Studio, Stage, and Grip

If you're lucky, you've got a fully equipped compound the size of a zeppelin hangar for a studio space. If you're unlucky, your workplace is a discarded cardboard box on an anthill in Death Valley, with a single grapefruit as a source of electricity. If you're like most of us, you're working in some place between those extremes. Whether it's a corner of your bedroom or in a dedicated outbuilding, it's your studio.

You need to put your puppets and set onto something something you can photograph. That's your stage.

You need something to hold your camera up. You need something else to hold your lights so they don't burn your cardboard box to the ground. All the stuff that is used as support apparatus for on-set motion picture production falls under the category of "grip."

A Quick Guide for Beginners: Studio, Stage, and Grip

Workspaces

Electricity

Camera Supports

Panning, Tilting, and Dollying

Motion Control

Surfaces for Sets

Support for Lights

Flying Rigs

Tools and Supplies