Why zoom when you can dolly? And why tilt when you can shoot from a jib? One portable solution to this is our inexpensive
Seven Jib by Media Logic. Weighing in at only 45 pounds, this jib has a six and a half foot arm, with a four and a half foot reach. Compact enough to fit in any standard size car, this easy-to-use jib also includes counterweights, and a mitchell tie down bolt; so it may be secured to any larger tripod with a mitchell plate. Other video camera support items that pair well with the Seven Jib include our
Ti Stix Titanium Heavy Duty Tripod with Mitchell top and spreader, as well as the O'connor 1030 Fluid Head with 100mm Bowl base (35 lb Capacity). Want to dolly with the jib? How about pairing with a Matthews Doorway Dolly…or don't have the budget for a dolly grip? Then you should check out our newly fabricated, self-operated Platform Dolly w/skatewheels (Outfitted for tripods).
Your favorite (if we're not, we should be) Indiana Lighting and Grip Rental facility has been hard at work cross training. No, we aren't triatheletes. No, we haven't made any shoe commercials lately. We're teaching each other. Alyssa Davis, our Office Manager, got to go on a shoot last week as part of our cross-training program. She's trying to make your lighting and grip rental experience a good one by learning more each day about the gear that we use. As many of you know, you can look at grip trucks every day and see grip equipment and lights hanging around the shop but until you see them in use you can't fully grasp their application. Seeing a camera dolly set up in some of the funkiest configurations helps tie together those seemingly odd requests from Key Grips. Seeing a studio full of lights helps define their application. So, we take Alyssa along. She gets a break from the offfice. Someone else learns to do her job (so they can fill in if she misses a day and so that they better understand the challenges that she faces), and she gets to see what we face in the field every day. Hopefully the next time you call to talk to Alyssa you'll get a taste of what we're doing here in the Midwest, that we're trying to be knowledgable about each others' work, and that we have the capacity to handle your every question with talent and speed.
"We're in the communications business right?" Words often heard when communications break down on set and it's somewhat true. "Well, for a bunch of people in the communcations business....", yet another phrase we often hear.
Over the last few weeks, Alyssa Davis, our office manager, and I, have been examining the way we communicate with our customers here at Hammer Lighting & Grip. In respect to economic conditions of the recent past we've been hobbling along on a 20 year old phone system that was in the building when I bought it. We've all recognized its limitations and have been frustrated by them. We both feel like we'd like for you, our lighting and grip customers, to be able to reach us faster and easier. So, now, 2 1/2 years later we're embarking on the journey to replace our whole phone system. We have partnered with Cincinnati Bell to set up a cutting-edge commucations platform that will help get you to a real person faster when you call for your next lighting rental need. In the coming weeks we'll be making dramatic changes. When you call us for your next generator rental, grip truck, or for one of our camera dollies you'll first hear an auto-attendant. That auto-attendant will allow you to select which of us you'd like to talk to. Your call will be routed to that person's desk and company mobile phone simutaneously making (317)547-4747 the only number you'll ever need to call. Forget everyone's mobile numbers, forget having to call back, this will be the easiest and fastest way for us to serve you! I'll be further updating here soon as we bring this exciting new system online!
Recently at
Hammer Lighting and Grip we have had a great opportunity to rent our Grip Trucks, Camera Dollies, Lights and our Generators to a few Independent Films. Last year we got to work on the movie
www.mynameisjerry.com . It was all filmed in Muncie, In.
This year we are doing two, yes I said two
Independent Films at once!!! That means the month of April will be busy. We have BOTH our
3 Ton Truck and our
4Ton Truck out for a full month. We're supplying them with camera dollies and generators too. Now, this doesn't mean we are out of trucks, dollies, lights and generators. We have plenty of options to get you the truck package you will need. We don't want to you to forget about our
1 Ton and our
5 Ton Grip Trucks that are sitting waiting to be loaded up with lots of gear!!
One of the most asked about items from our lighting and grip rental inventory is the camera dolly.
We have a total of 5 riding camera dollies but 1 of them has been left in the dark! The most forgotten about dolly is the Matthews Western. It has a HUGE platform with a 1200 lb capacity. Its wide tires make it perfect for transporting equipment across rough, sandy, or super soft terrain (like astro turf fields)! If you're worried about losing the capabilities of the Fisher dolly, just throw one of our J.L. Fisher 10 or 11's on top of the Western and go! It also makes a great platform for a jib arm. So, next time you call us to order a dolly, don't forget about the Western! Yeehaw!
