Thirty years in cinema grip gives you a clear picture of the mistakes that repeat themselves — regardless of budget, the nationality of the production, or the experience of the production manager. These mistakes are not dramatic. They accumulate silently, until the moment a shooting day stalls or a shot becomes impossible to achieve and forces a rewrite on set. Here are the eight most frequent mistakes and how to avoid them.
Mistake 1: Underestimating setup and wrap times
This is the most widespread mistake — and probably the most costly over the course of a shoot. The schedule allows for eight hours. The dolly and rails are on the call sheet. But nobody has factored in installation time, adjustments, and wrap.
On a standard set with eight metres of straight rail and a dolly, setup takes 45 minutes to an hour under normal conditions. An uneven floor, a tight space, rails that run beneath scenic elements — it can rise to two hours. Wrap takes the same again.
“I explain it at the start of every shoot: the equipment does not teleport from one set to the next. Between unloading the truck, installing, adjusting, and packing down, you easily lose two hours a day if that time is not built into the schedule from the outset.”
The solution: during prep, identify every location that requires a significant setup and add the setup time explicitly to the call sheet. The key grip can estimate that time from the survey visit.
Mistake 2: Not doing a proper location survey with the equipment in mind
The artistic survey and the technical survey are two different things. A production manager may have scouted a visually stunning location for a key scene without having assessed its practicability for grip.
The classic case: a stone or cobbled floor, beautiful on screen, entirely incompatible with a dolly that demands millimetre-level levelling. Or a narrow corridor that forces a side-on configuration with half the planned rails. Or a ceiling too low to deploy the crane on the desired axis.
Constraints discovered on the day do not resolve quickly. Abandoning the planned shot, improvising with unsuitable equipment, or losing time searching for workarounds — none of these options is satisfactory.
The solution: involve the key grip from the production survey stage, not only at the technical meeting. One hour of joint location scouting identifies constraints in advance and allows the equipment list to be adjusted accordingly.
Mistake 3: Forgetting accessories on the equipment list
A dolly without the levelling wedges suited to the set floor is a stationary dolly. Rails without the curved track sections required for the planned circular travelling are a travelling move that cannot happen. A crane without the counterweight matched to the DP’s camera head is an unbalanced crane.
Accessories are not details. They determine whether shots are feasible. When they are missing, substitute solutions — if they exist — take time and cost money.
This type of omission typically occurs when the equipment list is built by the production manager without consulting the key grip, based on a standard list copied from a previous shoot.
The solution: validate the equipment list with the key grip against the shooting script and survey photographs. Every complex shot must be cross-referenced with its specific accessories. That validation takes two hours during pre-production. It prevents days lost on set.
Mistake 4: Renting equipment unsuited to the floor or terrain
Not every dolly performs the same on every surface. This is a technical reality that rental catalogues do not always state clearly.
A dolly designed for studio floors does not behave the same way on old hardwood, on tiled floors with raised grout lines, on slightly inclined concrete, or outdoors. The wheels, the levelling system, the responsiveness of the movement — everything changes according to the surface.
The same applies to rails: laid on a gently sloping exterior surface, they require compensation wedges that not every supplier keeps in stock. On soft ground — a garden, building site, or compacted earth — they need a sub-floor or stabilisation boards.
The solution: describe the floor type for each location precisely when submitting the quote request. Survey photographs are particularly useful for assessing practicability. An experienced key grip identifies the constraints immediately and adjusts their recommendation.
Mistake 5: Ignoring transport and access logistics
A 12-metre grip truck does not pass through a medieval alleyway. A 200-kilogram dolly does not travel to the third floor without a goods lift. An 8-metre crane when fully deployed does not fit inside a Haussmann-era apartment.
These access constraints seem self-evident when stated this way. They are nonetheless regularly discovered on the day of the shoot, when the grip crew arrives at a location with equipment that cannot be brought in as planned.
The consequences vary: sometimes the equipment can be transported in pieces and reassembled on-site, at the cost of additional time. Sometimes the shot must be abandoned. In either case, it is not a decision made calmly on a busy shooting morning.
The solution: during surveys, systematically check access for trucks — road width, clearance height, parking availability — and access to the set — stairs, lift, goods lift. This information must appear on the location survey sheet passed to the grip crew.
Mistake 6: Failing to plan for backup equipment
On a professional shoot, the question is not whether a technical problem will arise, but when. A bearing making suspicious sounds, a locking bolt giving way, a remote head motor running abnormally hot — these incidents are part of the reality of filming.
The difference between an incident that costs fifteen minutes and one that shuts down the production for the day is often the presence or absence of a spare part.
