tags:
Tips & Tricks
Gripping isn’t just about hardware, muscle, and mechanical know-how. It’s a craft shaped by experience, trial and error, and the culture we build on set. Over the years, I’ve picked up lessons that have stuck with me—some practical, some about mindset, and some that only come from being in the trenches day after day.
Here are 25 of the most important lessons I’ve learned while gripping:
Prioritize your health and mental health. On days I’m not working I go to the gym first thing in the morning. On days I am working I don’t go to the gym - that’s also a mental and physical health decision. Don’t overload yourself.
Don’t tighten a pipe spreader with just your hands. Use a wrench for the final few cranks but make sure you also don’t break through the wall. Same thing with a c clamp.
Organize and label your fabric cuts. It works so much better than just throwing random pieces all in a milk crate. I use white gaff and a sharpie.
Buy a long distance laser measuring tool. A 25’ tape measure doesn’t always do the trick.
Also buy a 100’ spooled tape measure. Great for stage layout and technocrane planning.
If it’s not safe it doesn’t matter how clever you think it is.
Use 3’ and 4’ 5/8” rods and connect two of the same sizes together with 5/8” tees to make lightweight 6’ & 8’ diffusion t-bones. Don’t hang solids off those though, they’ll bend.
If you don’t know something - ask. While it may seem embarrassing, it’s so much better for the key grip to know you need help right off the bat as opposed to 10 minutes into you fumbling around. This builds a trusting relationship.
If they wanted it sooner they should have asked for it sooner. Don’t run or rush a setup that is unsafe.
Shoulders down gripping won’t get you re-hired. But unprovoked opinions also won’t. Read the room.
Wind is a grip’s worst enemy. Stairs are a close second.
Learn Vectorworks. Pre-rigging visualization gives a competitive advantage in this day and age.
Put a strip of JLAR tape down the center of your opal 4x4 frames on each side. It’ll help prevent the diffusion from accidentally ripping when it slides in and out of the 4x4 cart.
Generally speaking, use c-stands indoors and combo stands outdoors.
Gear is just gear. If it gets damaged it gets replaced. It’s not life or death, as long as no one gets hurt. Point being, don’t stress out about it.
Any time you order combo stands, order caster wheels.
In your free time build yourself some stage orders for when you work on a stage and need to order your whole package - 3 ton, 5 ton, 10 ton stage gear order lists you can have at the ready.
If production can’t afford something then that’s not the hill I’m going to die on. Same with manpower. They get the gear and manpower they can afford and I’m going to show up to the job with a smile. It’s their money.
Know your bolt sizes and which wrenches fit which bolts.
Pick up a hobby. Your work shouldn’t define you and we all feel this 10x as hard when times are slow.
How you talk with production and crew members is everything. Be agreeable, informative, respectful, and easy to work with all while still pushing for things you need. But know when to concede.
Never be late. Not for scouts, not for call time. If you’re on time you’re late. And don’t walk on over to breakfast at call time.
Offer a helping hand to other departments if you are able. Help the on set dresser move a table, help the PA set up a folding tent.
Actively participate. Anticipate the DP’s next move, anticipate your key grip’s needs. Stay involved in the action.
Never stop learning. The moment you stop learning you stop progressing and your job starts to feel like just a day rate. Find a way to maintain curiosity.
Closing Thoughts
Every grip develops their own way of working, but certain lessons tend to stick with you no matter the show, the crew, or the budget. These are mine—collected over years of mistakes, problem-solving, and small wins that made the next day on set run smoother.
Take what’s useful, adapt it to your style, and pass it on. Because the best thing we can do for our craft is make sure the knowledge doesn’t stop with us.
by:
Brendan Riel
