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Lighting/Electrical DepartmentElectrician (or Lighting Technician)

Lighting/Electrical Department

The Electrician is responsible for looking after the electrical lighting equipment both on a film set and on location. They work under the instruction of the Gaffer (head of electrics department) and the Best Boy (his deputy), usually as part of a team, depending on the size and scale of a production. They must keep the equipment clean, safe and in good operational order. Depending on the size of the production, setting up the lighting equipment or rigging, before filming begins.

Is this role right for me?


For this role, you will need:


Strong knowledge of and familiarity with relevant equipment and how it operates, understanding of how to create the right lighting required by the production, ability to modify lighting between shots if necessary.


Strong awareness of and adherence to health and safety issues.


Ability to adapt on the job to help create the lighting envisaged for the project.


Great attention to detail, a creative eye and good vision.


Good interpersonal and communication skills and teamwork.


Work with:

  • Gaffer
  • Best Boy
  • All of the Lighting Department

Career Path to Electrician:

There is no usual career path to Electrician, often they will have worked their way through Lighting Department. They need to be a fully qualified electrician in order to work on a production.

and working your way up through the electrical department is essential with lots of onset experience on productions.