Well, It was a long cold winter here at Hammer Lighting & Grip! I'm staring out my office window at green grass, new leaves, and trash! It's time for some spring cleaning. That reminded me of something you might not have known about us. It's a small thing but I think it says big things about how we roll. I looked around a film or video set that we were lighting one day at all of the trash and it disgusted me. For some reason the lift gate on the grip truck collects all sorts of empty water bottles, gel scraps, tape, you name it! So, we found these handy little collabsible 20 gallon trash cans that neatly store on every truck. Viola! Clean. No more empty water bottles on the camera dollies! I always want us to be known as the "clean" lighitng rental house. I said it was a small thing. But I think it says big things about our phiosophy.
This week the Groundhog has decided that we will get 6 more weeks of winter!!! Who really listens to the Groundhog anyway?
Not us at Hammer Lighting and Grip we have already been working hard on revamping our Lighting & Grip trucks and doing some spring cleaning. So come rent our Lighting Trucks, HMI, Dollies what ever you might need for that next commerical or Video shoot.
Wanna come check out our gear first? Call me in the office and I will set up an appointment we would love to show you around or 10,000 square foot warehouse.
This Package is perfect for your next commercial or photo shoot...... Its our
1 ton Grip Package Truck. It may be small in size but, it is packed with all kinds of goodies!
This little guy comes with so many options. Its great for Lighting jobs that just need a few tungsten lights and grip gear. Its big enough to stand inside, it has LED lights for you to be able see the all the gear you may have rented for you next shoot. The lift gate is easy to use especially when you want to roll out the c-stand and flag cart. You may also rent a few HMI's and can even put one of our Camera Dollies on the grip truck.
All of our hard work has finally paid off! The new 5 Ton grip truck is done! ...and it is the BOMB!! It is wider, taller, and longer than the last one and it has the largest lift gate I have ever seen! You could drive a Smart car right up on it. Even better, it can hold the weight of 2 Smart cars!
It has more jockey box space than I could ever have imagined. I was able to pull grip equipment down out of the hard to reach places in old truck and put it in the extra jockey boxes of this truck. Plus, since this truck is longer than the last one, all of the carts that come standard on the truck now fit snug up against the walls. This, and the fact that it was built wider, gives us a very spacious isle to work with! You could fit 2 camera dollies side by side all the way down the truck!
My favorite thing about this new truck is the lighting! It has a white, fiberglass roof that lets an abundance of natural light in. Plus, the ceiling has been lined with LED lights running straight down the middle of the truck! There will be no more whipping out flash lights or dragging crates out to the gate to find what your looking for.
The list goes on and on... there are so many great features on our new 5 Ton! My words do not do it justice so you'll just have to stop by or rent it to see for yourself!
So, we're wrapping up the grip truck build on our newest, latest and greatest truck! Hammer Lighting and Grip now has the nicest grip truck that Indianapolis film and video lighting has ever known! Midwest lighting and grip equipment rental will never be the same! This thing is 221 square feet of lighting and grip fun. It's an amazing 1878 cubic feet of 33,000 pound cargo carrying enormity! It's box is 2 feet longer, 6 inches wider and a foot taller than our old 5 ton. Then you say, yes but how well will this fit at my next location? Well, because International used modern technology when designing it, this truck is only 4 inches taller than the old 5 ton grip truck. The box is 2 feet longer but the overall length increased by only a foot and the old truck was a cabover versus the new, more comfortable traditional cab with air-rde. it has a shorter turning radius and is now equipped with a trailer hitch to tow your next generator rental! Tow a trailer behind such a big truck you say? Yes, thanks to the color, widscreen backup camera! It's loaded with every piece of grip equipment you could imagine (our most complete package for only $100 per day more) This is the truck I'd rent if I were a producer. All of the extra interior room leaves more space for add-ons, a camera dolly, or camera dollies, if you'd like (did I mention that there's a lot of room?). I saved the best feature for last too. This truck is lighter to start with than the one that it replaced AND we bumped up the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating to 33,000# from 30,000# for a total gain of over 4,000# of massive grip and electric rental hauling capabilty! This is no wimpy truck! Stay tuned for more details!
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