Friday, July 16, 2010

An Open Letter To The Grips...

Dear Grips on the current show I'm on,

The reason why I asked for a sandbag was because the light I was working on is in a high traffic area. Yes, it may have been sitting bottom stick on its stand, but talent, two camera crews, and a boom op would be dancing around to avoid running into it during the take, not to mention the rush of make-up, wardrobe, ADs, and PAs, when those cameras stop rolling.

For you guys to roll your eyes at me when I politely requested the stand be bagged is unprofessional (especially since you didn't have to travel more than three feet to retrieve one) and the fact that you guys took it off the stand when I wasn't looking is even more appalling.

It's a mutherfuckin' sandbag, for Pete's sake! That's what they're there for! To hold and weigh things down! Yes, I know it was a small light. Yes, I know it was bottom stick on a level floor. But did you know that none of that matters when it's sitting in a high-traffic area? And do you realize that you're technically supposed to be bagging every light anyway?

So please stop with the eye rolling, the little smug comments, and the undermining when our backs are turned. We're just trying to do our jobs, but we can't do it properly if you don't do yours.

Sincerely,
An Fed Up Juicer.

7 comments :

Michael Taylor said...

Yeah, this one really pisses me off. A good grip crew will sandbag any lamp in a high traffic area, on a lightweight stand, or high up the stick of any stand -- or at least OFFER to -- without being asked.

It's not like the electric truck (on location) or cart (on stage) is equipped with sandbags. Only the grips have sandbags, and they're supposed to support the juicers by deploying those bags wherever needed. Grip and electric work hand in glove on set -- juicers adding the light, the grips taking it away -- which means those sandbags aren't just for C stands.

It's one thing if the grips are really busy -- then I'll ask where the sandbags are, and do it myself. But when they're all just sitting on their grip-to-ground adapters staring into cell phones...

I've been lucky enough to work with good grip crews who do this as a matter of course. Even those not-so-great grips who aren't quite with the program are still happy to fetch and deploy a sandbag when asked. But all that eye-rolling and "borrowing" of sandbags already on a lamp? That's the mark of an unprofessional lazy-ass grip who will never be worth his paycheck no matter how small it is, or else a newbie who has the misfortune of working for a Key or Best Boy too stupid and lazy to teach a young grip the right approach to the job.

I bring a hot stinger to the dolly without being asked, and expect the grips to sandbag any of my vulnerable lamps the same way.

Guess you hit a nerve here. Like I said, this pisses me off...

Nathan said...

Nerves struck here too. I can't tell you how much it pisses me off when one department can't get cooperation from another. When the Electrics tell me they need a door unlocked so they can get a light in another window, they mean now, and God-forbid it takes me five minutes to find the key. When the Mixer hears some noise after 7 hours on location that he never heard before, (and can't really identify), it will be my fault if it holds up the shot while I track it down -- and you can bet everyone will know who should have heard it in the first place. Don't get me started on when the D.P. notices some problem that was there on each of the three scouts he went on, but he never noticed because he was always on the phone to his agent during scouts.

But when I see the electrics pre-rigging the 12k's for the day interiors (which will be shot after dark), and I ask the grips to rig a flag over the top so we won't be lighting up 15 floors of windows we're not shooting in, they look at me like I'm out of my fucking mind. It makes no difference that they're rigging at 5:00pm and it won't make any difference until it gets dark at 9:00pm, I'm somehow dropping more work in their laps at the last minute.

And I don't mean to single out the grips here. When the D.P. wants me to get rid of something in the frame, but he can't describe what that something is, (or even verbally define where the left edge of frame is), it might help if I wasn't treated like an interloper when I try to get a good look at the monitor. And if the Electrics can't run a stinger to Crafty, (or just hand me one), then they can STFU while they wait for the coffee.

We all have enough shit to deal with every day -- getting it from people who don't want to do their jobs is really unnecessary.

D said...

They're amateurs. And lazy ones to boot.

A.J. said...

Michael - As a juicer, I once asked the BB Grip for a beaver board and was told no... Because they might need it later. Um... What?? Stuff like that irks me. I know they've got their own thing going on, but isn't part of their job to support other departments?

The thing that really bugged me about this particular situation was that they took the sandbag off the stand when I wasn't looking. I don't even know what to say to that other than WTF??

Nathan - It sucks that sometimes departments can't get along with each other. Or don't really understand each others' needs so sometimes requests are seen as frivolous ("What do you mean they need a work light? Tell them to use a flashlight."). But what pisses me off even more is when they don't their job. They can bitch about it all they want as long as they do it.

D - Yes.

The Grip Works said...

Taking the bag off the stand after you've deployed it is unheard of. Did you speak to the Key Grip about it ? Or was he as stupid as the other jackasses he hired ?
As D says ...

A.J. said...

The Grip Works - No, I didn't speak to the Key or their Best Boy. It was one of those shows where it was a constant battle to get anyone to do their job properly and their superiors would have either just shrugged it off or sided with their guys. As D said...

JD said...

Sandbags?? Who needs sandbags, just sit a P.A. down on the base of the stand and tell them, "Stay!".

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