Cinematographer Roundtable - Working with the Gaffer
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- Опубликовано: 23 июн 2021
- In this episode our cinematographer roundtable talks about working with gaffers and how they collaborate with them. What is expected from a gaffer?
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So yeah I’m a gaffer, and I really enjoy the most Kate’s vision of collaboration, rather than Ben’s vision.
I think gaffers must be creative, and it’s even better when gaffers wish to eventually become DPs because they understand the creativity of designing lighting for scenes that he or she is in charge of executing. And, as a gaffer, I have such a deep knowledge of the technicality of lighting, that I’m now able to use that technicality to play around with my creativity.
And also Kate is really right about that collaboration aspect. We, as gaffers, are the experts of the light, and the DP is the expert of the design, so let’s gather around our same goal : light that scene, and let’s work the details by both bringing ideas. There’s absolutely no worst feeling than suggesting something as a gaffer (a different light, an addition, a substitution, a different diffusion, etc...) and having the DP rejecting it by saying that it is not your role to suggest and create, but to execute.
In the end, I believe that gaffers are also creators and artists. Yes the main job is to work the technicalities, but we are the experts of lighting, and we have a need for creative collaboration with the DP to simply feel alive in this industry.
Otherwise I would stick to being an electrician on set. But fortunately for me, I find myself mostly working with DPs that let you a lot of freedom while still giving you his or her ideas (albeit very specific or not).
Thank you for sharing your amazing thoughts!
I've been working as an electric on set for a while now. Gaffing smaller things here and there, I got asked to gaff my first feature in a few months on a lower budget film and I'm considering doing it for the experience with the end goal of becoming a DP. I think this video and your comment has pushed me in that direction!
@@MattAitia Yessir, you have to go for it, even if it's a small budget, that's the best way to get a first experience as a gaffer!
Above all, be yourself and trust your gusts about when to step in our when to step out! I recommend listening to Roger Deakins' podcast "Team Deakins" with Bill O'Leary (one of his gaffers) and they talk about their relationship, and these guys are friends before being colleagues, and that embodies the mindset that you'll have to have with your DP! It's going to be a constant learning experience for you (both hopefully); and after all the DP remains your boss, but you have to scout the grounds and if, during preprod and location scouts, you feel like he or she's (the DP) opened to dialog and suggestions and collaboration, then jump the hell in with what you know, and also be ready to listen and learn when needed.
Good luck, and most of all have fun !!
@@larramenpa I listened to Deakins podcast with Biggles (one of his other gaffers) and it definitely is super important to be friends before collaborators. I’ll most likely take the gig since I genuinely like playing with lighting and hopefully learn some things that will better me as a DP also!
Gaffer here - agree with the collaborative workflow. It's much less rewarding working with DPs who treat you purely as a technician - specifying each and every detail. Having worked with both higher-end DPs and newer less-experienced DPs - I find suggestions to be important, but one does need "read the tone" of the DP to understand how they will interpret that; sometimes taking offence at suggestions thinking you're over-stepping your role, but making suggestions is totally part of the role. Many newer DPs don't realise that the gaffer probably has plenty more hours on-set than them and they tend to refuse each and every suggestions, eventually coming back-around to the suggested setup after wasting countless hours - you often only have enough time to do one setup, nothing spare to "play around" - trust your gaffer.
I see some miffed with Ben's vision in the comments but that's the thing. I've come across gaffers who do not wish to be pulled in creatively at all. The beauty of this roundtable is that a DP exists for every gaffer. So you may not find Ben to be your fit but he isn't being reductive of anyone's role in the process. He is just explaining "his unique" approach. I personally do plan out with my gaff but again, that's what works for me. May not work for Ben. Look at it like a very similar situation in our jobs where there's a hundred ways to create a big soft source. And each way is right if in the end it benefits the vision of the director.
I think its super important to treat Gaffers as collaborators rather than Ben Smithard's way of treating Gaffers as just getting you out of a rut. It's kinda reductive to say this as I find a lot of Gaffers are artists in their own way and if you are very restrictive and controlling over how you light your image you miss the joy of learning some amazing stuff from talented individuals. Of course you know how you want your image to look but including the talents of other people can really bring it to another level.
What i would like to hear.. is how did they all start out .. i mean I'm always stressed out because I'm still a ONE-MAN ARMY and i always feel down when i realise i don't know a lot (or everything) but then i look at high end filmmakers and they don't know everything either and they always rely on different departments... so that's what i would like to hear... how did they all start before they reached a point where they have a full crew to do the work
DP Hoyte van Hoytema said in an interview recently that during the filming of 'her' director Spike Jonze once said: 'guys, I really I don't know what I'm looking for, but I'll know it when I see it'.
Amazing 👍👏
Shame the lighting in this conversation is so poorly lit :P
Are there no Black or Brown filmmakers in the UK?
...... well if u think there's acts of discrimination in these videos dear, why don't u name us some black british Hollywood cinematographers that u know ?
We do try to have as much diversity as possible of the calibre of industry experience and expertise this channel represents. For the record it is produced and shot by two Leicester born British Asians