Commercial
Commercial
Commercial
Commercial
about the rig
Counterbalanced guitar rig with auto-tilt.
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.
To rig a shot like this traditionally you would rig a few points off the neck or body of the guitar to the camera and support the weight of the camera. This makes it hard to operate the shot because you need to support the camera and awkwardly maintain the angle as the guitar moves around. Controlling the movement of the guitar is tough in this instance.
For this rig we created an inner ring and an outer ring both built out of speedrail. Almost like a dumb version of a gimbal with no motors. The inner ring was free to pivot on the x axis to allow the camera to tilt up and down independent of the rig’s vertical movement. This meant that as the rig got higher, the camera would tilt down. If the rig got lower the camera would tilt up. The tilt was in relation to the angle of the guitar - it wasn’t something the operator had to control.
You could raise and lower the rig by holding onto the outer ring without having to worry about whether you were aiming the camera straight down the neck of the guitar - it did it for you.
Ran a pulley from the top of our rig up and over to some counterbalance to make up and down movement effortless.
Camera Rigging
Tips & Tricks
Behind the Scenes
key grip
the crew
DP:
Franklin Ricart
Grip Crew:
Connor Colby, Josh Smith, Logan Alesso, Stephen Change, Vic Roca, Thorn Shaffer, Jordan Hodges, Mike McKinnon
built with
Speedrail, Hollaender Fittings, 5/8 Rods
by:
Brendan RIel
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Case Study
Frames, Ladder Pods, and Westerns On This Commercial
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. We shot both inside in an airplane buck and outside in the parking lot. For our first setup outside in the parking lot we built a Modulus-X 9” truss rig and secured it onto a 12054 telehandler to hang a hot air balloon basket. I wanted to get the pick point out a little further away from the carriage which is why we didn’t just pick it off the bottom hook of the carriage. We used Modulus-X 9” because I co-own Division and we have it readily available. When building a rig that sticks out further than the telehandler it’s generally good practice to integrate a vertical member into your rig. This distributes the force in the components (in this case a singular piece of truss) sticking out. We secured the vertical portion of the rig to the carriage as well with both a basketed 2” ratchet and SK clamps. The load rating of 9” ModX is insane, so it was never really a worry, but it’s good practice. A 6’ stick of the 9” boasts a roughly 15,000# uniform center load WLL just to give you an idea.
The hot air balloon company took care of attachment for the balloon to the telehandler - they have a special rig they use all the time with film productions.
It was overcast and drizzly but we set up so that if the sun did peak out it would be backlit. Popped a 20x20 chroma blue behind the basket for vfx as they were supposed to be way up in the sky. Whenever I’m worked with a 20x20 frame that doesn’t work tabled I like to put it on either black bird cranks or long johns. It makes it way more manageable to work with. We shaped in some negative fill with a 12x20 water solid and angled a 20x20 water solid swatter overhead. Gaffer Mathias Peralta key’d talent with an M90 thrown through some color and diffused through a 12x grid. He backlit with an 18k on a 60’ articulating boom and blasted through some color on that too.
After we got rained out we finished off a bit of the balloon basket inside still against blue screen and transitioned over to the airplane. We lit with more warm sun to match the hot air balloon look and injected some day blue ambience into the cockpit to simulate the clear sky.
Case Study
Frames, Ladder Pods, and Westerns On This Commercial
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. We shot both inside in an airplane buck and outside in the parking lot. For our first setup outside in the parking lot we built a Modulus-X 9” truss rig and secured it onto a 12054 telehandler to hang a hot air balloon basket. I wanted to get the pick point out a little further away from the carriage which is why we didn’t just pick it off the bottom hook of the carriage. We used Modulus-X 9” because I co-own Division and we have it readily available. When building a rig that sticks out further than the telehandler it’s generally good practice to integrate a vertical member into your rig. This distributes the force in the components (in this case a singular piece of truss) sticking out. We secured the vertical portion of the rig to the carriage as well with both a basketed 2” ratchet and SK clamps. The load rating of 9” ModX is insane, so it was never really a worry, but it’s good practice. A 6’ stick of the 9” boasts a roughly 15,000# uniform center load WLL just to give you an idea.
The hot air balloon company took care of attachment for the balloon to the telehandler - they have a special rig they use all the time with film productions.
It was overcast and drizzly but we set up so that if the sun did peak out it would be backlit. Popped a 20x20 chroma blue behind the basket for vfx as they were supposed to be way up in the sky. Whenever I’m worked with a 20x20 frame that doesn’t work tabled I like to put it on either black bird cranks or long johns. It makes it way more manageable to work with. We shaped in some negative fill with a 12x20 water solid and angled a 20x20 water solid swatter overhead. Gaffer Mathias Peralta key’d talent with an M90 thrown through some color and diffused through a 12x grid. He backlit with an 18k on a 60’ articulating boom and blasted through some color on that too.
After we got rained out we finished off a bit of the balloon basket inside still against blue screen and transitioned over to the airplane. We lit with more warm sun to match the hot air balloon look and injected some day blue ambience into the cockpit to simulate the clear sky.
