Adding Fixtures as a Craft/Department in Local 479
Fixtures—the department responsible for creating, modifying, and maintaining both practical and LED lighting across sets, costumes, props, and in conjunction with both special and visual effects—is an essential component of the language of cinematography. As technologies in lighting change, so do their applications and demands on the knowledge base of the electrical arm of the film crew. These advancements require an ever-diversified and broadening skill set from Fixtures technicians to keep up. Soldering, programming, networking, retrofitting, as well as the basic principles of electricity, are just some of the core aspects of any Fixtures crew.
Long viewed as a small and scrappy but often indistinct department, Fixtures has traditionally been thought of as a subset of or compliment to Electric. However, with higher lighting budgets and more artistic expectations from lighting design, Fixtures has grown to have the same needs and financial requirements as any other core department. Fixtures is a critical component of filmmaking, providing input at both the design and application level where it comes to lighting. Fixtures is responsible for a host of lighting applications: inset and background lighting, the modification of purpose-built and practical lighting on set, key lighting when using lighted props, and costume lighting; in addition to other unique applications, such as the retrofitting of picture car lighting, as well as designing battery-operated solutions where traditional power runs may not suffice. Therefore, a Fixtures department represents a holistic approach to solving lighting needs, borrowing aspects of design and knowledge from every corner of a film's departmental structure.
Because of this widening scope within the craft, the electricians and technicians currently working in Fixtures departments and the broader population of our Local—represented by the undersigned—are formally seeking recognition of the Fixtures department and its commensurate positions as designated crafts within our Local, after the same fashion DMX Technicians and other crafts were expanded to accommodate evolving roles in our trade, replete with its own hierarchy and titles reflective of their roles:
- Fixtures Key (Lead)
- Fixtures Best (2nd)
- Fixtures Gang Boss
- Fixtures Technician (3rd)
It is with these designations and additions to our crafts we seek to create more avenues for creative work in entertainment and lighting which reflect the technical specificity and skills cultivated by our Local's commitment to shaping the best and brightest individuals in the industry.
In Solidarity,
The Undersigned Membership of Local 479
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