To make a movie, film production lighting and grip equipment basics must be understood. No matter how short or long a film is, what size the cast and crew is or the size of the budget, professional lighting equipment is still needed in some capacity.

Once a script is read through multiple times, many production meetings will be held with the director to decide on an overall look and feeling for a film. After setting a lighting budget, it is time to obtain the necessary lighting and grip equipment to achieve the desired look. Before choosing film lighting equipment, a lighting designer must consider the following:

1. Know what kind of cameras are being used. New cameras require less video lighting equipment than older models.

2. Consider the filming locations, including the size of the spaces, before analyzing what lighting grip equipment is needed.

3. Understand the difference between lighting scenes for a film and commercials and for photography. Find the right lightweight and highly mobile lights for film production.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get the most essential movie lighting equipment

The most basic equipment needed for lighting a film are the lights themselves. A good starting point for a low-budget film with basic lighting is between 8,000 and 10,000 watts of tungsten lights.

I recommend: Find a wide variety of tungsten-halogen lights in singles or in lighting kits, as well as florescent lights at Lowel Light. Find new and innovative lighting fixtures, as well as cameras with built-in lighting perfect for low-budget films and documentaries, at ARRI Group.

Find accessories for movie production lighting

Accessories for lighting are special instruments that attach to the lighting fixtures to manipulate the shape of the light, the edge of the beam, the quality and texture of the light and the color of the light. Accessories include things like top hats, shutters and gobos.

I recommend: Find a variety of lighting accessories at a discounted rate at Pro Sound and Stage Lighting. StageProductionStore.com has everything from top hats and barndoors to clamps and beam benders.

Search for film grip equipment

Grip equipment is every piece of equipment required to facilitate the lighting, such as holding the lights at certain heights or angles, clamping chords or any other tools. Grip equipment includes carts, arms, sandbags and grip trucks to make lighting equipment mobile.

I recommend: Find everything needed for lighting grip at Filmtools, from carts and pulleys to ropes and chains. Get more unique, innovative and hard-to-find equipment from Techno Films.

Find power sources for film lighting equipment

Plenty of powers sources are needed, and they need to be evenly distributed to avoid blowing a fuse and halting production. Be sure that there are more than enough power sources for each lighting location in advance of production. A good rule of thumb is that each 8,000 watts require four 20-amp circuits.

I recommend: Get multi-channel power supplies for lighting and camera equipment from B & H Foto & Electronics. Find transformers with dual input and output from GAM Products.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Try local film and theatre associations, some might be willing to lend out professional lighting equipment for free or next to nothing.
• •  Label all lighting and grip equipment with brightly-colored gaffer tape to keep things straight between crew members.

It is now time to turn your months of planning, budgeting and selling your ideas into a film. The next step is production of the film, and finding the right film lighting equipment and grip equipment is important.

Some basic equipment is essential, while other equipment that people might try to talk you into, is not. Choose the grip equipment that can create your film with the right look, sound and mood.

Before shopping for equipment, you need to:

1. Evaluate your specific film lighting equipment needs for the entire film.
2. Set a budget, and try very hard to stay within it.
3. Hit up local film associations, which may be willing to let you use some equipment for free for the sake of art.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Choose the lighting and grip equipment needed

The correct lighting is essential to the success of shooting a scene. Figure out which level of light works best with the cameras you use. Get only the very basic big light and reflectors to begin.

I recommend: Find entire lighting kits that are affordable at Pacific Coast Lighting Systems. Find a huge variety of grip equipment at Techno Films as well.

Look for used grip equipment and film lighting equipment

There are many places to look for used film lighting equipment. Many filmmakers sell perfectly good equipment when they move on to bigger projects. Make sure you can spot good quality when looking at used grip equipment.

I recommend: Search Filmmaking.net for listings of used film lighting equipment. Also look at KitMondo.

Consider renting lighting and grip equipment

There are companies out there that rent the equipment for filmmaking. Only rent if you don't have another option. If shooting lasts for several weeks or longer, renting can quickly become more expensive than buying, and then you can be rushed to shoot fast.

I recommend: Get a quick quote online for lighting a grip equipment from CinEquipt.com. Look at Limelight Productions too.

Purchase the perfect cameras for your needs

The cameras that you choose will depend greatly on your budget. They also depend on which format you are shooting. The basics that you must have for shooting include a basic camera, lenses, a zoom, a head, a tripod and a video assist.

I recommend: Look at Wolf Camera, Inc. for purchasing new cameras and ARRI for rentals.

Figure out transportation.

You need a van or at least a very large car to move all of your equipment around for location shooting. Consider renting one from a local car rental company. Lock it up to keep the equipment safe, and make sure the vehicle and driver are both insured.

I recommend: Look for cargo van rental deals at Enterprise or Avis.

Hire a lighting and grip crew.

Hiring a good crew may be the most important part. They do much of the grunt work. It is easy to find experienced lighting and grip crews, and many will work for low wages if they are freshly out of college or in college.

I recommend: Look for professionals at the Motion Picture and Television Directory, CrewNet.com, or FilmStaff.com.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Keep the lighting simple. Just make sure the actors are visible.
• •  Remember to insure everything when filmmaking.
• •  Try to recruit volunteers to help, from friends and family members, to those just looking for experience.

