Explaining Hollywood: How to get a job as a gaffer

LOS ANGELES — To set the mood of a scene in a movie, TV show or video, filmmakers give the audience plenty of nonverbal clues — in the locale, the props, the soundtrack, even the camera angles. But one important and often subtle signal is sent through the way the scene is lighted, which often involves lamps, shades and filters even when the sun is shining.

The way light falls on a character in a scene can set the emotional tone of the story, just as it can when a character is shrouded in darkness. The person who oversees the production's lighting and electrical needs is the crew's chief lighting technician, better known as the gaffer.

The job is part technical, part artistic, said gaffer David Goodman. He illustrated this point with an anecdote from the most recent project he worked on, "Hopeless," a dark but humor-inflected short film released earlier this year.

Although the story takes place in a home at night, filming was done during the day. It was easy enough for Goodman to hide the daylight by blacking out the windows. The challenge was removing the shadows his lights were creating