Gallery

top
rig breakdown
ModX Telehandler Frames
Telehandler Rigging
Modulus-X™ Truss
by:
Brendan Riel
20'x20' ultrabounce telehandler frames build with 6" & 9" Modulus-X Truss.
Read >

project BTS
Fast Food Stage Shoot
Softboxes
by:
Brendan Riel
Colorful fast food spot shot on stage. Lots of fun lighting brought this Y2K spot to life - overhead softbox, cyc lighting, and intricate food product shots.
Read >

project BTS
Commercial W/ Camera Rig & Matrix Head
Camera Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
Sports commercial on a small stage with a Lazy Susan rig variation and a Matrix head on the dolly.
Read >

rig breakdown
Hard Mount Car Rig
Car rigging
Hard Mount
by:
Legacy Grip
Hard mount ModX & pipe car rig for forward facing shot behind the car.
Read >

project BTS
Commercial Beauty Lighting
Stage Rigging
Modulus-X™ 6”
Softboxes
by:
Brendan Riel
Beauty shoot glow and sheen called for a couple of softboxes skinned up with 1/2 soft frost.
Read >

rig breakdown
8x8 Softbox / Moonbox on a Gradall
Behind the Scenes
Telehandler Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
Built with ModTruss 6” & 12”. Built the upper skeleton of the box out of 6” and beefed up the carriage attachment points with 12”. 12” vertical allowed for pipe triangulation to the box corners.
Read >

rig breakdown
12x12 ModX Softbox On A Gradall
Behind the Scenes
Telehandler Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
Built the frame out of 6” ModX and the carriage frame attachment out of 9” ModX. 6’ vertical of tower provided the high connection points for come alongs that ran out to the frame corners.
Read >

rig breakdown
12x12 Moonbox On A Condor
Behind the Scenes
Condor Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
Rigged the center of gravity as far toward the back of the bucket without interfering with any bucket tilt capabilities in order to help with adjusted weight.
Read >

rig breakdown
20x20 Flyswatter
Flyswatter
Condor Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
20x20 flyswatter on a JLG 800S. My preffered flat swatter build off the bucket with speedrail, cheeseboros, tri truss, and steel pipe.
Read >

top
rig breakdown
20x20 ModX Softbox
Behind the Scenes
Overhead Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
20x20x4 softbox made out of Modulus-X Mx|66|. I find the rigidity of the modulus-x allows you to tilt the box and aim it more aggressively. It’s slimmer and a bit more versatile than a 12” box truss build.
Read >

project BTS
20x20 Telehandler Swatter
Behind the Scenes
Telehandler Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
20x20 12” box truss flyswatter on a JLG 1255 telehandler. Ordered the swatter from SGPS Show Rig here in LA. They have a nice little package they send out which ensures you have everything you need.
Read >

Case Study
Adjustability When Car Rigging
Car rigging
Tips & Tricks
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
We had some location lighting, some drone work, some arm car work, and a ton of vehicle rigs for this Hummer EV commercial. I wasn’t complaining one bit.
Read >

project BTS
Camera Rigs to Objects
Camera Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Bunch of object camera rigs on this job. Directors Jordan and Nicholas Aucella always give us a fun challenge when they come into town.
Read >

rig breakdown
Counterbalanced guitar rig
Camera Rigging
Tips & Tricks
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
The goal was to rig the camera to the end of the guitar to see the tuning knobs and the neck. We couldn’t drill into the guitar at all which left very limited options for rigging. Couldn’t bite onto anything on the neck because we’d see the clamp.
Read >

rig breakdown
DeLorean Car Rig
Car rigging
Behind the Scenes
Camera Rigging
by:
Nazariy Andrukhiv (Naz)
This rig appeared simple on paper, but in practice, it presented a few challenges. The lightweight camera made mounting easier, though I quickly learned that the car’s stainless steel exterior was prone to bending.
Read >

rig breakdown
Dolly ModX Camera Push
Camera Rigging
Camera Movement
by:
Brendan Riel
Modulus-X offset dolly rig for pushing through car windshields and windows. Ran 12’ off the front and 8’ off the back.
Read >

