The gaffer is the chief or head electrician or supervisory lighting technician in the film/photography crew on a movie set, responsible for the design and execution of a production's lighting plan on the set. The gaffer's right-hand assistant is known as the "best boy." "Gaffer tape" refers to multi-purpose, sticky, and wide black cloth tape used to mark studio floors, hold things together, etc.

Gaffer tape is a strong fabric-backed tape that is easily removed when no longer needed. Used for all kinds of things on set.

Gag-based comedies are films that are often non-sensical and filled with many gags (i.e., jokes, one-liners, pratfalls, slapstick, etc.). Gag-based comedies are designed to produce laughter in any way possible, and often with comic or spoofing references to other films.

Gap financing are loans provided to finance the production of a film that is secured by estimated minimum guarantees expected from the sale of the completed film to sales territories act are currently unsold.

Gap funding is a standby source of funding that filmmakers can tap to successfully achieve their crowdfunding campaign goals.

The gate is a mechanism inside a camera or projector that holds the film steady as it passes by the lens. "Checking the gate" is a phrase used when someone on the camera crew makes sure no dust or particles obstruct the exposure on the film.

A gel is a transparent, tinted colored sheet of plastic used as a filter for a movie light to create a colored glow over a scene, usually to evoke a desired mood. Black-and-white silent films would often physically tint film stock to achieve the same effect. See "tint."

A gender-bending role is when a performer plays a character of a different gender.

A gender twist is a role traditionally played by a man or woman that is switched and played by a different gender. See also "non-traditional casting."

General release is the widespread distribution and simultaneous exhibition of a movie. A general release is in contrast to a "limited release" where a movie only plays at select theaters for its initial run.

Generation usually refers to the number of times a videotape has been copied. Third generation means three steps away from the original media master.

Genre is originally a French word meaning "kind", "sort" or “type" and refers to a class or type of film (i.e., westerns, sci-fi, etc.) that shares common, predictable or distinctive artistic and thematic elements or iconography (e.g., bad guys in Westerns wear black hats), narrative content, plot, and subject matter, mood and milieu (or setting) or characters. Film genres are distinct from film styles (a recognizable group of conventions used by filmmakers to add visual appeal, meaning, or depth to their work) that can be applied to any genre. Also see "hybrid. "Anti-genre" films present an apparent genre stereotype and then subvert or challenge it. See "revisionistic films."

Gothic is a literary or film style characterized by dark and dreary influences, such as ghouls, the supernatural, the grotesque, deathly forces, and the mysterious. Settings include old mansions, castles, and a threatened heroine. Often used in reference to horror films with these characteristics, to increase the film's prestige.

Grand Guignol literally means "large puppet" in French and is originally a reference to the famous classic shock Parisian theatre (during the 1900s) which specialized in gruesome melodramas with gory special effects. The term now refers to a play/film with sensational, macabre, horrifying, dramatic, and gothic content.

Grants are funds given outright to a producer, without interest, and are not meant to be paid back though there may be other stipulations.

Greenlight, or the action of greenlighting, is the term used when a film has received the go-ahead to into production. A greenlight is in contrast to a "redlight," where a film remains stuck on a shelf and doesn't enter production.

Grindhouse is originally signified a burlesque, strip-tease theatre (for "bumps and grinds") in a redlight district, or a blue-collar downtown cinema-house that featured racy films, chopsocky films, or another marginal fare. As a film, grindhouse first referred to a cheap, low-budget, non-mainstream, sleazy, hard-core film that played in an "adults-only" venue, scruffy downtown area or drive-in in the 1960s or 1970s. Early topics included nudist pictures, kung-fu flicks, and cheesy/sexy potboilers, but then branched out to refer to any genre of film with little plot, but with lots of action, sex and nudity, violence, taboo drug-use, lewdness, atrocities, Hong Kong martial arts content, or just plain weirdness. See also "B-movies," "exploitation," "trash films," "slasher films," or "blaxploitation films."

A grip is the crewmember responsible for setting up dolly tracks and camera cranes, erecting scaffolding, moving props or scenery, or the adjustment or maintenance of any other production equipment on the set. A physically demanding job. The "key grip" is the head grip that coordinates all of the other grips in the crew and receives direction from the gaffer or head lighting technician. The key grip's right-hand assistant is known as the "best boy grip."

Gross refers to the box-office take. The total amount of money taken in during theatrical release, not including earnings from film rentals or sales, or the entire profit made by a film.

Gross profit participants are the individuals entitled to a percentage of gross distributor revenue, unreduced, or only marginally reduced by expenses or fees.

Grotesque is a term originally coined by Federico Fellini to describe the bizarre-looking or deformed background characters in his films. A grotesque refers live-action caricature with exaggerated features, but not necessarily to be viewed as frightening or sinister.

Guarantees are the sum a distributor agrees to pay a producer for his film, no matter what market performance may be.

Guerrilla film refers to a low-budget film, usually shot without seeking location permits, using non-SAG (Screen Actors Guild) actors, etc.

Guilty pleasure is an escapist film that engenders low expectations (usually an awful B-movie or a critically-lambasted film) that the public enjoys despite or, more likely, because of its flaws. Guilty pleasures are often quite personal film choices that are sometimes embarrassing to admit. Universally-loved "guilty pleasure" films become cult films. See also "flop" and "B-movie."

gaffer

gaffer tape

gag-based comedies (film)

gap financing

gap funding

gate

gel

gender-bending role

gender twist

general release

generation

genre

gothic

Grand Guignol

grants

greenlight (greenlighting)

grindhouse

grip

gross

gross profit participants

grotesque

guarantees

guerrilla film

guilty pleasure

Stage 32 Glossary