Blowing a Fuse: Taking Safety
Precautions
Gaffers and electricians (see Chapter 7) are trained to not overload the electrical circuits. Lights use a lot of voltage and need to be distributed properly.
You don’t want the fire department showing up after you’ve blown the fuse
for your entire neighborhood.
Plug in your lights using several different circuits. Don’t plug them in using
the wall plugs in the same room. Be creative in your distribution. Get a lot of
extension cords and plug into different rooms, so you don’t overload one individual circuit. You may have to have your electrician do a tie-in. This means
that he plugs the lights directly into the fuse box and surpasses the electrical
outlets at your location.
You’re not always going to be near an electrical outlet, and if you’re shooting
outdoors as night is falling, you may need to supplement your lighting. Even if
you’re shooting a night scene, you still need lights to get a properly exposed
image. Some indoor locations may not let you use the electricity, or you may
be filming in an older house or building that can’t take the voltage required by
your lights. These are times when you need a portable generator. Generators
run on gasoline. Don’t forget to have a can of gas ready to refill the generator.
You don’t want to use the old excuse, “We ran out of gas.”