Reece Johnson – Grip

Wolfblood – 30th November – 4th December 2015

What role did you aspire to at the beginning of your placement?

I aspired to be a cinematographer. I thought that working within the grip department would be a good way to get involved with the camera crew.

Do you aspire to a different role now?

After my first day on the set of Wolfblood being a grip trainee, I loved every minute of it. By the end of the week I decided that I wanted to change my career path and pursue a career being a Grip.

Can you give a brief description of work carried out as a grip trainee, including any examples.

As a grip trainee I would help out with the grips as much as I could, such as helping with the mag liner and making sure all the equipment that we were using was ready and close by to the set. As well as this I would make sure that the grips in charge and who I was responsible to were looked after. I would make tea and coffees, bring water and the occasional bit of food when it was brought on set.

What have you learned, what has been most valuable?

I have learnt how important grips are to a production, and what the role entails. I really didn’t know a lot about this position until I started out as a grip trainee. I was extremely eager to learn as much as I could during this placement, the team I was working with were patient, helpful and happy to take time out to explain the job and answer any questions I had.

What areas do you need to focus on next, or improve further through your training in order to become employment ready?

I feel that I need to make sure I am observing as much as possible and constantly asking questions when I’m unsure on things. As well as this I would like to learn more about the equipment as I felt my week placement on Wolfblood was over too quick and I was just starting to get know and understand the equipment.

Supervisor comments

I would recommend Reece in the future.He has a good demeanour and was very helpful. He kept going despite the elements.

I would also recommend he gets some work experience/part time work in a rental house, e.g. Arri or Panavision before taking his career any further. This is will give him a better overall knowledge of the kit we use and will prepare him for the role of a grip
Ian Ogden/ Grip – Wolfblood 2015

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