by region, usually devolving to either the gaffer and electricians or the key grip and lighting grips.
Tape or Tapes may refer to:
Pressure-sensitive tape or pressure-sensitive adhesive tape is an adhesive tape that sticks when pressure is applied without the need for a solvent or heat for activation. It is also known in various countries as self-stick tape, sticky tape, or just adhesive tape and tape, as well as genericized trademarks, such as Sellotape, Durex (tape), Scotch tape, etc.
Vesta Oral Stoudt was a factory worker during the Second World War famous for her letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt suggesting the use of adhesive tape to improve ammunition boxes.
Shurtape Technologies, LLC is an American manufacturing company that produces adhesive tape as well as consumer goods and office supplies. Founded in 1996, Shurtape had its origins as the tape division of Shuford Mills, a textile manufacturing company; Shurtape was spun off from the textile division after it began to outpace it in revenue. Today, both Shurtape and the remaining textile business are subsidiaries of STM Industries. The company is owned and operated by the Shuford family, with brothers Jim and Stephen serving as CEO and Executive Vice President, respectively.
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."
