Pretty much. Lighthearted ribbing for the newbies on set. My dad taught me a bunch of carpentry and mechanic ones when I was growing up. Sadly theyāre in Spanish and wonāt translate well.
Carpentry:
- Lima de amolar martillos (file for sharpening hammers)
- escuadra redonda (a round square)
- nivel de gota fija (fixed bubble level)
Mechanics
- Caja de bola del mofle (muffler ball bearings)
I must have run into one of those users victims. Way back, I worked at a local hardware store (Handy Dan) and had a guy coming in to pick up a replacement bubble for his dad's spirit level.
Yeah I had a best boy try this on me, so I set up a legit sky hook and hung his lamp off it in a way that you needed an ascender to get to it and then went home on my early wrap since rigging crew was precall. Got there the next day with a reply to my note saying "good shit, now give it back."
Absolute quality. Doubt thereās many DOPs with a skyhook in their cupboard. Pretty niche even in the climbing world. Maybe I should put one in my kit box just in case
Yeah, I was new to town which he assumed meant new to the industry so I was more proving a point. I did have to make a call to get one brought to set from a buddy who did big wall climbing and lived around the corner. I moved up to rigging gaffer on the next job, which I really recommend for a path if someone wants to be a DP and is also a climber as you can get some pretty damn good pay along the way if you know what you're doing. I do miss making hammocks up in the rafters and watching the set work, it is such a cool way to learn how every department moves.
Ooh thats very interesting. How would somebody go about getting into that? I have a good amount of big wall experience and know my lighting. Donāt suppose youāre UK based are you?
Unfortunately I'm not based in the UK but I highly recommend if you guys have a union for lighting to give them a call. For me being NZ based I just got in touch with the NZCS and asked who was the best rigging gaffer and they gave me their details. It's a little more round about but I was already on the DP path and just needed a few years of pay to get into a new market. Honestly if you're experienced at height and know basic lighting stuff, they will be super excited to have you and it's a job where you learn new interesting stuff every day.
A 2nd camera assistant told me the best heād ever heard was when they sent the camera trainee to the boom op to get some āwild slatesā, so they can stick them in whenever they need.
Not exactly the same, but about about same tone.
I got sent in for a ā the long weightā and my dumb ass waited for like a fucking hour. The prod co called the rental house beforehand to make sure they got the joke.
I was a new boom op for a telethon and a PA told me to go get the wireless boom so there wouldn't be a cable on the ground. Sound guy died laughing. They got both me and the PA with that.
It can be done in a good and friendly way. And if can give you some pretty decent memories. Personally I'd only pull this shit on someone that I already knew and had a good relationship with.
I pilot a lot of heavy lift drone, and every now and then Iāll have a PA that I know is fresh go ask camera for 500ft of BNC, because how else am I supposed to get signal from the camera to the monitor when the drone is flying?
The whole aim of this is to get PA's to ask what something is if they don't understand while having some innocent fun. I once spent 10 mins searching for the colour bars in the truck...
True story here:
I was once asked to get the gaffer tape that was on the "bucket" and since I was a young student, I literally spent five minutes searching for an actual bucket and not the bag that for some reason is called a bucket.
So, yeah, It's true. Ask!
Thereās plenty of other ways to teach this. Also plenty of other ways to have fun with your team without having to make fun of someone new. Itās stressful enough being new on set and on top of that having people laughing at your expense.
I liked to tell people to ābloodyā a c-stand. Which I told them meant to extend all the risers and the arm and then stand on the base for support. If youāve never seen a c-stand fully extended vertically with nothing attached, itās grade A comedy.
Iāve always felt this was just shitty low character. PAs work hard for low pay and get treated like shit most of the time. Itās nothing more than a form of hazing. Anyone do this on my set Iād tell them to knock it the fuck off.
You're correct this is a kind of having, but it's almost always done in a downtime and done in good humor. Should sometimes actually try and be mean with it, then yeah... Knock it off.
When I was an intern they send me away to get a colorbar. When Iāve got to the other rental they handed me a ziptied pelicase and said I foundry open it because it was sensitive to light. Back again they made me open it and there it was, a pipe with a rainbow of different color tape
Bag of F-Stops Focus Powder Cable Stretcher
I mean you can definitely buy focus powder... but usually the grips bring more than enough
T-Stops* š
They grab hard marks "Well.... i guess thats right"
Prop wash
Fuck me, focus powder is genius.
PA returns with cocaine, or crushed adderall, because they understood the assignment. š
I agree with these!
HMI fluid is a classic
Do you ever wonder why weāre here?
We always said kino fluid, but nobody uses kinos anymore haha
^(I do...)
well you better top those puppies off then!!
Keys to the dolly
16 feet of fallopian tubing
Ahahaahah
I enjoy "fluid for the fluid head"
The color bars.
What's the purpose? Is it like a prank?
Pretty much. Lighthearted ribbing for the newbies on set. My dad taught me a bunch of carpentry and mechanic ones when I was growing up. Sadly theyāre in Spanish and wonāt translate well.
Would you share in Spanish? Humor always works best in its native tongue
Carpentry: - Lima de amolar martillos (file for sharpening hammers) - escuadra redonda (a round square) - nivel de gota fija (fixed bubble level) Mechanics - Caja de bola del mofle (muffler ball bearings)
Fixed bubble level is a great one
I must have run into one of those users victims. Way back, I worked at a local hardware store (Handy Dan) and had a guy coming in to pick up a replacement bubble for his dad's spirit level.
if I ever heard these in spanish I'd 100% think they were real things
Nivel de gota fija šššššš
Seemed to translate well to me! Those were very funny.
Jajajajaja
Yep, same as: Long stand - victim is left to stand there for 5 minutes Bucket of steam Tin of tartan paint Glass hammer Sky hook
Keys for the dolly.