This is not purely a budget question. It is a question of organisation. A key grip who knows their equipment anticipates the weak points and departs with the critical spares.
“On a 25-day shoot, I always arrive with spare parts for the most heavily used components: bearings, clamps, control cables. It takes up space in the truck, but it has never proved unnecessary.”
The solution: discuss the backup question explicitly with the key grip during pre-production. For critical equipment — primary dolly, remote head — either plan for a spare part or identify a nearby rental supplier as a Plan B.
Mistake 7: Underestimating the transport budget for heavy equipment
Grip equipment transport is a budget line that is systematically underestimated during initial planning. The reasons are understandable: daily equipment rates are front of mind, and transport feels like a detail to be confirmed later.
It is not a detail. A dolly, 20 metres of rails, a lightweight crane, and accessories add up to two or three tonnes of equipment. That requires a suitable truck, a qualified driver, and time for loading and unloading. If the shoot moves between several distant towns, this line item can represent 8 to 12 per cent of the total grip budget.
Productions with several widely separated locations sometimes find it more economical to leave the equipment on-site rather than making daily round trips. That logistical arrangement must be planned in advance, not discovered mid-shoot.
The solution: include transport in the grip estimate from the first budget draft. The key grip supplier can provide a transport estimate as soon as they know the shooting locations and the volume of equipment.
Mistake 8: Contacting the supplier too late
Professional-grade cinema grip equipment is not available on demand. High-end dollies, cranes of eight metres and above, precision remote heads — these items are sought by several productions simultaneously, particularly during the main shooting seasons (spring and autumn in France).
A request submitted three weeks before the first shooting day for a complete kit risks running into unavailability on the desired dates. Substitute equipment does not always carry the same technical specifications.
That short lead time also generates less accurate quotes, produced under time pressure without the necessary preparation. The risk of omissions or approximations is higher.
The solution: contact the key grip supplier as soon as the broad outline of the shoot is known — ideally two to three months before start for a feature film, six to eight weeks for a shorter production. A preliminary hold can be placed on the basis of partial information and adjusted as the shooting schedule takes shape.
The pre-shoot anti-mistakes checklist
This summary can serve as a validation reference during pre-production, at the technical meeting with the key grip.
Before sending the quote request
- Preliminary shooting schedule available, even if not finalised
- Survey photographs for each location (floor, height, access)
- Complex shots identified in the shooting script (travelling, crane, remote head)
- Access constraints noted (stairs, narrow passages, parking)
At the pre-production meeting
- Equipment list validated with the key grip (not compiled unilaterally)
- Accessories checked shot by shot
- Setup times built into the call sheet
- Backup question addressed for critical equipment
During the shoot
- Key grip informed of schedule changes with sufficient advance notice
- Next locations scouted as soon as the information is available
- Open communication about difficulties encountered — better to flag a constraint early than to discover it at the last moment
To discuss your project and address these questions from the pre-production stage, contact Mes 3 Filles Productions via the contact page.
FAQ
How far in advance should cinema grip equipment be booked?
For a feature film or series requiring a full kit (dolly, crane, rails, remote head), two to three months’ lead time is recommended. For a shorter production with a standard setup, six to eight weeks is generally sufficient. During peak periods (April to June and September to November), high-end equipment is often reserved three to four months ahead.
What should you do if a location constraint is discovered on the day of the shoot?
The first step is to inform the key grip and production manager immediately. Some constraints have quick solutions (compensation wedges, changing the rail configuration). Others require abandoning the planned shot and finding a camera alternative with the director of photography. Immediate communication avoids wasting time trying solutions that will not work.
Is it possible to modify a rental order after confirmation?
Yes, in most cases, provided the changes are flagged with sufficient notice. Adding equipment is possible as long as it is available. Reducing an order may incur cancellation fees depending on the contract terms. It is always preferable to discuss modifications directly with the supplier rather than waiting until the last moment.
Can the key grip help build the equipment list if you are unsure what you need?
This is precisely one of the added values of an experienced key grip supplier. From the shooting script, survey photographs, and schedule, they can propose an equipment list matched to the actual shots — neither under-specified (which would block certain shots) nor over-specified (which would inflate the budget unnecessarily). This pre-production consultation is part of the service.
What are the important clauses to check in a grip rental contract?
Points to verify systematically: who is responsible in the event of breakage or deterioration, what are the cancellation conditions, whether transport is included or excluded, and whether prep and wrap days are invoiced at the shooting rate or at a separate rate. A serious rental contract details these points clearly. If in doubt, ask for clarification before signing.