4 CHAPTER 1 Set basics: Your first barbecue There is a Zen to the job of the lamp operator. An experienced lamp operator handles the equipment with deft speed and economy of movement that comes with familiarity. Through the exchange of a few words or hand signals, or by clairvoyance, the electrician grasps the gaffer's intention and manipulates the lamp to create the desired effect. His or her focused concentration is on two things: the activities of the lighting crew and the behavior of the light. The lamp operator is constantly attentive to the DP and gaffer and to fellow electricians who might need a hand. Simul- taneously, the electrician is aware of the light falling, blasting, leaking, and spilling onto the faces and the surfaces around the set. The set lighting crew may be asked also to provide power for fellow crew: camera, sound, dolly, and video village. Electricians typically relinquish responsibility for powering vehicles at the base camp to the transportation department. Although powering the base camp is technically within the union jurisdiction of lighting technicians (who are trained to handle electrical distribution), most of the time the gaffer simply does not have the personnel to spare for anything extraneous to the set. Movie electricians are very rarely licensed journeymen or master electricians. They are not qualified to wire buildings or work on power lines. Their job is lighting movies. Rigging crew