Dolly Grip Job Description

This post is a case of catering to my search engine hits. I get a lot of hits from Google with the search title dolly grip job description. This inevitably leads them to my post Dolly Grips and the Camera Department. That post really doesn't actually describe the job, so I'm going to post this to lead prospective searchers here instead. Those of you who are regular readers may add to it in the comments or skip this post altogether. It ain't nothing you ain't seen before.
 The Dolly Grip is responsible for camera movement in the film world. We operate all moving camera platforms (except Steadicam) and are responsible for their maintenance and setup. We also work in conjunction with the camera operator to come up with the best way to do a particular shot, as well as what piece of equipment will work best. Dolly Grips are considered to be kind of a rough camera operator, in that it is our responsibility to have the camera in a particular place at a particular time during a shot in order that the camera operator can refine it and make it work. We do the broad strokes so the guy looking through the eyepiece can do the detailed work of composing the frame. To do this job properly you must have an innate sense of how shots are staged and know where the camera needs to be to make it work. You must develop a sense of split second timing and be able to repeat a shot from take to take as exactly as possible. You must also have a knowledge of many different camera platforms from various dollies to various types of camera cranes and be knowledgeable in their safe operation, keeping in mind that your primary responsibility is safety. As technology changes, so does the role of the Dolly Grip, and our skills are relied upon more than at any other time in the history of filmaking.
Aside from the technical demands,the Dolly Grip also adds emotion to a scene through camera movement. The "slow creep," the dramatic boom up, the quick push -in, have been used for decades to move the viewer and help tell the story. The Dolly Grip achieves this through absolute control of his machine, timing, and an understanding of the emotion the director is trying to convey. We've helped create some of the most memorable images in movie history through movement: The soaring crane shot in Gone With the Wind, the dramatic push-in on Brody in Jaws. These are just a couple of shots immortalized by the Dolly Grip.
The best Dolly Grips work as a team with their Camera Operators and make it their responsibility to assist them in any way they can to get the shot safely and smoothly.
There. I hope this helps those of you who have found this site through Google. Welcome to our little corner of the interweb. Comments are welcome.

How to Deal With Your Dolly Grip

Regular reader DP Ed Moore, from the UK, sent in an idea for a post for operators concerning how they can make our jobs easier. I thought this was a great idea, especially since I spend my day trying to make their jobs easier. Here are a few tips.

The following are given with great affection for my Operator friends. No offense is meant. I hope you get a laugh out of them:

Don't wait until we're rolling camera to tell me that you see a bump. We've done three rehearsals. Wake up.

Don't leave your coffee cups, half eaten sandwiches, candy wrappers etc on the dolly for the rest of the day. I understand you can't always leave to throw it away, but if it's been on there since breakfast and we're on the third shot, it's time to pull the trigger. I'll just put it on the camera cart and then blame it on you.

Don't leap off the dolly. You're not dismounting a horse and if the brakes aren't on you can make something really bad happen.

Don't tell me every move to make if I've proven to you that I know what I'm doing. I generally know which way to orient the dolly, how much floor I need, how high low-mode is, and whether or not I need a riser. Believe me, if I need help I'll ask. I need your input, but some things are pretty self -evident.

Don't get accessory happy. I can almost always set up the dolly correctly so that you don't need a seat offset. I've managed to make it ten years without using one (that's the last time I remember using one. It flipped and dumped the DP on his ass. Sorry, Frank). Give me a chance to set up the dolly in the right way for the shot before you start yelling for stuff. If you're still not happy, I'll get you what you need.

Do include me in conversations about the shot. I need all the info I can get and my contribution may make your job easier.

If I blow a take or a rehearsal, turning around and yelling won't help. I know I screwed up. I'm very sorry. I'm your friend. And I'll start changing your gear settings when you're not looking.

I have to see it at least once. Don't expect the first run through with actors to be perfect especially if the stand-ins did it differently (and they usually do). I know I have to match movements, hold eyelines etc.

