The Role of a Production Grip: Through the Eyes of a Female
By Liz Martin

Greenville, S.C., the little city that is growing daily, filling its luscious landscapes with people from all over the world.  That's right America, Greenville's not just for Southerners anymore.  And from what this city's quickly learning is that with this newfound array of culture comes the opportunity, especially for the least expected. 

Film and television production, commercials, and script writing are just a few of my favorite things.  But, before I make the big move, I need production experience…and a lot of it!  Surprisingly, even in an economic recession, I was able to find a place in Greenville to help me on my way to gaining that much-needed experience.  That magical place is called Aardvark Interactive Studios, a full-service production and multimedia agency that delivers innovative solutions.  For the past six months I have served as an administrative assistant doing things such as writing press releases for products or services and duplicating CDs and DVDs.  I was patiently awaiting my chance to get in on the action and do a little production work.  I recently had that much anticipated opportunity. 

A few months ago, Woodward | Zwolinski Advertising along with Aardvark Interactive Studios had an opportunity to create, write, and deliver three spots for the Greenville Water System centered around the importance of water conservation.  The writers quickly jumped into play, while artists sketched up numerous ideas to present to GWS for approval.  Following approval, locations were scouted, actors were auditioned, and camera equipment was secured.  Director Benjamin Weeks and DP, David Junker chose to use the RED ONE Camera.  Production Grip and Gaffer, Fess Shelton was brought in to assist in achieving just the right look.

As an aspiring producer, my objective at Aardvark Studios was to work at all levels of production, thus I began my journey.  Being the strong female that I am, I am not easily intimidated by a little physical labor, but after this particular experience at Aardvark I have a newfound respect for a production grip.

Production grips perform a variety of tasks on set whether in a studio or on a location set.  No mater what, grips are always the first to arrive on set and the last to leave at the end of the day.  This job involves moving and setting up loads of heavy equipment while maintaining a safe and organized work environment.  These stop and go activities can take their toll on anyone but are otherwise quite rewarding.

Fess was ultimately responsible for me during the next two days of production.  Since it was my first day as a grip, Fess was very helpful and considerate to me considering my lack of knowledge and experience.  He was extensive and thorough with his introduction of the grip truck, the equipment, and his own personal work ethic; “If you can't think deep, you better be quick.”

Grip work can be broken out into three categories: production, construction, and administration.  For example, whenever the sets need to be reassembled from storage, it is done by grips; If placement of the camera requires moving the walls of the set, the grips perform the work; When a backing or a large painted background is required to simulate a view through windows or doors, it is the grips who install it; When production is completed, the grip crew is responsible for dismantling the backings, sets, and scaffolding.  This is a complicated job, and depending on the size of production, impossible for one person to perform these tasks alone.  But when you hire Fess Shelton, you get all three categories into one grip.  Lucky me!  

Since the first segment of the commercial was outside, our first physical task of the day began by setting up C-stands with a couple umbrellas for shading the camera crew, a tent for the actors, and the director's station which included a monitor set up.  Grips also contribute to the lighting process and since we were dealing with natural sunlight, Fess knew right away that we would have lots of unwanted shadows.  So in a situation such as this, grips will set up equipment (C-stands in our case) and attach reflectors (depending on the amount of reflection needed, sizes vary) to get rid of the shadows and achieve desired effects. 

Since the theme of these segments was centered around water conservation, we were dealing with the actual use of water.  And, in order to make the water “pop” in the frame, we had to, as Fess likes to call it, “Hollywood it up,” meaning lose the C-stand, hold the heavy reflector yourself and dance around the area in need of light. 

After each segment was completed and a location change needed to be made, our duties as production grips were to break down all stations (including monitor, tents, umbrellas, extension cords or “stingers”, sandbags and C-stands) and load it all into the grip truck. The actual tedious process of setting up, breaking down, and rebuilding equipment can take hours.  And whether you are male or female, if you can't do your job quickly, the entire production is delayed.

By the end of my two-day experience as a grip, I was not only proud to have kept up with Fess, but I was also very humbled.  Whether its a feature film or a two-day commercial shoot in Greenville, S.C., grips are the backbone of any production.  This industry simply could not exist without them.  If I'm lucky enough to one day make it big in Hollywood as a producer or even if I end up moving back east to work at a production company like Aardvark, I know for sure that I will forever respect and glorify those who are behind the scenes making the magic of entertainment possible…after all, their jobs aren't so “little” as I've come to understand.     

Liz Martin is the newest member of the DVPA staff.  She has experience in acting, as a production assistant, and now as a production grip.

View a podcast from behind-the-scenes of this shoot.