Tag Archives: film making

Fix it in Post

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Film Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3/27/2018
Primary Language: English

The following is a common filmmaking joke phrase:

If something is not working right while working on a film you just say

“We’ll fix it in post”

 

According to the informant it means that you will let the editor deal with it.

 

The informant also added that it is said by a lot of newer people but describes it as less funny the longer you have been there.

 

Context: this was collected during our in class collection time

 

Thoughts: I think it’s kind of funny how the reception of a joke can show how long you have been in that business, if you are a newcomer you will laugh more than a veteran. It can sort of outline your status. I also find it funny that the joke is technically about not wanting to do work, so you are passing it off to another person. I found that to be a common idea in many occupational jokes.

Gaffers vs Grips

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Film Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3/27/2018
Primary Language: English

The following is a common filmmaking joke:

How many grips does it take to fix a light bulb?

I don’t know

None, let the gaffer do it

 

The informant explains that gaffers only handle electrical work, while grips handle everything else and its disrespectful to do the gaffer’s work if you are not one

 

Context: this was collected during our in class collection time

 

Thoughts: I found this joke to be amusing, mainly because you can look at it from two sides. One, that you do the work you are assigned and don’t take someone else’s work. Or two, you don’t want to do extra work, so you leave it to someone else. I find it funny that even where I work retail, we have similar jokes, about not wanting to do extra work too.

The PA and the Light Bulb

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Film Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3/27/2018
Primary Language: English

The following is a common filmmaking joke phrase:

How many Pas does it take to screw in a light bulb?

I don’t know, how many?

Six, one to do it and five to stand around and wish they got asked to do it.

 

The informant explained that often PAs are not really given jobs to do, so they just want something to do

 

Context: this was collected during our in class collection time

 

Thoughts: This joke I found particularly interesting because rather than complaining about having to do work, which I found to be a common theme of occupational jokes, rather this joke is about complaining because you don’t have any work to do. I think it would be interesting to compare the jobs of PAs to other jobs on a film set to see if this is really true.