Learning the correct film production lighting and grip equipment key terms will ensure that you get what you need to realize your vision of a production. Before knowing exactly what to call film grip equipment, you must have concrete visual ideas so you know what to ask for.

Knowing the key terms will help you get the film lighting equipment you want faster and more efficiently, but using the terms incorrectly will break up the lines of communication and can end in disaster. When using key professional lighting equipment terms, you should:

1. Have visual representations like a full color photo or a quick sketch of what exact lighting looks you want to achieve, so everyone involved understands what you expect of the video lighting equipment.

2. Include descriptions of what film lighting equipment you're talking about to avoid any misunderstanding between key players.

3. Understand that a lot of film production lighting equipment has several terms to describe it, and the terms used will vary among professionals.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get the most essential lighting grip equipment

Lamps are the most important lighting equipment since they create the light. Lamps are what is commonly known as light bulbs consisting of a wire filament, a glass bulb and a metal base. They come in many different shapes, sizes and level of brightness. The most commonly used lamps in production lighting are incandescent which include A-bulbs that are common yellow-tinted lights found in most homes, halogen lamps, which provide a bright white light and reflectors (spotlights), which provide great directional light.

I recommend: Look through the glossary with pictures of different lamps provided by Brand Lighting. Lowel Light provides a huge selection of lamps for film lighting, including Fresnels and floodlights.

Choose the right movie lighting equipment fixtures

Movie lighting equipment fixtures are what lamps screw into and give them power to create light. The right fixtures are needed to create the overall lighting style desired for the film and to light the actors such as spotlights, which provide a moving pool of light, cycloramas, large curved lights that provide wide floods of light, Fresnels which give the production crew the ability to change beam size.

I recommend: Look at a comprehensive list of different lighting fixtures and sizes with clear pictures at Dr. Bob's Theatricity. Stage Spot offers a variety of lighting fixtures with detailed explanations including Ellipsoidal, Fresnel, Cyclorama and more.

Add special effects to movie production lighting

Gels and gobos are both placed into the lamp fixtures to create special effects with the light. Gels, also known as color gels or color filters are thin strips of plastic that color light to create mood and set scenes like using dark blues for nighttime scenes. Gobos are stencils or templates made from metal or glass that create patterns or textures like creating a leaf pattern on a sidewalk to resemble sun shining through a tree.

I recommend: Rosco’s E-Colour System of gel color filters includes a variety of filters and materials to correct color, create color effects, diffuse and reflect light. Find gels made by the leading manufacturers, like Lee and Apollo for sale by the sheet at discount prices from Stage Technology. Review multi-color, single-color and custom made gobo patterns made by Apollo.

Find the necessary film lighting supply for rigging

Rigging equipment is used by grips for film lighting. Grips are lighting technicians that facilitate the physical hanging and moving of the lighting fixtures using equipment like lamps for holding fixtures in place, trusses to hang overhead lights from, motors and grip equipment for mobile lights--all common fixtures used in film lighting. Some common equipment used by grips includes clamps to secure fixtures to pipes and poles, vice grips to secure fixtures to small pipes, and arms to extend lights from pipes at a distance.

I recommend: Peruse Olden Lighting’s glossary of common rigging terms used by grips. Find all the light rigging and grip equipment needed at American Grip.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When using film production lighting and grip equipment terms, remember that it's much more important to know what you want the lights to accomplish than technical terms.

Have you ever thought about a job working with film lighting and grip equipment? Film production lighting and grip equipment education and training is the best way to start working your way toward the lighting and grip jobs you want. Every movie and TV show requires at least one lighting professional and at least one grip. Finding a training program that works for you may seem impossible. However, there are a few different ways that you can receive the training you want.

Film production lighting and grip equipment education and training is available in three different forms. Film schools are available for students who want to devote one or more years to their education. Workshops are also available for those who can’t devote as much time for training. On-the-job apprenticeships are also available for people who want to get a jumpstart on their career by working in the industry.

1. Locate film production lighting and grip schools near you.

2. Sign up for workshops for film production lighting and grip training.

3. Find movie production lighting apprenticeships.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Enroll in film production lighting and grip schools

There are many schools that provide courses for aspiring movie lighting equipment operators and grips. These schools offer classroom training and a diploma or degree at the end of the courses. These courses are designed to span one or more years. A few schools offer industry contacts at the end of training.

I recommend: The CollegeBound Network has lists of lighting grip equipment training schools all over America. Visit The Art Institutes International to find professional lighting equipment training. Find film grip equipment schools near you at Entertainment Career Connection.

Locate workshops for film production lighting and grip training

Workshops vary in length from one and two days to 14-day workshops. These courses are a combination of classroom and hands-on training. Though some workshops offer a course completion diploma, not all workshops do.

I recommend: Find workshops for video lighting equipment at the New York Film Academy. Kane Productions also has film lighting equipment workshops in various cities across the country. Visit Meetup for more information about film production workshops.

Be a movie production lighting apprentice

Apprentices receive training from qualified members of film production crews. A film production lighting equipment apprentice works side-by-side with the lighting gaffers and grips to receive on-the-job training. Be prepared to work hard and get your hands dirty. Grips and gaffers have important, but labor-intensive jobs on set.

I recommend: Locate apprenticeship opportunities at Taylor Studios. Learn more about lights for film production apprenticeships at StartinTV.com. The Industry Training Authority has information about available apprenticeships.