project BTS
Fast Food Burger Commercial
Lighting
Condor Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Two day job for a fast food chain with DP Cory Burmester and gaffer Josh Hensley. Had just about a little of everything - dolly and track, interior and exterior lighting, swimming in a pool, condor rig, technocrane.
Read >

project BTS
12x12 Moonbox On Backlot Nighttime Commercial
Behind the Scenes
Lighting
Condor Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
Commercial shoot for a digital wallet company. Pre rig and a shoot day. Shot in a NYC backlot, we lit 3 interior sets and 1 exterior set.
Read >

rig breakdown
Foxhole Camera Movement Rig
Behind the Scenes
Camera Movement
Grip Equipment
by:
Florian Daubeck
We were asked to help the DP/Dir set up a foxhole that we can dive through an any position in the forest that fits best for the vision they had in mind.
Read >

Case Study
Frames, Ladder Pods, and Westerns On This Commercial
Lighting
Telehandler Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Lots of fun on this 3 day commercial shoot with a couple of different locations for a well known popcorn brand. Our first location was at Air Hollywood.
Read >

Case Study
From Vectorworks to Stage Layout
Stage Rigging
Tips & Tricks
Overhead Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
I used to be a pen and paper guy but have recently decided to keep up with the times. Pen and paper is great - but it makes changing things a little harder.
Read >

rig breakdown
Highline Lighting Rig
Overhead Rigging
Lighting
by:
Clément Aubert
This highline rig, inspired by systems used by rescue teams, relied on rope access and tree climbing techniques.
Read >

rig breakdown
Interior Bus Camera Rig
Camera Movement
Camera Rigging
Vehicle Rigging
by:
Clément Aubert
Indoor bus rig. The DP requested a slow push-in for the intro of the scene, starting at the front of the bus and moving to the middle, ending with a medium shot of our three characters.
Read >

rig breakdown
Laptop Closing Camera Rig
Camera Rigging
Camera Movement
by:
Brendan Riel
Director wanted a shot that looked like it was a laptop closing. We could have attached a GoPro or similar action camera to a laptop and done it that way but we wanted to preserve image quality and use our cinema A cam - the Alexa mini.
Read >

project BTS
Live Action Videogame Shoot On Stage
Overhead Rigging
Condor Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
Live action video game shoot for a well known game franchise. Mix between stage days on blue screen and a location day at a studio lot shipping container wall.
Read >

project BTS
ModX Rainbow Rigs
Camera Movement
Camera Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
Two rainbow rigs for this job at different locations. Different needs for each so each build was different. Both utilized 6” moDulus-X truss and 6” bearings, both from Division Rentals in Los Angeles.
Read >

rig breakdown
ModX Rolling Soft Toplight
Lighting
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
We built this mobile toplight softbox using 6" ModX truss to serve four different sets inside a tight studio space with limited overhead clearance.
Read >

rig breakdown
Mountain Bike Camera Rig
Behind the Scenes
Camera Rigging
Grip Equipment
by:
Brendan Riel
This bike flew down the mountain at Griffith Park. Couldn’t use any form of attachment that would fall off easily such as a cardellini. Those and other type of hand tightening clamps loosen up over time with vibration. We opted instead to go with hose clamps.
Read >

rig breakdown
Overhead ModX Camera Rig
Camera Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Camera offset rig built out of Modulus-X Mx|66|. DP Scotty Uyeda wanted to get the camera out directly over the center of the couch.
Read >

rig breakdown
Par Can Condor Rig
Behind the Scenes
Condor Rigging
Cheeseboros
by:
Brendan Riel
Par can array rigged to a JLG 1250AJP. 3 rows of 5 par cans each, spaced out 33” apart. Uniformed height and width distances for a balanced look.
Read >

project BTS
Pistachio Spec Ad
Car rigging
Lighting
Behind the Scenes
by:
Aiden Oleskie
This was a spec ad for Wonderful Pistachios we did for a student class down at SCAD. It was a pretty big setup for a student spec, and lots of fun new stuff we did, like chroma screens, and car rigging.
Read >

