Work in Film? "Be a Sound Guy" they said. or, "Do continuity" They said. They get to carry- almost nothing. "Naaah", said I, "I'll be a grip". That way, I can carry sandbags, multiple stands, dolly track, dollies, crane weights, scaffold, 2x12s, all day. Much better. Dolly to the 3rd floor? No problem. Need sandbags upstairs? Coming right up! Crates full of rigging hardware? My pleasure! I was dayplaying on a series the day that the new-fangled LED lights were delivered- and the juicers were delighted ( no pun intended) that they could run on batteries. Some of them,anyway! Huzzah! No more 4/0! Was the cry. And then the UPM said", Now that we don't need all that all that cable, we need 3 less juicers! AKA out-of-workers.......... Great! Steadicam operator- don't need to carry the dolly upstairs (and down)- oh- why do we need a dolly grip???
Nothing like watching Grips scatter like prairie dogs who spot an eagle when the dolly grip yells out or gets on the walkie and says “Dolly Party”.
I’ll never forget Bob Richardson making is carry the Fisher 10 up 6 flights of stairs only to have me stick the camera through a window for a lock off establishing shot. Nothing impossible the person who doesn’t have to do it.
Work in Film? "Be a Sound Guy" they said. or, "Do continuity" They said. They get to carry- almost nothing. "Naaah", said I, "I'll be a grip". That way, I can carry sandbags, multiple stands, dolly track, dollies, crane weights, scaffold, 2x12s, all day. Much better. Dolly to the 3rd floor? No problem. Need sandbags upstairs? Coming right up! Crates full of rigging hardware? My pleasure! I was dayplaying on a series the day that the new-fangled LED lights were delivered- and the juicers were delighted ( no pun intended) that they could run on batteries. Some of them,anyway! Huzzah! No more 4/0! Was the cry. And then the UPM said", Now that we don't need all that all that cable, we need 3 less juicers! AKA out-of-workers.......... Great! Steadicam operator- don't need to carry the dolly upstairs (and down)- oh- why do we need a dolly grip???
Nothing like watching Grips scatter like prairie dogs who spot an eagle when the dolly grip yells out or gets on the walkie and says “Dolly Party”.
I’ll never forget Bob Richardson making is carry the Fisher 10 up 6 flights of stairs only to have me stick the camera through a window for a lock off establishing shot. Nothing impossible the person who doesn’t have to do it.
"Nothing impossible the person who doesn’t have to do it."
What a great line! And oh so true...
Ha! That's the truth...
Again and again, I'm reminded of the sheer physicality of JuicerWork. Impressive. Humbling.
Also, I'm reminded of the injustices and annoyances of "working for the mouse".
I *love* retirement. :)
It beats working, all right!