What Is a Grip in the Movie Industry?

There are so many roles in film production that it can get confusing to keep track of who does what. One job that often has people scratching their heads is the Grip. What is a Grip in film? What does a Grip in movies do and use? We’ll take a look in this article.

What Is a Grip in Film?

The Grip is a member of the camera crew who works with other people like the cinematographer and camera operator on getting the shots that are needed. The Grip Department (oh yes, there’s more than one, we’ll get to that in a second!) helps with a variety of tasks relating to camera support, movement, and lighting.

What Is a Movie Grip: Hierarchy

‘The Grip’ isn’t just one person but a group of people. Here are the details.

Key Grip

As you might expect from the name, this is the head of this particular department, and a senior role on set. The Key Grip works closely with the director of photography and manages the rest of the Grip team. One of the responsibilities of the Key Grip is to make sure all the equipment is set up properly and safely.

Best Boy Grip

You might have heard the term Best Boy in relation to film roles, but there are actually two types. One is Best Boy Electric, and the other is Best Boy Grip. BBG is assistant to the Key Grip and helps to manage both the team and the equipment, often dealing with administrative and logistical stuff to keep everything running smoothly. If this job is done by a woman, the title is sometimes changed to Best Girl, and some studios are even opting for gender-neutral titles.

Dolly Grip

This is a Grip who specialises in working with camera dollies and other camera-moving equipment. As you’d guess, they work closely with the camera operator on getting the right shots.

What Does a Grip in Movies Do?

We’ve touched on it, but here are some more specific things the Grips are responsible for.

1. Camera Support

All kinds of camera support like mounting, rigging, and stabilising cameras for different types of shots. They use tools like dollies, cranes, and sliders to get interesting camera movements.

2. Rigging and Set Construction

Grips can build custom rigs and structures to support cameras, lights, and other equipment. That could involve setting up a platform, putting together scaffolding, or sorting an overhead rig.

3. Lighting Assistance

Most of the lighting work is done by Gaffers and Best Boy Electric (the lighting equivalent of Best Boy Grip), but Grips handle the non-electrical stuff that lighting still involves (but not the lights themselves), such as C-stands.

4. Safety and Logistics

Grips secure equipment to make sure it’s safe for everyone in that working environment. They might also transport the equipment around and coordinate with other departments.

What Equipment Do Grips Use?

We’ve mentioned some already, but Grips can be responsible for a fair amount of kit! Here are some of the key things they take care of or use.

• C-Stands (century stands): these stands with adjustable legs are used to hold flags (to block or change light), diffusers, and lights.
• Grip head and arms: attachments for mounting lights, scrims (to diffuse/reduce light), and other accessories.
• Sandbags: used to stabilise stands or equipment so they don’t tip over!
• Dolly, tracks, and sliders: for smooth camera movement.
• Clamps and clips: for securing things!
• Gels and diffusers: to modify and soften light.
• Extension cables (sometimes called stingers): for powering equipment at a distance from the power source.
• Toolkits: screwdrivers, spanners, Allen keys, etc.—they’re all essential for assembling and adjusting equipment.
• Mounts and rigging: things for securely mounting a camera like plates, clamps, and rigging hardware.

How Do You Become a Grip in a Film Production?

Education and Training

Grips normally get up to speed through a mix of education and experience. There’s no particular qualification you need to become a Grip, but experience usually matters.

Film School

Schools and technical institutes offer courses in film-making, cinematography, and production that are quite often a mix of formal education with lots of theory and practical experience. These are good places to get a solid understanding of basic equipment, lighting techniques, and on-set behaviour.

Apprenticeships

You can sometimes get into the industry by doing an apprenticeship programme where you learn from the people already doing those jobs on real sets. This way, you can get practical experience, learn quite a lot about the industry, and make good contacts for potential future jobs.

On-Job Training

This method usually means working as an assistant to someone doing the job you want to learn about, and improving your skills and knowledge through their mentorship. Unfortunately, this often means volunteering, which is financially out of reach for a lot of people.

Are Grips Still Important in Digital Film-Making?

While it’s true that moving from film to digital has meant change, it’s more of an evolution than a redundancy. Grips now work with digital cameras that can require different setups and workflows when compared to film cameras. Keeping up with technology when it comes to cameras and lighting is essential for a Grip, and for all crew there’s a need to adapt to changing industry standards and improvements in health and safety and so on.

As technology has changed, the grip roles have adjusted too, so as well as the traditional roles we’ve covered, a Grip might also do remote camera operation, pilot a drone, or even help with virtual production by integrating things like LED screens with the physical sets.

What Are the Challenges of Being a Grip?

Physical Strain: Being a Grip is quite a physical job that often involves lifting and moving heavy equipment, working in all sorts of weather, and standing around for long hours. Grips on film sets are usually physically quite fit and have good stamina!

Stressful Schedules: It’s not an easy job! Film productions work on tight schedules a lot of the time, so there’s a lot of pressure to meet deadlines. Grips and other crew also need to be prepared for when things don’t go to plan and adapt to keep everything as efficient as possible so that time and money don’t get wasted.

Safety Concerns: There’s a lot of responsibility on Grips in movies to keep everything safe and prevent any accidents. As we’ve touched on, this means handling equipment properly, securing dangerous loads, etc.

The Grip(s) Before a Shoot

We’ve concentrated a lot on what Grips do during a film shoot, but their job actually starts before production does. Here are some of the jobs we haven't mentioned.

1. Script Analysis and Pre-Production

Grips usually attend pre-production meetings to help review the script and discuss any specific technical requirements for the shoot. Grips will collaborate with the director of photography, production designer, and others to make sure that everyone is on the same page with the visual style and any technical challenges in a scene.

2. Location Scouting

Obviously this is primarily done by a location scout, but sometimes a Grip will accompany production team members to locations to assess how practical the place is to shoot in and work out the logistics of setting up in that place.

3. Safety Inspection

This has cropped up quite a bit, but safety is a top priority. Before the film shoot can start, a Grip will conduct safety inspections with equipment and setups to make sure everything fits with standards and regulations. It’s important to say that Grips aren’t the only people responsible for safety—many roles will have an element of responsibility for that, but Grips are the role we're concentrating on here.

4. Testing and Rehearsals

Before you can get to a live shoot, there are rehearsals including testing the equipment to make sure everything is running smoothly, and to finalise things like blocking, which is working out where the actors stand and directing the audience’s eye to what you want them to look at.

Conclusion: What Is a Grip in Film?

Grips are really important both in the pre-production part of film-making, when planning is still happening, and then in production itself. They ensure the efficient running of a lot of parts of the set, including helping with mounting cameras, setting up custom structures to support tech, and contributing to health and safety by making sure everything is as secure as it can be. 

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About This Page

This page was written by Marie Gardiner. Marie is a writer, author, and photographer. It was edited by Andrew Blackman. Andrew is a freelance writer and editor, and is a copy editor for Envato Tuts+.