[net.movies] Credit question answered

ronbe@tekred.UUCP (Little Guy) (04/13/85)

Here it is, the answer to my question:

-> What is a key grip?  ...best boy?  ...gaffer?  ...dolly?
-> You see 'em all the time (with variations) in the credits,
-> but I've never been able to figure out what these elusive
-> people actually DO in the movie business.

Here's what Daniel W. has to say about it:

grip:  stagehand
gaffer:  a lighting electrician on a motion-picture or television set
dolly:  a wheeled platform for a television or motion-picture camera

From: tektronix!ihnp4!vax135!petsd!moncol!john (John Ruschmeyer)
-> The dolly grip is the guy who pushes the cameras around.

From: tektronix!uw-beaver!cornell!cord!gwr
-> gaffers run the lights (this I'm sure of)
-> everything else is anybody's guess

From: tektronix!ihnp4!purdue!iuvax!apratt (Allan Pratt)
-> Not only do you sometimes see the `key grip' credited, but also a
-> list of `grips'... ``grip'' is a hollywood term for a stagehand.
-> I would guess that movies really don't have stages, and so they
-> don't have stagehands. The Best Boy is like an apprentice -- the
-> logic goes like this:
-> 	There are far more people working on a movie than you can
-> credit.  When there is someone you want to give credit to, but who
-> doesn't have a job title traditionally in the credits, you will
-> credit him as a best boy.  This can be anything from the gofer who
-> had just the right contact for that bizarre prop you needed, to the
-> guy who made the best coffee. Mostly, though, it is a person who
-> wants to break into the behind-the-camera show business, and does
-> so by working, practically for free, on a movie set.  If he's good
-> enough, and the right people like him (sometimes it's put to a vote),
-> he'll get a credit as best boy.
-> 	The Dolly (or Dolly Grip) is the stagehand who pulls the
-> camera along the tracks for moving-camera scenes. This guy has to
-> be precise in velocity and position, and can't generate vibrations
-> or give a jerky appearance to the shot.  It could be the guy who
-> lays down the track, too. The tracks themselves are not the dolly;
-> the car which holds the camera (and cameraman) is the dolly.
-> 	One you didn't mention is the boom operator, which is
-> obvious when you know what it is, but you might not recognize the
-> term: the boom is the crane-like device which holds the microphone.
-> If the boom operator messes up and the mike goes into the frame,
-> he gets in lots of trouble. If he's good and doesn't ruin too many
-> shots, they credit him.
-> 	You could write to the Screen Actors' Guild and their
-> behind-the-camera counterpart, whose name I don't know, for this
-> kind of information, since it's all spelled out in their collective
-> and respective contracts.
-> 	My information is from a friend who worked on a movie set
-> (but didn't get the Best Boy credit) in Florida, but it's a little
-> old and memory may not serve.

Thanks for the responses!
-- 
Support bacteria - It's the only culture some people have!
	...tektronix!tekred!ronbe (Ron Bemis)

jfh@phs.UUCP (Fran Heidlage) (04/13/85)

	Gee, I always thought that the "boom operator" was the guy who
set off the explosions.	:-)


						Fran Heidlage
						duke!phs!jfh

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