Key grip

Key grip working on set

A key grip is a senior role on movie sets,[1] involved with a wide variety of behind-the-scenes tasks. The key grip supervises grip crews who support camera and lighting technicians; assesses what equipment is necessary for each shooting location; coordinates the transportation of this equipment and its set up; and arranges the general movement and positioning of the camera and collaborating with the director of photography.[1] The key grip relies on the best boy as their foreperson to supervise the grip crew.[2]

Industry myths vary as to the origins of the name "grip". Some say it originated from the early days of the film industry when a set consisted of a director, camera person, assistants and workers.[3] Workers acted as handymen, setting up all equipment needed, working from a kit, container or bag containing their tools.[3] This bag was known as a grip and as the industry evolved and workers began to separate into specialized groups, the name grip stuck with those that worked on rigging.[3] But it is most likely that the term has rail/tram origins, where "gaffers" and "grips" formed an integral part of the US rail transport system in the 19 century. The term "gaffer" is a contraction of "grandfather" or "godfather", used by immigrant Irish-Americans as a term of respect for the supervisor of a gang of working men. A "grip" was a worker whose job it was to grip the electric cable above the tram and transfer it to the new line when the tram reached a junction. As the film industry took off these titles became part of the vernacular. The word "key" when applied to "grip" simply means "principal".

A typical key grip has worked in the industry for years and proved themself worthy of more responsibilities.[4] Those that have attended film school or completed training courses have an advantage as they possess technical understanding of on-set procedures.[5]

Region to region the role and responsibilities of a key grip can differ. In the US key grips supervise the set-up of both cameras and lights, despite unions preventing key grips from touching lights,[6] whilst in places such as Hungary key grips are able to move lights around to their suiting and electricians simply deal with 'everything that's connected to a lamp'.[6]

  1. ^ a b "Key Grip". Careers In Screen. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Specialty lighting equipment", Set Lighting Technician's Handbook, Routledge, pp. 489–508, 2 May 2013, doi:10.4324/9780080928081-24, ISBN 978-0-08-092808-1, retrieved 26 May 2021
  3. ^ a b c Uva, Michael G. (2018). The Grip Book: The Studio Grip's Essential Guide. Routledge. p. 13. ISBN 9781138571389.
  4. ^ Yager, Fred; Yager, Jan (2009). Career Opportunities in The Film Industry. New York: Checkmark Books. ISBN 9780816073528.
  5. ^ "Key Grip: Everything You Need To Know". NFI. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  6. ^ a b Curtin, Michael; Sanson, Kevin, eds. (2017). "Adam Goodman, service producer". Voices of Labor: Creativity, Craft, and Conflict in Global Hollywood. University of California Press. pp. 158–168. ISBN 9780520968196.