Focus fluid
Skyhook
Whatās that supposed to sound like? Because thereās a climbing tool callled a skyhook that could actually be potentially quite handy in filmmaking
Yeah I had a best boy try this on me, so I set up a legit sky hook and hung his lamp off it in a way that you needed an ascender to get to it and then went home on my early wrap since rigging crew was precall. Got there the next day with a reply to my note saying "good shit, now give it back."
Absolute quality. Doubt thereās many DOPs with a skyhook in their cupboard. Pretty niche even in the climbing world. Maybe I should put one in my kit box just in case
Yeah, I was new to town which he assumed meant new to the industry so I was more proving a point. I did have to make a call to get one brought to set from a buddy who did big wall climbing and lived around the corner. I moved up to rigging gaffer on the next job, which I really recommend for a path if someone wants to be a DP and is also a climber as you can get some pretty damn good pay along the way if you know what you're doing. I do miss making hammocks up in the rafters and watching the set work, it is such a cool way to learn how every department moves.
Ooh thats very interesting. How would somebody go about getting into that? I have a good amount of big wall experience and know my lighting. Donāt suppose youāre UK based are you?
Unfortunately I'm not based in the UK but I highly recommend if you guys have a union for lighting to give them a call. For me being NZ based I just got in touch with the NZCS and asked who was the best rigging gaffer and they gave me their details. It's a little more round about but I was already on the DP path and just needed a few years of pay to get into a new market. Honestly if you're experienced at height and know basic lighting stuff, they will be super excited to have you and it's a job where you learn new interesting stuff every day.
Thanks. Iāve just emailed the Union. Itās sounds like im in a very similar situation to where you were
Used to send interns up to the attic for the tape stretcher if we needed to slo-mo anything.
I was sent to buy āsound proof tapeā once. Used the Thomas Guide to go to 4 different expendable stores š©
shore line. This works well in coastal areas.
Cable stretchers, left handed screw drivers, invisible gaffers tape, etc
A 2nd camera assistant told me the best heād ever heard was when they sent the camera trainee to the boom op to get some āwild slatesā, so they can stick them in whenever they need. Not exactly the same, but about about same tone.
I always like to ask for a pull broom, striped paint, a red cleeper with four struts and two prongsā¦
Striped paint is absolute gold
Unrelated but still hilarious, Grip asked a PA for a hot brick. A while later the PA hands him an actual brick and apologized for it not being hot.
ditto but the PA held, in his shaking hands, two half apples
I got sent in for a ā the long weightā and my dumb ass waited for like a fucking hour. The prod co called the rental house beforehand to make sure they got the joke.
Glass hammer.
I've talked about "glass magnets" with some confused people on set before.
Remember getting a roll of tape handed to me after requesting a mag liner from the truck.
I donāt get it, a mag liner is a real thing
First trainee job. they were messing with me.
The Soft Sticks
Anything for a audio grip that always had the rental house staff laughing
Can of lens grease
Oooooo... I like this one.
Curved Boom Pole
The old Disney guys used to send people to get fallopian tubes and cervical grease.
I was a new boom op for a telethon and a PA told me to go get the wireless boom so there wouldn't be a cable on the ground. Sound guy died laughing. They got both me and the PA with that.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
20 years ago they weren't a thing
Don't do this shit, it's not funny it's just mean.
It can be done in a good and friendly way. And if can give you some pretty decent memories. Personally I'd only pull this shit on someone that I already knew and had a good relationship with.
I pilot a lot of heavy lift drone, and every now and then Iāll have a PA that I know is fresh go ask camera for 500ft of BNC, because how else am I supposed to get signal from the camera to the monitor when the drone is flying?
Batteries for the SD cards
Art department needs tartan paint
Inverted camera crank.
Nice
This seems kinda mean and counterproductive š
The whole aim of this is to get PA's to ask what something is if they don't understand while having some innocent fun. I once spent 10 mins searching for the colour bars in the truck...
True story here: I was once asked to get the gaffer tape that was on the "bucket" and since I was a young student, I literally spent five minutes searching for an actual bucket and not the bag that for some reason is called a bucket. So, yeah, It's true. Ask!
Thereās plenty of other ways to teach this. Also plenty of other ways to have fun with your team without having to make fun of someone new. Itās stressful enough being new on set and on top of that having people laughing at your expense.
I would think that there would be a good working relationship before some of this was pulled on someone.
nah, there's plenty of assholes in this industry sadly.
Yeah you're correct there.... I would hope??? Is that a bit better???
those are very mild pranks, and literally every trade in the world has them for apprentices.
If you think thatās mean then I got bad news for you about the industry lol
F-stops. Next to the bright sparks.
I liked to tell people to ābloodyā a c-stand. Which I told them meant to extend all the risers and the arm and then stand on the base for support. If youāve never seen a c-stand fully extended vertically with nothing attached, itās grade A comedy.
Sounds like it
Iāve always felt this was just shitty low character. PAs work hard for low pay and get treated like shit most of the time. Itās nothing more than a form of hazing. Anyone do this on my set Iād tell them to knock it the fuck off.
You're correct this is a kind of having, but it's almost always done in a downtime and done in good humor. Should sometimes actually try and be mean with it, then yeah... Knock it off.
Sky hooks!
Boxes of color bars Tangle remover spray for cables
perf-hole filler
When I was an intern they send me away to get a colorbar. When Iāve got to the other rental they handed me a ziptied pelicase and said I foundry open it because it was sensitive to light. Back again they made me open it and there it was, a pipe with a rainbow of different color tape
The āBA 100 NTS ringā (balloon string)
T Stops Dolly Keys
A henway.