project BTS
Seamless Muslin Softbox
Lighting
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
8’x25’x4’ seamless bleached muslin softbox provided most of our soft top daylight ambiance for this spot. ModX top frame with pipe bottom frame.
Read >

project BTS
Softbox With 3/4 Sides
Behind the Scenes
Overhead Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
12x12x6 softbox with magic cloth hung on 1/4 ton motors. Modulus-X 6” skeleton and 8x skypanel S60’s inside.
Read >

project BTS
Stage Shoot With Motors & Blue Screen
Overhead Rigging
Telehandler Rigging
Condor Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
Stage shoot with 34 motors and 7 different sets. Day and a half of pre-rigging and 4 days of shooting. Grip crew ran 8 deep for most of the shoot and we brought in an additional 5 for the wrap day to get out that night.
Read >

Case Study
Tents & Camera Rigs
Lighting
Camera Rigging
On set
by:
Brendan Riel
This was a 2 day spot for a live event company. We scouted a few days before the shoot and felt pretty good coming into it. We shot 3 different spots in 2 days.
Read >

Case Study
Tight Moves & Virtual Roads: A Cadillac Case Study
Lighting
Behind the Scenes
Camera Movement
by:
Luc Delamare
LED walls used to be this big scary new tech. In the early days things like hertz and frame rates would be either a mystery or a guessing game, lighting was a challenge, and camera tracking was a nightmare.
Read >

rig breakdown
Top Thrill 2 Roller Coaster Rig
Behind the Scenes
Camera Rigging
Grip Equipment
by:
Brendan Riel
Rollercoaster rig for Top Thrill 2’s media day. This ride went 120mph and was Cedar Points newest and baddest ride. Camera pointing forward and another pointed backward at the news reporters.
Read >

rig breakdown
Vehicle Rig With Hard Mounts & Suctions
Vehicle Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Pulled the bumper for this rig to access hard mounts on the frame. Integrated speed rail starter onto the frame and built out with speedrail and hollaenders.
Read >

Case Study
Vertical Camera Rig & Tents
Behind the Scenes
Camera Movement
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
This 3 day job was all shot at a residential house. 1 day to pre rig and 2 days to shoot. One of our main objectives on the pre rig day was to tent both the front and back exteriors.
Read >

top
rig breakdown
Water Bottle Camera Rig
5/8” Rods & Hardware
Modern Studio 5/8” Hardware
Cardellini
by:
Brendan Riel
Water bottle rigged to a Sony FX3. We used 5/8” rods & hardware to secure this water bottle to the camera for a series of shots.
Read >

top
rig breakdown
ModX Telehandler Frames
Telehandler Rigging
Modulus-X™ Truss
by:
Brendan Riel
20'x20' ultrabounce telehandler frames build with 6" & 9" Modulus-X Truss.
Read >

project BTS
Fast Food Stage Shoot
Softboxes
by:
Brendan Riel
Colorful fast food spot shot on stage. Lots of fun lighting brought this Y2K spot to life - overhead softbox, cyc lighting, and intricate food product shots.
Read >

project BTS
Commercial W/ Camera Rig & Matrix Head
Camera Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
Sports commercial on a small stage with a Lazy Susan rig variation and a Matrix head on the dolly.
Read >

rig breakdown
Hard Mount Car Rig
Car rigging
Hard Mount
by:
Legacy Grip
Hard mount ModX & pipe car rig for forward facing shot behind the car.
Read >

project BTS
Commercial Beauty Lighting
Stage Rigging
Modulus-X™ 6”
Softboxes
by:
Brendan Riel
Beauty shoot glow and sheen called for a couple of softboxes skinned up with 1/2 soft frost.
Read >

rig breakdown
8x8 Softbox / Moonbox on a Gradall
Behind the Scenes
Telehandler Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
Built with ModTruss 6” & 12”. Built the upper skeleton of the box out of 6” and beefed up the carriage attachment points with 12”. 12” vertical allowed for pipe triangulation to the box corners.
Read >

