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Am I Going To Kill Someone?


Max Field

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Threw this overhead lighting rig together with some C-Stands, please view the image and read the statistics and tell me if I'm pushing a major risk of this collapsing.

 

dSTWWZa.jpg

 

The numbers are as follows:

2 standard Matthews C-Stands

2 5.5' x 3/4" electrical pipes coupled together in the middle

2 mafer or cardellini clamps at the most placed exactly where I have 2 clamps in the picture

Extended about 7.5' in the air.

The heaviest I could hang is a MR 1K but more than likely only hanging Arri 300s or 650s

 

The play in the middle has me concerned.

 

Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

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Judging by where your clamps are, you could probably get away with just hanging the lights from the end of the c stand arms themselves and double or triple bag the stands. If you need those extra inches, put one of those mafer at the end, or double arm it. Would make for quicker adjustments too.

 

Your weak point is that emt joiner in the middle. I doubt it will shear or anything but they dont clamp very hard and if you move the apparatus it could come loose.

 

Tristan

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With one of these, it's by far my biggest concern with this entire mess

http://halexco.com/products.cfm?siteSection=consumer&productID=214&product_group=EMT

That coupling is not up to the job. All it would take is the pipe to flex by an inch or so, and the joint will separate. If you have to use electrical conduit, use a single piece. I believe Home Depot sells 3/4" conduit in 10ft lengths for about $3.00. If you have to have shorter lengths, then use a grip head to join them, and make sure there is plenty of overlap on the join.

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The grip head on the c stand is still the wrong way around. The knuckle should be facing the wall, so that it is on the right hand side of the load. It doesn't look there is any overlap in the two lengths in the middle. You should put one length through the circular part of the head, and the other length through the 5/8" socket that would usually sit on a stand, making sure that there is a least a few inches overlap, so that if the pipe sags it won't slip out of the head.

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C-stand knuckle on left should have the T-Grip on camera side

 

 

C-stand knuckle on right should have T-grip on wall side

 

 

When you look at the Knuckle, the load should always be on the right side as the weight of the load will work in your favor to tighten the knuckle. (Righty tighty)

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The fact that you have that gut feeling of the rig being wrong, says it all. (Why would you have psted the question?)
Learn to listen to your intuition. Make it rock steady even if that means you need to buy or rent pieces.

Even if it won't crash, you'll be a lot calmer while shooting.
There's no need to put anybody at risk. Remember, it's only a movie.

Good luck, too!

Edited by Phil Soheili
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I personally like to use heavy walled aluminium pipe (48-50mm outer diameter) for that long overhead rigging... maybe if the light is very very lightweight like under 1 pound or so, then you might get away with the thin alu pipes but that thing seems already falling apart so could not stand any weight at all I think :blink:

 

one thing we did in cheap ass school productions was to use a c-stand or other heavier stand mounted on grip heads and telescoped to the suitable lenght.

that should hold small lights in place as long as you are careful with it and don't over extend it. but like others suggested, when not sure just back it off so that the light does not fall on actors if the system breaks :ph34r:

 

remember to always use safety wires btw when overhead rigging

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Update:

 

Ended up using the overhead rig for only one Arri 300 fresnel (because of time and the grip head I over-tightened in the middle stripped the screw). There were many other safety hazards on the shoot in addition to that.

Had an old 70's tube camera which had a base I couldn't properly mount to my tripod so I used a 36 inch bungee cord to hold it down.

Then there was a scene where a zany talkshow host was cooking crack in a metal spoon on a kitchen stove set to high. The "cocaine" (crushed aspirin) was supposed to melt but ignited in 30 seconds and pretty much ended the day.

 

Overall, day one complete. Looking forward to two!

Edited by Macks Fiiod
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