What's Your Twenty - Glossary

This is the place where you will find the storehouse of information that LP provides to us in his "What's Your Twenty" columns.

This list will be added to as each column highlights certain definitions, names, abbreviates, slang - pretty much anything that would be said on a film set that would make you scratch your head and say - WHAT!?

[Updated: 9/14/07]

We hope you learn something!

Cinematographer – Also known as the Director of Photography, or DP, the cinematographer determines a film’s “look”. In addition to doing much of the actual shooting of the film (including framing the shots as well as any camera movement), the cinematographer determines how a film is going to be lit to create the intended mood. It probably wouldn’t do to have The Godfather lit in the same way as Forest Gump.

Dolly – A dolly is a wheeled platform used to create very smooth camera movements. The camera is placed on the dolly and pushed or pulled to create motion in a shot. Some dollies run on tracks, like a train, some dollies can be placed directly on the ground.

Editor –The editor arranges a film’s images and audio into the story the audience sees.

Electric – A member of the Electric Department.

Electric Department – These are the people responsible for everything electric on a film set. They have the obvious immense task of setting up lights and running electricity to those lights, but they are also consulted if, say, a coffee machine needs to be plugged in on set. They know if a particular circuit is at capacity, or if there is room to plug in that “one more thing”.

Executive Producer – The Executive Producer either invests money in a project, or secures the money from other sources to invest in a project.

Film Cutter – a small device with a razor blade attached to a spring loaded hinged arm and a bed to rest your film on. You line up your film underneath the blade where you want to make a cut, then press the hinged arm down to make the cut.

Gaffer – The head of the Electric Department.

Grip Department – These are the people responsible for most of the equipment that does not get plugged in. While the electric department may be in charge of lights, the grip department is in charge of placing the stands for the lights or securing the lights to something other than a stand. The grip department is also responsible for securing the camera to places like a dolly, or a car.

Grip – A member of the Grip Department.

Key Grip – The head of the Grip Department.

On The Set Hierarchy - Film sets have a sort of military hierarchy. At the top are the Director and the Cinematographer. Supporting the Cinematographer are two departments, the Grip Department, and the Electric Department.

Producer – It’s become a cliché to say that this is the most misunderstood position on a film set, and that is because it’s a tough position to define. In my experience, the producer oversees the entire project, making sure that everything is going smoothly and that clients and/or the executive producer are happy with the progress.

Production Assistant (PA) – An entry position on a film set. Good PAs work incredibly hard. Need someone to drive actors and crew to and from the film set? Need someone to stop people from crossing a busy street because they will interfere with the shot? Need someone to help with office work? Need an extra set of hands for just about anything? The production assistant is there.

Production Manager – The production manager is responsible for all of the day to day happenings on a film set, making sure that everything goes smoothly with the crew. Production managers are usually also responsible for the budget.

Ten One Hundred – Another CB phrase adopted by the film industry. If someone is “Ten One Hundred”, they are unavailable at the moment because they are peeing. “Ten Two Hundred” is also a bathroom term. I’m sure you can figure that one out… I’ve been on sets where these terms were shortened to “Ten One” and “Ten Two”.

Utility - In my experience on small television shoots, a utility is a sort of combination Production Assistant, Grip, and Electric.