rig breakdown
12x12 ModX Softbox On A Gradall
Behind the Scenes
Telehandler Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
Built the frame out of 6” ModX and the carriage frame attachment out of 9” ModX. 6’ vertical of tower provided the high connection points for come alongs that ran out to the frame corners.
Read >

rig breakdown
12x12 Moonbox On A Condor
Behind the Scenes
Condor Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
Rigged the center of gravity as far toward the back of the bucket without interfering with any bucket tilt capabilities in order to help with adjusted weight.
Read >

rig breakdown
20x20 Flyswatter
Flyswatter
Condor Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
20x20 flyswatter on a JLG 800S. My preffered flat swatter build off the bucket with speedrail, cheeseboros, tri truss, and steel pipe.
Read >

top
rig breakdown
20x20 ModX Softbox
Behind the Scenes
Overhead Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
20x20x4 softbox made out of Modulus-X Mx|66|. I find the rigidity of the modulus-x allows you to tilt the box and aim it more aggressively. It’s slimmer and a bit more versatile than a 12” box truss build.
Read >

project BTS
20x20 Telehandler Swatter
Behind the Scenes
Telehandler Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
20x20 12” box truss flyswatter on a JLG 1255 telehandler. Ordered the swatter from SGPS Show Rig here in LA. They have a nice little package they send out which ensures you have everything you need.
Read >

Case Study
Adjustability When Car Rigging
Car rigging
Tips & Tricks
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
We had some location lighting, some drone work, some arm car work, and a ton of vehicle rigs for this Hummer EV commercial. I wasn’t complaining one bit.
Read >

project BTS
Camera Rigs to Objects
Camera Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Bunch of object camera rigs on this job. Directors Jordan and Nicholas Aucella always give us a fun challenge when they come into town.
Read >

rig breakdown
Counterbalanced guitar rig
Camera Rigging
Tips & Tricks
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
The goal was to rig the camera to the end of the guitar to see the tuning knobs and the neck. We couldn’t drill into the guitar at all which left very limited options for rigging. Couldn’t bite onto anything on the neck because we’d see the clamp.
Read >

rig breakdown
DeLorean Car Rig
Car rigging
Behind the Scenes
Camera Rigging
by:
Nazariy Andrukhiv (Naz)
This rig appeared simple on paper, but in practice, it presented a few challenges. The lightweight camera made mounting easier, though I quickly learned that the car’s stainless steel exterior was prone to bending.
Read >

rig breakdown
Dolly ModX Camera Push
Camera Rigging
Camera Movement
by:
Brendan Riel
Modulus-X offset dolly rig for pushing through car windshields and windows. Ran 12’ off the front and 8’ off the back.
Read >

project BTS
Fast Food Burger Commercial
Lighting
Condor Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Two day job for a fast food chain with DP Cory Burmester and gaffer Josh Hensley. Had just about a little of everything - dolly and track, interior and exterior lighting, swimming in a pool, condor rig, technocrane.
Read >

project BTS
12x12 Moonbox On Backlot Nighttime Commercial
Behind the Scenes
Lighting
Condor Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
Commercial shoot for a digital wallet company. Pre rig and a shoot day. Shot in a NYC backlot, we lit 3 interior sets and 1 exterior set.
Read >

rig breakdown
Foxhole Camera Movement Rig
Behind the Scenes
Camera Movement
Grip Equipment
by:
Florian Daubeck
We were asked to help the DP/Dir set up a foxhole that we can dive through an any position in the forest that fits best for the vision they had in mind.
Read >

Case Study
Frames, Ladder Pods, and Westerns On This Commercial
Lighting
Telehandler Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Lots of fun on this 3 day commercial shoot with a couple of different locations for a well known popcorn brand. Our first location was at Air Hollywood.
Read >

