gaffers tape color coding

Jason Hinkle RIP · May 28, 2009

i've seen on the set gaffers tape colors used to signify the type of film loaded into a mag (daylight, tungsten). i was wondering if there are official industry standards for colors of gaffers tape - or is this something you usually just work out based on what color tape is at hand?

David Rakoczy · May 28, 2009

Gaffers Tape is used primarily by the Grip & Electric Depts.... 1 inch Camera Tape is what the Camera Assts. use.

Exposed - BLACK

High Speed - RED

Daylight Balance - BLUE

Tungsten Balance - YELLOW

Black & White - WHITE

Reversal - Any Dayglow Color

Tom Jensen · May 28, 2009

Gaffers Tape is used primarily by the Grip & Electric Depts.... 1 inch Camera Tape is what the Camera Assts. use.

Exposed - BLACK

High Speed - RED

Daylight Balance - BLUE

Tungsten - YELLOW

Black & White - WHITE

Reversal - Any Dayglow Color

I always used pretty much the same system except I used white tape for enexposed and used the color tapes for labels. It doesn't matter as long as you realize that black is exposed.

Jason Hinkle RIP · May 29, 2009

thank you! looks like i will have to figure out what to do with the hot-pink gaffers tape that just showed up from my ebay order, hehe. (was supposed to be orange)

David Rakoczy · May 29, 2009

:lol:

Hal Smith · May 29, 2009

thank you! looks like i will have to figure out what to do with the hot-pink gaffers tape that just showed up from my ebay order, hehe. (was supposed to be orange)

I've got a box full of gaffer/camera tape leftovers I bought from a woman AC. There's a roll of hot pink in it. I think she may have been using it to tape over the mouth of anyone on the set who was sexually inappropriate.

Serge Teulon · May 29, 2009

I've got a box full of gaffer/camera tape leftovers I bought from a woman AC. There's a roll of hot pink in it. I think she may have been using it to tape over the mouth of anyone on the set who was sexually inappropriate.

:P

I bet on the sets that she worked on, there were a few sparks with their mouths taped up......

Chris Keth · May 29, 2009

I've got a box full of gaffer/camera tape leftovers I bought from a woman AC. There's a roll of hot pink in it. I think she may have been using it to tape over the mouth of anyone on the set who was sexually inappropriate.

Hot pink is my favorite color of camera tape because nobody "borrows" it.

Tom Jensen · May 29, 2009

Hot pink is my favorite color of camera tape because nobody "borrows" it.

And it goes great with your jumpsuit and your Panavision jacket. Bahdump.

Mike Thorn · May 29, 2009

And it goes great with your jumpsuit and your Panavision jacket. Bahdump.

Also useful when laying marks for actresses because no self-respecting man is going to step up to a hot pink mark.

Chris Keth · May 29, 2009

Also useful when laying marks for actresses because no self-respecting man is going to step up to a hot pink mark.

Also true. I try to use it for the leading lady. They always like that.

Tom Jensen · May 29, 2009

Also useful when laying marks for actresses because no self-respecting man is going to step up to a hot pink mark.

Oh, you'd be surprised.

Hal Smith · June 1, 2009

Also useful when laying marks for actresses because no self-respecting man is going to step up to a hot pink mark.

I skipped over "marks for" when first skimming through your post. It certainly changed the meaning of what you were trying to say. ;)

Simon Wyss · June 1, 2009

It's a fine thing for us lab people to receive exposed stock in cans with white tape around with black felt marker identification on saying

exposure rate

footage.

It is a very sad fact that many camera people, from 2nd to DoP, cannot leave the original sticker on the can as it is, they scribble and paint and paste over it so that for instance the batch numbers are illegible. Please, simply write on the tape around the rim if you feel you must write besides the camera report. The tape we shall be looking at because, you know why.

Tom Jensen · June 1, 2009

It's a fine thing for us lab people to receive exposed stock in cans with white tape around with black felt marker identification on saying
exposure rate

footage.

It is a very sad fact that many camera people, from 2nd to DoP, cannot leave the original sticker on the can as it is, they scribble and paint and paste over it so that for instance the batch numbers are illegible. Please, simply write on the tape around the rim if you feel you must write besides the camera report. The tape we shall be looking at because, you know why.

The amount of time and effort that would take would be nearly impossible on a big shoot. With the amount of recans and short ends, multiple units using the same darkroom it would be a headache for the loader. Does Kodak still make the peel off label that doesn't stick to anything?

David Rakoczy · June 1, 2009

I agree.

Once a seal is broken, I don't trust the label info anymore.... I trust what is written on the Can by the person who did the re-can.. (i.e. Stock, Feet, Date of re-can etc...)... or what is written on the Camera Report. Rarely is a stock sent to the lab in the same can it came in.. or even a matching can...

Simon Wyss · June 2, 2009

Then it seems to me that I am used to keep order in the dark while the crew produces a mess in the light. Why in the world can an exposed portion not be brought back to its can? Don't you keep empty and unlabeled cans in a place for short ends? I always wonder at how archaic procedures are with million dollar budget film productions (or less) right on the level of film.

David Rakoczy · June 2, 2009

Then it seems to me that I am used to keep order in the dark while the crew produces a mess in the light.

Simon?

Often times you only shoot a portion of a roll.. right then and there you are out of sync as the other part has to go in a different can. Look, cans are cans to 'Set' folks.. that is why we 're-label' them with the correct info. :rolleyes:

Simon Wyss · June 2, 2009

I beg your pardon.

Everything is fine.

Have been a bit too sensitive. Like pressure sensitive tape. Never mind

:mellow:

Tom Jensen · June 2, 2009

I skipped over "marks for" when first skimming through your post. It certainly changed the meaning of what you were trying to say. ;)

Hal, you should be ashamed. You have a dirty mind and I like that.

Chris Keth · June 3, 2009

Then it seems to me that I am used to keep order in the dark while the crew produces a mess in the light. Why in the world can an exposed portion not be brought back to its can? Don't you keep empty and unlabeled cans in a place for short ends? I always wonder at how archaic procedures are with million dollar budget film productions (or less) right on the level of film.

Don't argue with the system when it makes your job easier, too. All you have to do is copy a footage, an emulsion batch number, and the date onto some tape. It beats finding the exact can (or keeping track of them all) a particular roll came out of.