Grip Course- Week 1

We had a great first week. In the beginning, we walked through the job of a grip. We also went through the proper way to use walkies as well as set etiquette. From there, we set up mock interviews and I walked the class through lighting and flagging the lights using flags and C-stands. The class caught on much faster than anticipated, so I immediately started letting them experiment with different grip setups. I would place the camera, the lights, and the subject, they in turn would set up flags and diffusion. We did several setups in different parts of the building so they could also learn how physical the job can be.

Sunday, I divided the trainees into two groups and gave them more complicated setups. For example, one team had to muffle the sound for an interview in the gym with 4X4 floppies and sound blankets. The other team had a interview setup in the lecture room setting c-stands around the tables and chairs. Again, we moved to different locations in the building, putting the interview setup in more and more difficult sceneries. Monitors were set up near each setup so that the trainees could see how there work effected the image so that they not only know how to do particular things but why they do it and how equipment effects the entire image.