Case Study
From Vectorworks to Stage Layout
Stage Rigging
Tips & Tricks
Overhead Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
I used to be a pen and paper guy but have recently decided to keep up with the times. Pen and paper is great - but it makes changing things a little harder.
Read >

rig breakdown
Highline Lighting Rig
Overhead Rigging
Lighting
by:
Clément Aubert
This highline rig, inspired by systems used by rescue teams, relied on rope access and tree climbing techniques.
Read >

rig breakdown
Interior Bus Camera Rig
Camera Movement
Camera Rigging
Vehicle Rigging
by:
Clément Aubert
Indoor bus rig. The DP requested a slow push-in for the intro of the scene, starting at the front of the bus and moving to the middle, ending with a medium shot of our three characters.
Read >

rig breakdown
Laptop Closing Camera Rig
Camera Rigging
Camera Movement
by:
Brendan Riel
Director wanted a shot that looked like it was a laptop closing. We could have attached a GoPro or similar action camera to a laptop and done it that way but we wanted to preserve image quality and use our cinema A cam - the Alexa mini.
Read >

project BTS
Live Action Videogame Shoot On Stage
Overhead Rigging
Condor Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
Live action video game shoot for a well known game franchise. Mix between stage days on blue screen and a location day at a studio lot shipping container wall.
Read >

project BTS
ModX Rainbow Rigs
Camera Movement
Camera Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
Two rainbow rigs for this job at different locations. Different needs for each so each build was different. Both utilized 6” moDulus-X truss and 6” bearings, both from Division Rentals in Los Angeles.
Read >

rig breakdown
ModX Rolling Soft Toplight
Lighting
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
We built this mobile toplight softbox using 6" ModX truss to serve four different sets inside a tight studio space with limited overhead clearance.
Read >

rig breakdown
Mountain Bike Camera Rig
Behind the Scenes
Camera Rigging
Grip Equipment
by:
Brendan Riel
This bike flew down the mountain at Griffith Park. Couldn’t use any form of attachment that would fall off easily such as a cardellini. Those and other type of hand tightening clamps loosen up over time with vibration. We opted instead to go with hose clamps.
Read >

rig breakdown
Overhead ModX Camera Rig
Camera Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Camera offset rig built out of Modulus-X Mx|66|. DP Scotty Uyeda wanted to get the camera out directly over the center of the couch.
Read >

rig breakdown
Par Can Condor Rig
Behind the Scenes
Condor Rigging
Cheeseboros
by:
Brendan Riel
Par can array rigged to a JLG 1250AJP. 3 rows of 5 par cans each, spaced out 33” apart. Uniformed height and width distances for a balanced look.
Read >

project BTS
Pistachio Spec Ad
Car rigging
Lighting
Behind the Scenes
by:
Aiden Oleskie
This was a spec ad for Wonderful Pistachios we did for a student class down at SCAD. It was a pretty big setup for a student spec, and lots of fun new stuff we did, like chroma screens, and car rigging.
Read >

project BTS
Seamless Muslin Softbox
Lighting
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
8’x25’x4’ seamless bleached muslin softbox provided most of our soft top daylight ambiance for this spot. ModX top frame with pipe bottom frame.
Read >

project BTS
Softbox With 3/4 Sides
Behind the Scenes
Overhead Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
12x12x6 softbox with magic cloth hung on 1/4 ton motors. Modulus-X 6” skeleton and 8x skypanel S60’s inside.
Read >

project BTS
Stage Shoot With Motors & Blue Screen
Overhead Rigging
Telehandler Rigging
Condor Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
Stage shoot with 34 motors and 7 different sets. Day and a half of pre-rigging and 4 days of shooting. Grip crew ran 8 deep for most of the shoot and we brought in an additional 5 for the wrap day to get out that night.
Read >

Case Study
Tents & Camera Rigs
Lighting
Camera Rigging
On set
by:
Brendan Riel
This was a 2 day spot for a live event company. We scouted a few days before the shoot and felt pretty good coming into it. We shot 3 different spots in 2 days.
Read >

