The Two Types of Camera Tape You Need

Toolkit 24 Comments

Various Colors of Paper Tape

This post comes by way of reader Naj who wrote, “I see many different kinds [of tape] on Filmtools…and am wondering if you could explain what each is used for? I need to do a bulk order and don’t want to get the wrong ones.”

The world of film production adhesives is a confusing one, but tape in its various forms is integral to the flow of a film set and an essential part of a camera assistant’s toolbag. If you’re building up your kit, make sure you have these two types of camera tape sitting pretty waiting to be tabbed.

Paper Tape

Also known as: Marking tape

Paper tape is mainly used to mark actors, place focus marks, make dolly marks and is also used in situations where you don’t want a surface to be ruined from the tape’s adhesive. Paper tape, overall, is more lightweight and easier to carry around on a strap or leash.

On both film and digital shoots, paper tape is used in a variety of colors and widths. A good base of tape variety is five colors. You may need more on certain shoots, but you can always use alternate methods to differentiate the marks.

Paper tape is most commonly available in 1/2″ and 1″ sizes, though there is an all-purpose 2″ black paper tape that is useful. Using 1/2″ or 1″ tape is dependent on the market you work in and the other camera assistants on the shoot. 1/2″ tape is generally cheaper, although I use 1″ tape because I like the extra visibility it affords.

In short, it’s all a matter of preference as long as you keep it consistent.

Cloth Tape

Also Known As: Gaffer’s tape, spike tape, camera tape

Cloth tape is more commonly referred to as camera tape. It is made of the same material as gaffer’s tape and is more durable since it contains threading. The downside of its sturdiness is that camera tape can leave residue on certain surfaces and is harder to tear on-the-go.

On film shoots, cloth tape is used for many purposes, such as taping magazines and rolls of film. Usually a certain color is assigned for the different types of film stocks that a clapper-loader will use to mark magazines. On digital shoots, cloth tape is less important and I find myself using paper tape more often.

Other instances you can use cloth tape are when you want to attach anything to the camera or to differentiate camera accessories on multicamera shoots.

I should also note that when people say “camera tape” they are usually referring to the 1″ size. When people say spike tape, it is usually referring to the 1/2″ size.

Whenever you want a more sturdy and permanent solution to paper tape, camera tape is where it’s at.

Popular Brands

One of the reasons Naj was confused by FilmTools was the prevalence of a few brand names. Some websites organize their listings in a way that makes it seem like a brand is actually a type of tape.

Here are some of those brands:

  • Kraft
  • Shurtape
  • Permacel
  • Pro-Gaff
  • Pro Tape

It is good to read the description of a certain type of tape before deciding to order or not order it. While some manufacturers become heavily associated with a type of tape, many of them make an assortment of styles and colors.

Meet Your Needs

Naj is rightfully worried about ordering the wrong tape. Not having the right tools and expendables can adversely affect your ability to do a job efficiently on set.

When you place your order you should make sure to be looking ahead to the type of productions you’ll be working on. For example, paper tape is used similarly in digital and film shoots, but camera departments working with film stock are heavily dependent on cloth tape. You should be aware of the type of production and order appropriately.

If you are ordering without an inclination of future productions, try to get a few basic colors of each type of tape (white, black and red are the most used). When you do get on a production, use the expendables budget to order the rest of the tape that you may not have.

When planning to place a big order, it’s worth your time to call your expendables seller or email them to see if you can get a discounted rate. You can also name the type of tape, color, size and they will find it for you if you are confused by their online store. I strongly recommend The Expendables Recycler for large orders.

A camera assistant without tape is like a painter without a brush — it’s essential to many of the things we do. When armed with the right kind of tape, a good AC can put in some great work and make great things.

About the author:

About the author: Evan Luzi is the editor and founder of The Black and Blue as well as a freelance camera assistant.

You can learn more about him or follow him on Twitter and Google+.

This Isn't About One Gig. It's About Launching Your Career.
  • http://twitter.com/arrimaniac arrimaniac

    Here in Germany we use cloth tape for marking focus and actors too. Unfortunately it’s very hard to get paper tape in this area… The small cloth tape is called Lassoband and the large one Gaffer

  • Ohitsgrass

    Great post, I had a hard time figuring this out by myself but having the available to people now will make it easier for new AC’s

  • Enochroot

    Just curious, how many rolls of tape do you usually carry on your strap? I guess it depends on the job, but I’ve seen guys with so many rolls on their hip they look like they have trouble walking.

  • Adam Richlin

    Speaking of film tools, http://www.filmtools.com/permacel.html

    I was surprised to find a roll of it on a production I did last week. The grip who brought it didn’t think of it as valuable, so I bought it off of him in a heartbeat. Something about permacel just *feels* right in a way that makes other brands feel cheap. Just flexible enough, just sticky enough, just durable enough without being too firm or hard.