Case Study
Frames, Ladder Pods, and Westerns On This Commercial
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. We shot both inside in an airplane buck and outside in the parking lot. For our first setup outside in the parking lot we built a Modulus-X 9” truss rig and secured it onto a 12054 telehandler to hang a hot air balloon basket. I wanted to get the pick point out a little further away from the carriage which is why we didn’t just pick it off the bottom hook of the carriage. We used Modulus-X 9” because I co-own Division and we have it readily available. When building a rig that sticks out further than the telehandler it’s generally good practice to integrate a vertical member into your rig. This distributes the force in the components (in this case a singular piece of truss) sticking out. We secured the vertical portion of the rig to the carriage as well with both a basketed 2” ratchet and SK clamps. The load rating of 9” ModX is insane, so it was never really a worry, but it’s good practice. A 6’ stick of the 9” boasts a roughly 15,000# uniform center load WLL just to give you an idea.
The hot air balloon company took care of attachment for the balloon to the telehandler - they have a special rig they use all the time with film productions.
It was overcast and drizzly but we set up so that if the sun did peak out it would be backlit. Popped a 20x20 chroma blue behind the basket for vfx as they were supposed to be way up in the sky. Whenever I’m worked with a 20x20 frame that doesn’t work tabled I like to put it on either black bird cranks or long johns. It makes it way more manageable to work with. We shaped in some negative fill with a 12x20 water solid and angled a 20x20 water solid swatter overhead. Gaffer Mathias Peralta key’d talent with an M90 thrown through some color and diffused through a 12x grid. He backlit with an 18k on a 60’ articulating boom and blasted through some color on that too.
After we got rained out we finished off a bit of the balloon basket inside still against blue screen and transitioned over to the airplane. We lit with more warm sun to match the hot air balloon look and injected some day blue ambience into the cockpit to simulate the clear sky.
Case Study
Frames, Ladder Pods, and Westerns On This Commercial
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. We shot both inside in an airplane buck and outside in the parking lot. For our first setup outside in the parking lot we built a Modulus-X 9” truss rig and secured it onto a 12054 telehandler to hang a hot air balloon basket. I wanted to get the pick point out a little further away from the carriage which is why we didn’t just pick it off the bottom hook of the carriage. We used Modulus-X 9” because I co-own Division and we have it readily available. When building a rig that sticks out further than the telehandler it’s generally good practice to integrate a vertical member into your rig. This distributes the force in the components (in this case a singular piece of truss) sticking out. We secured the vertical portion of the rig to the carriage as well with both a basketed 2” ratchet and SK clamps. The load rating of 9” ModX is insane, so it was never really a worry, but it’s good practice. A 6’ stick of the 9” boasts a roughly 15,000# uniform center load WLL just to give you an idea.
The hot air balloon company took care of attachment for the balloon to the telehandler - they have a special rig they use all the time with film productions.
It was overcast and drizzly but we set up so that if the sun did peak out it would be backlit. Popped a 20x20 chroma blue behind the basket for vfx as they were supposed to be way up in the sky. Whenever I’m worked with a 20x20 frame that doesn’t work tabled I like to put it on either black bird cranks or long johns. It makes it way more manageable to work with. We shaped in some negative fill with a 12x20 water solid and angled a 20x20 water solid swatter overhead. Gaffer Mathias Peralta key’d talent with an M90 thrown through some color and diffused through a 12x grid. He backlit with an 18k on a 60’ articulating boom and blasted through some color on that too.
After we got rained out we finished off a bit of the balloon basket inside still against blue screen and transitioned over to the airplane. We lit with more warm sun to match the hot air balloon look and injected some day blue ambience into the cockpit to simulate the clear sky.
rig breakdown
Par Can Condor Rig
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.
This lighting apparatus played in shot and was meant to simulate a fictional ship yard practical.
Frame built out of 1-1/4” speedrail and attached to the basket with steel pipe. Hollaenders for the frame connection points and cheeseboros for the condor connection points. Kickers on the ends added more rigidity and safety.
rig breakdown
Par Can Condor Rig
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.
This lighting apparatus played in shot and was meant to simulate a fictional ship yard practical.
Frame built out of 1-1/4” speedrail and attached to the basket with steel pipe. Hollaenders for the frame connection points and cheeseboros for the condor connection points. Kickers on the ends added more rigidity and safety.
rig breakdown
Par Can Condor Rig
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.
This lighting apparatus played in shot and was meant to simulate a fictional ship yard practical.
Frame built out of 1-1/4” speedrail and attached to the basket with steel pipe. Hollaenders for the frame connection points and cheeseboros for the condor connection points. Kickers on the ends added more rigidity and safety.
rig breakdown
Par Can Condor Rig
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.
This lighting apparatus played in shot and was meant to simulate a fictional ship yard practical.