Case Study
Tight Moves & Virtual Roads: A Cadillac Case Study
Lighting
Behind the Scenes
Camera Movement
by:
Luc Delamare
LED walls used to be this big scary new tech. In the early days things like hertz and frame rates would be either a mystery or a guessing game, lighting was a challenge, and camera tracking was a nightmare.
Read >

rig breakdown
Top Thrill 2 Roller Coaster Rig
Behind the Scenes
Camera Rigging
Grip Equipment
by:
Brendan Riel
Rollercoaster rig for Top Thrill 2’s media day. This ride went 120mph and was Cedar Points newest and baddest ride. Camera pointing forward and another pointed backward at the news reporters.
Read >

rig breakdown
Vehicle Rig With Hard Mounts & Suctions
Vehicle Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Pulled the bumper for this rig to access hard mounts on the frame. Integrated speed rail starter onto the frame and built out with speedrail and hollaenders.
Read >

Case Study
Vertical Camera Rig & Tents
Behind the Scenes
Camera Movement
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
This 3 day job was all shot at a residential house. 1 day to pre rig and 2 days to shoot. One of our main objectives on the pre rig day was to tent both the front and back exteriors.
Read >

top
rig breakdown
Water Bottle Camera Rig
5/8” Rods & Hardware
Modern Studio 5/8” Hardware
Cardellini
by:
Brendan Riel
Water bottle rigged to a Sony FX3. We used 5/8” rods & hardware to secure this water bottle to the camera for a series of shots.
Read >

top
rig breakdown
ModX Telehandler Frames
Telehandler Rigging
Modulus-X™ Truss
by:
Brendan Riel
20'x20' ultrabounce telehandler frames build with 6" & 9" Modulus-X Truss.
Read >

project BTS
Fast Food Stage Shoot
Softboxes
by:
Brendan Riel
Colorful fast food spot shot on stage. Lots of fun lighting brought this Y2K spot to life - overhead softbox, cyc lighting, and intricate food product shots.
Read >

project BTS
Commercial W/ Camera Rig & Matrix Head
Camera Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
Sports commercial on a small stage with a Lazy Susan rig variation and a Matrix head on the dolly.
Read >

rig breakdown
Hard Mount Car Rig
Car rigging
Hard Mount
by:
Legacy Grip
Hard mount ModX & pipe car rig for forward facing shot behind the car.
Read >

project BTS
Commercial Beauty Lighting
Stage Rigging
Modulus-X™ 6”
Softboxes
by:
Brendan Riel
Beauty shoot glow and sheen called for a couple of softboxes skinned up with 1/2 soft frost.
Read >

rig breakdown
8x8 Softbox / Moonbox on a Gradall
Behind the Scenes
Telehandler Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
Built with ModTruss 6” & 12”. Built the upper skeleton of the box out of 6” and beefed up the carriage attachment points with 12”. 12” vertical allowed for pipe triangulation to the box corners.
Read >

rig breakdown
12x12 ModX Softbox On A Gradall
Behind the Scenes
Telehandler Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
Built the frame out of 6” ModX and the carriage frame attachment out of 9” ModX. 6’ vertical of tower provided the high connection points for come alongs that ran out to the frame corners.
Read >

rig breakdown
12x12 Moonbox On A Condor
Behind the Scenes
Condor Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
Rigged the center of gravity as far toward the back of the bucket without interfering with any bucket tilt capabilities in order to help with adjusted weight.
Read >

rig breakdown
20x20 Flyswatter
Flyswatter
Condor Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
20x20 flyswatter on a JLG 800S. My preffered flat swatter build off the bucket with speedrail, cheeseboros, tri truss, and steel pipe.
Read >

top
rig breakdown
20x20 ModX Softbox
Behind the Scenes
Overhead Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
20x20x4 softbox made out of Modulus-X Mx|66|. I find the rigidity of the modulus-x allows you to tilt the box and aim it more aggressively. It’s slimmer and a bit more versatile than a 12” box truss build.
Read >

project BTS
20x20 Telehandler Swatter
Behind the Scenes
Telehandler Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
20x20 12” box truss flyswatter on a JLG 1255 telehandler. Ordered the swatter from SGPS Show Rig here in LA. They have a nice little package they send out which ensures you have everything you need.
Read >

