Grips

In the U.S. and Canada, grips are lighting and rigging technicians in the film and video industries. They make up their own department on a film set and are led by a key grip. Grips have two main functions. more...

Home
Accessories
Bags
Ball Markers
Balls
Books, Videos
Clubmaking Products
Grips
Heads
Drivers, Metalwoods
Irons, Putters,Wedges
Other
Other
Shafts
Aldila
Grafalloy
Other
True Temper
Clubs
Gloves
Golf Carts, Cars
Other
Schools, Lessons,...
Tee Times, Green Fees
Training Aids
Vintage
Disc Golf
Men Golf Clothing
Men Golf Shoes
Men's Accessories
Women Golf Clothing
Women Golf Shoes

The first is to work closely with the camera department, especially if the camera is mounted to a dolly, crane or other unusual position. Some grips may specialize in operating camera dollies or camera cranes. The second is to work closely with the electrical department to put in the lighting set-ups necessary for a shot.

In the U.K., Australia and most parts of Europe, grips are not involved in lighting. In the \"British System\", adopted throughout Europe and the British Commonwealth (excluding Canada), a grip is solely responsible for camera mounting and support.

The term 'grip' dates back to the early era of the circus. From there it was used in vaudeville and then in today's film sound stages and sets. Some have suggested the name comes from the 1930s-40s slang term for a tool bag or \"grip\" that these technicians use to carry their tools to work. Another popular theory states that in the days of hand-cranked cameras, it would necessary for a few big blokes to hang on to the tripod legs to stop excessive movement of the camera. These big blokes became known as the 'good grips'- as they were constantly being instructed to 'keep a good grip on the tripod'.

U.S. and Canadian grips may belong to the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, which is their trade union.

Lighting

On all union jobs, grips do not touch the lights themselves. The placement of lighting instruments and the power distribution to deliver electricity is handled by the electricians who work under a gaffer. Grips do, however, handle all of the equipment not directly attached to the lights that diffuse and shape the light. This work is done by setting stands that hold flags, nets, diffusion frames or other gobos in place in front of a lighting instrument to shape the beam of light. This is called \"cutting light\" and is where much of the art of lighting is achieved.

Grips also set \"passive fill\" which is a term for the reflected light that is \"bounced\" back onto a subject on the \"fill\" or \"non-keylight\" side. The first choice for most film-makers' fill is a product known in the US as beadboard and called \"poly\", short for polystyrene, in Europe. It is actually rigid insulation made for the construction trade, but was adopted to the film trade because of its \"true-white\" color and \"soft\" bounce.

Grips may also be called on to set \"negative fill\", which is the cutting of ambient or non-directional light to raise contrast on the subject. This is achieved by setting \"solids\" made of black fabric, either flags (up to 4'x4') or rags (6'x6' or larger) on the \"non-keylight\" side or wherever the negative fill is desired.

Read more at Wikipedia.org