Frame built out of 1-1/4” speedrail and attached to the basket with steel pipe. Hollaenders for the frame connection points and cheeseboros for the condor connection points. Kickers on the ends added more rigidity and safety.
rig breakdown
Counterbalanced guitar rig
by:
Brendan RIel
Counterbalanced guitar rig with auto-tilt.
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.
To rig a shot like this traditionally you would rig a few points off the neck or body of the guitar to the camera and support the weight of the camera. This makes it hard to operate the shot because you need to support the camera and awkwardly maintain the angle as the guitar moves around. Controlling the movement of the guitar is tough in this instance.
For this rig we created an inner ring and an outer ring both built out of speedrail. Almost like a dumb version of a gimbal with no motors. The inner ring was free to pivot on the x axis to allow the camera to tilt up and down independent of the rig’s vertical movement. This meant that as the rig got higher, the camera would tilt down. If the rig got lower the camera would tilt up. The tilt was in relation to the angle of the guitar - it wasn’t something the operator had to control.
You could raise and lower the rig by holding onto the outer ring without having to worry about whether you were aiming the camera straight down the neck of the guitar - it did it for you.
Ran a pulley from the top of our rig up and over to some counterbalance to make up and down movement effortless.
rig breakdown
Counterbalanced guitar rig
by:
Brendan RIel
Counterbalanced guitar rig with auto-tilt.
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.
To rig a shot like this traditionally you would rig a few points off the neck or body of the guitar to the camera and support the weight of the camera. This makes it hard to operate the shot because you need to support the camera and awkwardly maintain the angle as the guitar moves around. Controlling the movement of the guitar is tough in this instance.
For this rig we created an inner ring and an outer ring both built out of speedrail. Almost like a dumb version of a gimbal with no motors. The inner ring was free to pivot on the x axis to allow the camera to tilt up and down independent of the rig’s vertical movement. This meant that as the rig got higher, the camera would tilt down. If the rig got lower the camera would tilt up. The tilt was in relation to the angle of the guitar - it wasn’t something the operator had to control.
You could raise and lower the rig by holding onto the outer ring without having to worry about whether you were aiming the camera straight down the neck of the guitar - it did it for you.
Ran a pulley from the top of our rig up and over to some counterbalance to make up and down movement effortless.
rig breakdown
Counterbalanced guitar rig
by:
Brendan RIel
Counterbalanced guitar rig with auto-tilt.
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.
To rig a shot like this traditionally you would rig a few points off the neck or body of the guitar to the camera and support the weight of the camera. This makes it hard to operate the shot because you need to support the camera and awkwardly maintain the angle as the guitar moves around. Controlling the movement of the guitar is tough in this instance.
For this rig we created an inner ring and an outer ring both built out of speedrail. Almost like a dumb version of a gimbal with no motors. The inner ring was free to pivot on the x axis to allow the camera to tilt up and down independent of the rig’s vertical movement. This meant that as the rig got higher, the camera would tilt down. If the rig got lower the camera would tilt up. The tilt was in relation to the angle of the guitar - it wasn’t something the operator had to control.
You could raise and lower the rig by holding onto the outer ring without having to worry about whether you were aiming the camera straight down the neck of the guitar - it did it for you.
Ran a pulley from the top of our rig up and over to some counterbalance to make up and down movement effortless.
rig breakdown
Counterbalanced guitar rig
by:
Brendan RIel
Counterbalanced guitar rig with auto-tilt.
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.
To rig a shot like this traditionally you would rig a few points off the neck or body of the guitar to the camera and support the weight of the camera. This makes it hard to operate the shot because you need to support the camera and awkwardly maintain the angle as the guitar moves around. Controlling the movement of the guitar is tough in this instance.
For this rig we created an inner ring and an outer ring both built out of speedrail. Almost like a dumb version of a gimbal with no motors. The inner ring was free to pivot on the x axis to allow the camera to tilt up and down independent of the rig’s vertical movement. This meant that as the rig got higher, the camera would tilt down. If the rig got lower the camera would tilt up. The tilt was in relation to the angle of the guitar - it wasn’t something the operator had to control.
You could raise and lower the rig by holding onto the outer ring without having to worry about whether you were aiming the camera straight down the neck of the guitar - it did it for you.
Ran a pulley from the top of our rig up and over to some counterbalance to make up and down movement effortless.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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legacy grip
We demonstrate unique rigs &
practical solutions in the world of gripping.
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we Are
legacy grip
We demonstrate unique rigs &
practical solutions in the world of gripping.
play video
we Are
legacy grip
We demonstrate unique rigs &
practical solutions in the world of gripping.
play video
we Are
legacy grip
We demonstrate unique rigs &
practical solutions in the world of gripping.
play video
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Legacy Grip 2025 All Rights Reserved
By subscribing you agree to with our privacy policy and provide consent to receive updates from our company.
Legacy Grip 2025 All Rights Reserved
By subscribing you agree to with our privacy policy and provide consent to receive updates from our company.
Legacy Grip 2025 All Rights Reserved
By subscribing you agree to with our privacy policy and provide consent to receive updates from our company.
Legacy Grip 2025 All Rights Reserved