A C-47 refers to a cloth pin used in a film set. They’re most often used to keep filters attached to barn doors lights, but they are also employed for a variety of other functions. Film sets prefer wooden clothespins to plastic ones because plastic clothespins can melt due to heat generated by the lights. C-47s may also be painted black to blend in more effectively on a set. The C-47 name may be derived from the C-47 military plane, which was extremely versatile during World War II. It was thought that the clothespin was named after the military plane because clothespins are versatile and versatile objects can often be found on a film set. Another theory is that the C-47 was named after the storage bin it was stored in at an old film studio setup (row C, slot 47).
According to a fourth explanation, C-47s were studio executives’ early expense reports for clothespins. In the early days of filmmaking, they were less than enthused about spending money on a simple, common item like clothespins, resulting in C-47s on expense reports. A mysterious item was not investigated and the reports were accepted
Pro Tip: If you invert the clothespin, you can now have them transformed into a pair of wooden pliers to grab hot scrims or anything else on the set. This then becomes known as a C-74. Because of the inversion. Get it? 🙂
