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Lighting and Grip · Stage 1

Lighting and Grip Trainee

Power, lamps and everything the camera sits on: how the sparks and the grips work, and how you get your first day with either.

Electricians power and shape the light; grips build whatever the camera moves on. Both crews are short of people in the UK. The departments from gaffer and key grip to trainee, a day from the truck to the de-rig, the safety that is not optional, where first days come from, a Stage 1 CV and a plan.

2 hours · 6 modules · 18 lessons

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What you’ll learn

  • Be able to name every role in the UK lighting and grip crews, say who answers to whom, explain plainly why a British grip is not an American grip, and describe a trainee's day from the truck to the de-rig.
  • Know the lamps, stands, flags, cable, distro and grip kit by their real names, the language of the floor, and the safety rules on power, weight and height that a gaffer or key grip expects you to arrive with.
  • Have found three real routes to a first day this month, know the electrical and grip qualification routes, and know the rules on pay, unpaid work, hours and safety before you say yes to anything.
  • Have a one-page Stage 1 CV outline titled Lighting Trainee or Grip Trainee, a four-paragraph approach email, and a saved plan with a review date.

Where this leads

By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.

Finish the course and you can build your personal plan: MFJF's three-stage planner for this role, ticked from Your Profile and your CV, with dated next steps and the CV line each one becomes.

Module 1

The two crews beside the camera

20 min

What lighting and grip each do, who is in them, the difference between a British grip and an American one, and what you actually do all day at the bottom of either.

  1. readLighting and grip: what they do and who is in them8 min
  2. readA trainee's day: the truck, the floor, the de-rig8 min
  3. checkCheck: the two crews and the day4 min
Module 2

Before day one: kit, language and safety

20 min

The lamps, stands, cable and grip kit by their real names, the phrases of the floor, the safety rules you arrive with, and an honest self-audit with a score.

  1. readThe kit: lamps, power, control and grip7 min
  2. readThe language of the floor and the safety you arrive with6 min
  3. taskTask: your skills self-audit7 min
Module 3

Getting experience at Stage 1

20 min

Where lighting and grip experience really comes from, the qualification routes that matter, the rules on pay, unpaid work, hours and safety, and three routes you find and start this month.

  1. readWhere experience really comes from7 min
  2. readThe rules: pay, unpaid work, hours and safety6 min
  3. taskTask: find three routes this month7 min
Module 4

Your CV, cover letter and first approaches

20 min

The title that keeps the CV out of the bin, what a best boy or key grip reads first, the email that goes with it, and how to approach people without annoying them.

  1. readThe Stage 1 lighting or grip CV, the email and the approach8 min
  2. taskTask: draft your CV outline7 min
  3. checkCheck: the CV and the approach5 min
Module 5

The industry around the role

20 min

The map: rental houses, manufacturers, the studios, the neighbouring departments, the branches and bodies, the qualification ladder, where the two careers lead, and what the people on the site did.

  1. readThe map: companies, bodies, the path and where it leads8 min
  2. resourcesThe lighting and grip trainee's library7 min
  3. checkCheck: the map and the path5 min
Module 6

Your plan: Stage 1 to Stage 2

20 min

The plan you take away, the five statements that tell you when you are ready for Stage 2, and what to do next on MFJF.

  1. plannerYour Stage 1 plan10 min
  2. readHow you know you are ready for Stage 26 min
  3. checkCheck: ready for Stage 24 min

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Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Lighting and Grip. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to.

  1. Find your role on the career mapEvery entry-level job by department, and where each one leads.
  2. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  3. Speak to an MFJF mentorAsk someone who does the job what they wish they had known.
  4. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.
  5. Industry ResourcesCareer guides, CV advice and example CVs for every department.
  6. See what entry-level jobs ask forThe job board, updated daily: read the ads before you apply.

Matching Lighting and Grip right now

Live from the job board, the Academy, the mentor programme, the film-course directory and the reading list.

MFJF Academy workshops

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MFJF mentors

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Film courses

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Reading and links

All Industry Essentials →