Case Study
Adjustability When Car Rigging
Car rigging
Tips & Tricks
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
We had some location lighting, some drone work, some arm car work, and a ton of vehicle rigs for this Hummer EV commercial. I wasn’t complaining one bit.
Read >

project BTS
Camera Rigs to Objects
Camera Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Bunch of object camera rigs on this job. Directors Jordan and Nicholas Aucella always give us a fun challenge when they come into town.
Read >

rig breakdown
Counterbalanced guitar rig
Camera Rigging
Tips & Tricks
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
The goal was to rig the camera to the end of the guitar to see the tuning knobs and the neck. We couldn’t drill into the guitar at all which left very limited options for rigging. Couldn’t bite onto anything on the neck because we’d see the clamp.
Read >

rig breakdown
DeLorean Car Rig
Car rigging
Behind the Scenes
Camera Rigging
by:
Nazariy Andrukhiv (Naz)
This rig appeared simple on paper, but in practice, it presented a few challenges. The lightweight camera made mounting easier, though I quickly learned that the car’s stainless steel exterior was prone to bending.
Read >

rig breakdown
Dolly ModX Camera Push
Camera Rigging
Camera Movement
by:
Brendan Riel
Modulus-X offset dolly rig for pushing through car windshields and windows. Ran 12’ off the front and 8’ off the back.
Read >

project BTS
Fast Food Burger Commercial
Lighting
Condor Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Two day job for a fast food chain with DP Cory Burmester and gaffer Josh Hensley. Had just about a little of everything - dolly and track, interior and exterior lighting, swimming in a pool, condor rig, technocrane.
Read >

project BTS
12x12 Moonbox On Backlot Nighttime Commercial
Behind the Scenes
Lighting
Condor Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
Commercial shoot for a digital wallet company. Pre rig and a shoot day. Shot in a NYC backlot, we lit 3 interior sets and 1 exterior set.
Read >

