Gallery
Gallery

project BTS
20x20 Telehandler Swatter
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. Their custom fork adaptors make assembly and attachment a breeze.
Used GAC flex, steel cable, and turnbuckles for the corner picks from the tower.
Overhead 20x20 1/2 soft frost diffusion in the swatter did most of the heavy lifting but we shaped up some negative fill on the ground and played around with a 12x green.
Finished off the day with some circle track in a field. J.L. Fisher Model 11 was our dolly of choice that day and we opted for skate wheels.
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project BTS
ModX Rainbow Rigs
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.
The first rainbow rig we build had to be low pivot. Our DP Eric Vera wanted the camera to start floor level by the feet of a person doing sit ups. For this configuration we dropped the bearing to the ground on our structure and built the arm off that. Traditionally we would use counterbalance to offset the camera weight but since the pivot was riding so low we had to set up a counterbalance pulley system. I think we were on to something with the band we integrated into the rig because it helped continue the counterbalance curve at the top of the motion where the pulley counterbalance has less effect.
The second rainbow was a more standard build with counterbalance.
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project BTS
Camera Rigs to Objects
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.
The main request was to rig this yellow pair of sunglasses to the camera. They wanted people to be able to pass them around, put them on and take them off. Connor Colby and I conceptualized a few ideas before the shoot and played around with 3D printing some sort of clamp on adaptor for 3/8 rods. Everything seemed like it would work when we tried it in prep but once we knocked off a shot on the shoot day the rig just fell apart. It was way too bulky and didn’t have the right clamping pressure and overall strength. Luckily I brought a backup solution. We instead used 3/8” armature wire and taped it right to the sides. Only thing visible from the front was the armature wire running to the sides of the glasses. The wire went back to mounting points on the camera rig.
We ended up iterating on this method down the road for a different job and I think we came up with a pretty good glasses rig solution.
Read >

project BTS
Softbox with Three Quarter Sides
by:
Brendan Riel
12x12x6 softbox with magic cloth hung on 1/4 ton motors. Modulus-X 6” skeleton and 8x skypanel S60’s inside.
We wanted some light to spill out on all sides to help illuminate the cyc walls so we went with sides that dropped 4’ and not the full 6’. Gaffer Dimitri Christoforidis didn’t rely solely on the spill from the softbox for illumination, he also used space lights.
Played with a Fisher 11, helped set lighting offset one of their lights on a road runner, and hung some space lights.
Read >

project BTS
Backlot nighttime commercial with 12x12 moonbox
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.
Interior consisted of hanging a pipe grid from overhead beams with 1/3 ton motors. Art attached practicals and set lighting hung units. Moving light gag outside for a lighting effect. 3 doorway dollies with T12’s ran a 40’ length of track and pushed by the grip department.
Interior auction house was a complete art transformation. Flowy curtains and a custom build circular platform brought the place to life and provided a nice canvas for gaffer Dimitri to light against.
Night exterior was a set lighting show. They wired up dozens of street lamps & wall sconces and illuminated each window in the facade. Main exterior push was a 12x12 moonbox with 4x Skypanel S60’s in it with 1/4 grid. Collective Camera Cranes swung around the Scorpio 45’ with the matrix head.
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project BTS
Live Action Video Game Shoot
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.
Studio setup consisted of 30’x100’ digital blue screen hung on 12” box truss. Hung a flying 12x30 blue screen made out of ModTruss for some low angle shots so we could get some ceiling coverage. Runs of truss for blue screen lighting hung 8’ off.
Picked points for motors by setting box truss and I beams in the stage perms.
Rigged a few 40’ tall 69” wide scissors with 20x20 blues to be mobile and cap the end of our big blue.
Outdoor setup at the shipping containers consisted of a par can array on a JLG 1250AJP and two S360’s on a 1200SJP.
Read >

project BTS
20x20 Telehandler Swatter
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. Their custom fork adaptors make assembly and attachment a breeze.
Used GAC flex, steel cable, and turnbuckles for the corner picks from the tower.
Overhead 20x20 1/2 soft frost diffusion in the swatter did most of the heavy lifting but we shaped up some negative fill on the ground and played around with a 12x green.
Finished off the day with some circle track in a field. J.L. Fisher Model 11 was our dolly of choice that day and we opted for skate wheels.
Read >

