Organisation and Transportationg gels

[Simon Olney]

This may come across as a bit of a no brainer at first, but I'm a student developing more of a tilt to lighting than camera and have accumulated a large selection of gels over the past year, which whilst it comes in handy on set, is fast becoming unwieldily and difficult to manage. My gels are starting to get damaged and lost and I was wondering if anybody had any tried and tested methods of looking after gels.

 

Currently I carry them around in a large blue ikea bag with different sheets of each gel rolled together (all ND3 together, all hampshire frost together e.t.c.) and held together with electrical tape, however within an hour of arriving on set my gels have spilled out of the bag and by the end of the day they are decorating a corner of the studio floor.

 

I'm aware part of the problem is overworking myself by not getting enough/any sparks on board and essentially lighting a film myself whilst the DP has his/her head stuck in the camera, but a better system for managing gels would help speed up my workflow.

 

Many thanks

Simon

[Mike Lary]

For precut gels you can cut cardboard mailing tubes to different lengths and stand them up in a milk crate, then roll the gels and stick them in the tubes. You can easily separate different types of gels from others this way and even separate different grades of gels within the same tube (one tube for ND3, 6, and 9, for example) for faster retrieval. If you want something more heavy duty, you can use pvc pipe instead of mailing tubes. Crates are easy to carry and fit neatly on a four wheeler.

[JD Hartman]

Mike has the answer, used on many sets. Otherwise, cut pieces are often damaged and or thrown away at the end of a day or shoot. Be certain that you and anyone else, cutting gels, labels them in two different corners. A square crate and cardboard tubes will give you enough room to keep all your strengths of CTB, CTO, Straw, minus and plus Green, Diffusion and party gels separate and ready for use. Good place to re-cycle blackwrap as well.

[Joshua EarlesBennett]

Or you can buy some gelly rolls. We use them at our grip and lighting shop to organize scraps into precuts.

 

http://www.advantagegrip.com/gelbags.htm

 

Advantage Grip makes some pretty nice ones and they can make custom sizes if you ask.

 

Also remember gels are expendables, so eventually you throw them away.

[Satsuki Murashige]

I've also seen some gaffers have pre-cut gels organized into a series of 8.5x11" binders.

[JD Hartman]

I think the O.P. was talking about during and after a shoot. I don't work in theater anymore and rarely buy cut sheets, so precuts would be a waste. The solution to the question: what do I do with this large piece of diff I've used on the Kino after we wrap. Since I've paid for it, it get reused or re-cut, but it won't be cut until necessary, hence the mailing tubes in the crate. The Jelly roll? That kind of overpriced stuff makes me barf and reminds me of "guerrilla" filmaking, having a one ton grip truck in a duffel bag, but guerrilla filmmakers don't spend any money so they would buy it either.

[David Rakoczy]

(In the States) you can can get these Drafting Tubes at Office Depot. They are Black Plastic and telescope to different lengths to accomodate different size Gel Sheets. They also have a handy Strap to hang them by. I have 5 of these Tubes labeled CTO, CTB, DIFFUSION, +/- GREEN and PARTY. They work and 'look' great!

 

See Here

 

Full length Rolls travel in the Gel Rack on the back of my Electrical/ Head Cart. Noma Fabrications. I designed a sweet Electric/ Head Cart and George Noma built it. He loves it and says it will be on his site soon as he plans to build more. It is a 3 closed in carpeted shelved Cart with room on top with a Gel Rack and Black Wrap holder on the back side.

 

 

* Always label each sheet of gel you cut!!!!