rig breakdown
Foxhole Camera Movement Rig
Behind the Scenes
Camera Movement
Grip Equipment
by:
Florian Daubeck
We were asked to help the DP/Dir set up a foxhole that we can dive through an any position in the forest that fits best for the vision they had in mind.
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Case Study
Frames, Ladder Pods, and Westerns On This Commercial
Lighting
Telehandler Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Lots of fun on this 3 day commercial shoot with a couple of different locations for a well known popcorn brand. Our first location was at Air Hollywood.
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Case Study
From Vectorworks to Stage Layout
Stage Rigging
Tips & Tricks
Overhead Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
I used to be a pen and paper guy but have recently decided to keep up with the times. Pen and paper is great - but it makes changing things a little harder.
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rig breakdown
Highline Lighting Rig
Overhead Rigging
Lighting
by:
Clément Aubert
This highline rig, inspired by systems used by rescue teams, relied on rope access and tree climbing techniques.
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rig breakdown
Interior Bus Camera Rig
Camera Movement
Camera Rigging
Vehicle Rigging
by:
Clément Aubert
Indoor bus rig. The DP requested a slow push-in for the intro of the scene, starting at the front of the bus and moving to the middle, ending with a medium shot of our three characters.
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rig breakdown
Laptop Closing Camera Rig
Camera Rigging
Camera Movement
by:
Brendan Riel
Director wanted a shot that looked like it was a laptop closing. We could have attached a GoPro or similar action camera to a laptop and done it that way but we wanted to preserve image quality and use our cinema A cam - the Alexa mini.
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project BTS
Live Action Videogame Shoot On Stage
Overhead Rigging
Condor Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
Live action video game shoot for a well known game franchise. Mix between stage days on blue screen and a location day at a studio lot shipping container wall.
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project BTS
ModX Rainbow Rigs
Camera Movement
Camera Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
Two rainbow rigs for this job at different locations. Different needs for each so each build was different. Both utilized 6” moDulus-X truss and 6” bearings, both from Division Rentals in Los Angeles.
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rig breakdown
ModX Rolling Soft Toplight
Lighting
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
We built this mobile toplight softbox using 6" ModX truss to serve four different sets inside a tight studio space with limited overhead clearance.
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rig breakdown
Mountain Bike Camera Rig
Behind the Scenes
Camera Rigging
Grip Equipment
by:
Brendan Riel
This bike flew down the mountain at Griffith Park. Couldn’t use any form of attachment that would fall off easily such as a cardellini. Those and other type of hand tightening clamps loosen up over time with vibration. We opted instead to go with hose clamps.
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rig breakdown
Overhead ModX Camera Rig
Camera Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Camera offset rig built out of Modulus-X Mx|66|. DP Scotty Uyeda wanted to get the camera out directly over the center of the couch.
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rig breakdown
Par Can Condor Rig
Behind the Scenes
Condor Rigging
Cheeseboros
by:
Brendan Riel
Par can array rigged to a JLG 1250AJP. 3 rows of 5 par cans each, spaced out 33” apart. Uniformed height and width distances for a balanced look.
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project BTS
Pistachio Spec Ad
Car rigging
Lighting
Behind the Scenes
by:
Aiden Oleskie
This was a spec ad for Wonderful Pistachios we did for a student class down at SCAD. It was a pretty big setup for a student spec, and lots of fun new stuff we did, like chroma screens, and car rigging.
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project BTS
Seamless Muslin Softbox
Lighting
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
8’x25’x4’ seamless bleached muslin softbox provided most of our soft top daylight ambiance for this spot. ModX top frame with pipe bottom frame.
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project BTS
Softbox With 3/4 Sides
Behind the Scenes
Overhead Rigging
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
12x12x6 softbox with magic cloth hung on 1/4 ton motors. Modulus-X 6” skeleton and 8x skypanel S60’s inside.
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project BTS
Stage Shoot With Motors & Blue Screen
Overhead Rigging
Telehandler Rigging
Condor Rigging
by:
Brendan Riel
Stage shoot with 34 motors and 7 different sets. Day and a half of pre-rigging and 4 days of shooting. Grip crew ran 8 deep for most of the shoot and we brought in an additional 5 for the wrap day to get out that night.
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Case Study
Tents & Camera Rigs
Lighting
Camera Rigging
On set
by:
Brendan Riel
This was a 2 day spot for a live event company. We scouted a few days before the shoot and felt pretty good coming into it. We shot 3 different spots in 2 days.
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Case Study
Tight Moves & Virtual Roads: A Cadillac Case Study
Lighting
Behind the Scenes
Camera Movement
by:
Luc Delamare
LED walls used to be this big scary new tech. In the early days things like hertz and frame rates would be either a mystery or a guessing game, lighting was a challenge, and camera tracking was a nightmare.
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rig breakdown
Top Thrill 2 Roller Coaster Rig
Behind the Scenes
Camera Rigging
Grip Equipment
by:
Brendan Riel
Rollercoaster rig for Top Thrill 2’s media day. This ride went 120mph and was Cedar Points newest and baddest ride. Camera pointing forward and another pointed backward at the news reporters.
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rig breakdown
Vehicle Rig With Hard Mounts & Suctions
Vehicle Rigging
Behind the Scenes
by:
Brendan Riel
Pulled the bumper for this rig to access hard mounts on the frame. Integrated speed rail starter onto the frame and built out with speedrail and hollaenders.
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Case Study
Vertical Camera Rig & Tents
Behind the Scenes
Camera Movement
Lighting
by:
Brendan Riel
This 3 day job was all shot at a residential house. 1 day to pre rig and 2 days to shoot. One of our main objectives on the pre rig day was to tent both the front and back exteriors.
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rig breakdown
Water Bottle Camera Rig
5/8” Rods & Hardware
Modern Studio 5/8” Hardware
Cardellini
by:
Brendan Riel
Water bottle rigged to a Sony FX3. We used 5/8” rods & hardware to secure this water bottle to the camera for a series of shots.
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