Communicate with me. Tell me how I can do it better, or conversely, how I screwed it up if you can see that I don't get it.

Use a finder. I don't want to lay it twice.

Yes, I can do a boom and a move at the same time. I actually do this for a living. If I can't, you've got the wrong guy and it'll be pretty evident very soon anyway. I'm just as good at my job as you are at yours. Can you pan and tilt at the same time?

When I'm at work, I'll give you 110%. It's my job to make sure you can do the shot safely and as comfortably as possible. I drink Budweiser.

Watch my back. If you see me forgetting something, not doing something right, are uncomfortable with a shot set up, tell me. Don't watch me lay the track in the wrong spot and wait until I'm done before you mention it. We're a team. Watch out for me and I'll watch out for you.

I have a name. Learn it. Use it. I know you're big time DP and all but I'm a big time Dolly Grip and the whole motioning up and down thing with your thumb without saying anything is just insulting. This is a phenomenon mainly associated with commercial and television DPs. For some reason, some cameramen think it's cool to never address the Dolly Grip personally but to communicate through a series of cryptic finger displays. I know some do this from time to time if the set's loud or they're trying to be quiet. I don't mean you. A certain few do it very dismissively all the time. Believe me, I've worked with the best, they don't do this. This doesn't make you cool, it only makes you a jackass.

Don't tell me what kind of dolly to use. I don't tell you which head to use. I've been doing this a long time and I know the right tool for the job and which machine I'm most comfortable with. Every dolly is different and some Dolly Grips can make a Fisher Ten sing while others are more comfortable with a Chapman Hustler. It's my job to make sure you don't notice which brand of dolly you're on and if I do it well, you won't. I'm the one who has to make it work. Let me do my job. Help me, help you.

Operators- send in your own tips, pet peeves, etc. I'll put them in a post. I need all the help I can get.

These tips all pre-suppose that the Dolly Grip is experienced and is engaged in what's going on. Otherwise, I probably deserve whatever I get. I count Camera Operators among my best friends and what you do is truly a joy to watch. These are just some helpful suggestions to help us work better as a team. You know who you are.

When You Are Operator's Choice

For the most part, most of us are hired by the Key Grip. Usually someone we've been with a while. This keeps things easy. We're with a crew we know well and are friends with. I've been with my regular Key for about 15 years, 10 of that as his dolly grip. Some of us, however are brought onto a job every now and then by camera operator who likes us. This can get a little hairy when coming onto a grip crew as an operator request. You're basically putting the dolly grip they all know out of work. It can get a little awkward. My B camera dolly, who just left a few weeks ago to do "A" on a show, was a particular Director's request for years. A very well known director who pretty much gets his way. He told stories about the last show he was brought into and the stone wall of alienation the grip crew, mostly the Key and Best Boy, put up against him. It ain't fun. I've been on the other end of this as well. Your Key calls and says he has a show, 12 weeks in (insert exotic location here) and he'll call back with details. A week goes by and then he calls and says the operator has his own guy and it's kind of out of his hands, but you can do "B" if you like. No thanks. It ain't easy being on that end of it either. I bring this up because an operator friend of mine recently requested me for a show in (insert exotic location here). It got me thinking and sounded like a good post. We all hope our Key will stick his neck out and say, "I want my guy and that's it." And mine has done that, which led to 12 of the most hellish weeks in my career at the hands of a DP who found new and petty ways to make my life hard every day. No thanks. So it could go either way. For you grip crews out there, just realize that the guy the operator is bringing in is just a guy who got offered a job, and he took it. Just like you did. You don't have to be his best friend, but just treat him with a little decency and respect. For the operators who had to use the Key's regular guy...ditto. Give him a shot. He may be better than what you're used to. There's no reason to be a jackass to someone just because it's not who you wanted. Either way, it's just a few weeks. If whoever it is is honestly not getting the job done, then replace him, but don't be petty. There's enough of that in this business.