project BTS
ModX Rainbow Rigs
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.
The first rainbow rig we build had to be low pivot. Our DP Eric Vera wanted the camera to start floor level by the feet of a person doing sit ups. For this configuration we dropped the bearing to the ground on our structure and built the arm off that. Traditionally we would use counterbalance to offset the camera weight but since the pivot was riding so low we had to set up a counterbalance pulley system. I think we were on to something with the band we integrated into the rig because it helped continue the counterbalance curve at the top of the motion where the pulley counterbalance has less effect.
The second rainbow was a more standard build with counterbalance.
Read >

project BTS
Camera Rigs to Objects
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.
The main request was to rig this yellow pair of sunglasses to the camera. They wanted people to be able to pass them around, put them on and take them off. Connor Colby and I conceptualized a few ideas before the shoot and played around with 3D printing some sort of clamp on adaptor for 3/8 rods. Everything seemed like it would work when we tried it in prep but once we knocked off a shot on the shoot day the rig just fell apart. It was way too bulky and didn’t have the right clamping pressure and overall strength. Luckily I brought a backup solution. We instead used 3/8” armature wire and taped it right to the sides. Only thing visible from the front was the armature wire running to the sides of the glasses. The wire went back to mounting points on the camera rig.
We ended up iterating on this method down the road for a different job and I think we came up with a pretty good glasses rig solution.
Read >

project BTS
Softbox with Three Quarter Sides
by:
Brendan Riel
12x12x6 softbox with magic cloth hung on 1/4 ton motors. Modulus-X 6” skeleton and 8x skypanel S60’s inside.
We wanted some light to spill out on all sides to help illuminate the cyc walls so we went with sides that dropped 4’ and not the full 6’. Gaffer Dimitri Christoforidis didn’t rely solely on the spill from the softbox for illumination, he also used space lights.
Played with a Fisher 11, helped set lighting offset one of their lights on a road runner, and hung some space lights.
Read >

project BTS
Backlot nighttime commercial with 12x12 moonbox
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.
Interior consisted of hanging a pipe grid from overhead beams with 1/3 ton motors. Art attached practicals and set lighting hung units. Moving light gag outside for a lighting effect. 3 doorway dollies with T12’s ran a 40’ length of track and pushed by the grip department.
Interior auction house was a complete art transformation. Flowy curtains and a custom build circular platform brought the place to life and provided a nice canvas for gaffer Dimitri to light against.
Night exterior was a set lighting show. They wired up dozens of street lamps & wall sconces and illuminated each window in the facade. Main exterior push was a 12x12 moonbox with 4x Skypanel S60’s in it with 1/4 grid. Collective Camera Cranes swung around the Scorpio 45’ with the matrix head.
Read >

project BTS
Live Action Video Game Shoot
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.
Studio setup consisted of 30’x100’ digital blue screen hung on 12” box truss. Hung a flying 12x30 blue screen made out of ModTruss for some low angle shots so we could get some ceiling coverage. Runs of truss for blue screen lighting hung 8’ off.
Picked points for motors by setting box truss and I beams in the stage perms.
Rigged a few 40’ tall 69” wide scissors with 20x20 blues to be mobile and cap the end of our big blue.
Outdoor setup at the shipping containers consisted of a par can array on a JLG 1250AJP and two S360’s on a 1200SJP.
Read >

project BTS
Stage Shoot With Motors & Blue Screen
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. Our main setups consisted of a 30x60 blue screen with a custom flying 12x60 mod-x angled blue frame for low shot coverage, a 12x12 softbox on a telehandler, and an 8x30 softbox among many other things. Gaffer Eddie Reid laid out the plan to execute DP Franklin Ricart’s vision.
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project BTS
Fast Food Burger Commercial
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.
For exterior lighting we mainly used 18k’s gelled to 1/4 or 1/2 CTO. For the condor rig we build a support structure out of Modulus-X truss for the electricians to hang their lights. Dolly of choice on this one was the Fisher Model 10 and when on track I prefer skate wheels over track wheels.
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