  • Adam Richlin

    Speaking of film tools, http://www.filmtools.com/permacel.html

    I was surprised to find a roll of it on a production I did last week. The grip who brought it didn’t think of it as valuable, so I bought it off of him in a heartbeat. Something about permacel just *feels* right in a way that makes other brands feel cheap. Just flexible enough, just sticky enough, just durable enough without being too firm or hard.

  • Adam Richlin

    AC’s carry a 1″ white, 1″ black, and a few thin color tape rolls (2-3) to mark actors. Dont need more than that. If you’re smart, you can take a white 2″ core from 35mm film and wrap your 1″ tape around it (one core for white and one for black) and have mini-rolls that weigh less and are less likely to nail you between the legs.

  • Adam Richlin

    AC’s carry a 1″ white, 1″ black, and a few thin color tape rolls (2-3) to mark actors. Dont need more than that. If you’re smart, you can take a white 2″ core from 35mm film and wrap your 1″ tape around it (one core for white and one for black) and have mini-rolls that weigh less and are less likely to nail you between the legs.

  • Adam Richlin

    Also, leave the 2″ rolls to the grips. Get that stuff from them when you need it, but don’t carry it yourself unless there’s a specific reason. Saves you weight, effort, and confusion between departments.

  • http://www.theblackandblue.com/ Evan

    I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary to mark with cloth tape — there are some AC’s in America who might do that as well.

    I do think, however, that paper tape is a better solution. But of course if it is scarce, you work with what you got!

  • http://www.theblackandblue.com/ Evan

    Thank you! Hoping it helps clear some confusion people ordering tape for the first time might have

  • http://www.theblackandblue.com/ Evan

    Well, I have ALL of my rolls of tape on my strap which is somewhere around 10 – 12. But that’s also because I don’t carry my strap around set. Instead I use a tag board on the back of a slate that contains all my tape colors and a few pieces of gaff. I did a post about building one that you can read here:
    http://www.theblackandblue.com/2010/03/31/tookit-diy-how-to-build-a-tag-board-for-a-slate-clapperboard/

    I do think it’s ridiculous to carry so much tape on your hip. What I did before I used the tag board was to look ahead to the next scene and note how many actors were in it. Then before a blocking rehearsal I would pre-rip a bunch of pieces of tape and put them on the front of my pants. Once I got the initial marks, I would grab the tape roll from the ditty bag and make real T-marks.

  • http://www.theblackandblue.com/ Evan

    Good idea on the mini-rolls Adam!

  • http://www.theblackandblue.com/ Evan

    I see what you’re saying, but I do have 2″ rolls of both black paper and black gaffer’s tape in my kit. I keep it because I work a lot of low budget shoots where the gaffer’s tape is scarce and it’s easier for me to use my own than to bother a grip about borrowing some.

    Of course, I wouldn’t have purchased it on my own: I slipped it into an expendables order :)

  • Steveo

    There is a very fundamental difference between paper tape and gaffer tape – the glue. while that might seem obvious at first, try it when putting up some gel on a bare frame, or peice bits together, or making a quick cookie. paper tape sticks to gels, even when hot ( with in reason ). gaffer tape doesn’t stick well, and will let go.

    some productions may also use different colors for different jobs – white for taping mags, red for taping shot cans of film, ect. its up to you. yellow is good for keeping things safe in high traffic areas.

  • http://www.theblackandblue.com/ Evan

    Great observations Steveo. Anybody who might be doing camera as well as G&E work should pay attention to that.

    You’re right that some productions use different colors. That’s why I believe it’s best to have an assortment for those times you don’t know what an AC or DP will prefer.

    Case in point: you like yellow as a safety indicator while I use neon pink!

  • FB

    Same here in Italy…unless a camera assistant buys paper tape for him/herself, gaffer tape (here called “gaffa”, mainly referring to the 1′ size) is used for everything. ALL rental houses here have gaffer tape in their expendables order forms and it’s always in stock, paper tape is only found in art shops and some DIYs.

  • FB

    yep, same thing here. Virtually no AC carries a full roll, we all use film cores for 1′ color gaffer tape (usually 1 or 2 different colours) on our belts. White & Black are used almost exclusively for film cans, so we leave them near the changing tent or in the dark room, along with gaffer tape in different colors used to tape the magazine and identify the film stock.
    Grips have more types of gaffer tape with them, usually hanging on one of the dolly “arms”.

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  • Adam

    Do you ever use stuff called Nashua 357 gaffer tape? It’s some really heavy duty stuff that some of the guys here in Australia seem to carry round on the low/no budget shoots. It’s really hard to tear by hand and is really strong stuff – someone told me it is like electrical tape. It doesn’t seem like standard gaffer tape, way too strong.

  • http://www.theblackandblue.com/ Evan

    I have never heard of that, Adam. Sounds interesting though.

    Is there a reason that it is exclusive to low/no budget shoots?

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  • Christian Protte