Gobo Head on Regular Stand?

iamlance

iamlance

Well-known member
I've been looking around a bit, but can't find an affirmative or otherwise for my question. Can you use a grip/gobo head and arm on a regular light stand (something basic, like the matthews maxi kit steel stand), or is it just made to work properly with a c-stand? I know it will fit on the baby stud, but will it balance properly? Also, what is the best way to get something similar to a gobo head attached (or whatever will get the job done) onto a light stand pole? I want to use the light stud to hold a light, but also have some connector (cardellini?) to hold a flag in front of the light on the same stand.
 
iamlance said:
I know it will fit on the baby stud
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That's all that matters. In practice, they're hardly ever used on anything other than a C stand, but they can be used on anything sturdy enough really.
iamlance said:
Also, what is the best way to get something similar to a gobo head attached (or whatever will get the job done) onto a light stand pole? I want to use the light stud to hold a light, but also have some connector (cardellini?) to hold a flag in front of the light on the same stand.
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The best way is probably to not do this at all. With the flag rigged to the light stand, you won't be able to easily move it about to change how it's cutting your light. I know your thinking, probably along the lines of "I don't have quite enough stands so how can I pull this off with less gear?", but it's just not something you ever see on anything smaller than a 5k. For bigger lights being rigged on lifts or scaffolding, grips will attach 4x frames directly to the light with extension ears that clip right to the accessory ears on the light. But you still never see anything like that with flags since they're inevitably going to need adjustment, which is expected to happen more quickly than it would be possible if something like you described were done.

As a side note, I see you've made a few topics now about gear that you're looking to acquire. I know there was a time not too long ago when I was in the same boat. Trust me, it's not necessarily gonna pay off. Producers have been getting really stingy about paying for kit rentals when it comes to smaller odds and ends in the lighting department. On smaller jobs they can quite often get just as good of a deal as you'd be willing to give them from the same rental house that everything else is coming from, on the bigger jobs it's just not gonna happen period since it's seen as a conflict of interest, except for specialty units like celebs, dedos, litepad kits, or anything that's fragile and is understood to probably be in better working order if it's personally owned. If you have a whole truck full of lights it will probably work out, but this is a huge investment.
 
Thanks for the information! I also just found this post: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...Westcott-Flags&highlight=gobo+ead+light+stand , which highlights some of your points. The lack of stands is my exact reasoning, so you were spot on. I'll definitely pick up a grip head to use whenever I have a spare stand lying around.

The stuff I'm acquiring is for use on my personal short films. I still have another year in college left, and help work on (or loan my equipment out to) around 10 basic short films each year. I haven't invested too heavily in lighting, with only around $600 so far. I don't feel like spending a couple hundred more will hurt me financially, especially since I search long and hard for good deals. Were I in a professional position with paying clients, I would of course rent equipment out. It doesn't hurt in my situation though to have some money invested to gain the experience needed for later on. I appreciate your advice!
 
I use grip heads on other types of stands all the time.

As part of only a 2-person (usually) production team, we need to carry A LOT of rigging ourselves. So we have about 10 of those light weight 10-foot aluminum light stands in our truck to keep things as light as possible. ($70 for two of them.)

We got a half dozen Kupo grip heads and 6 of their 40" extender rods and we use them - on other stands - for multitudes of things. Especially for flags and scrims.
 
Put them on whatever will hold them stable. I generally try to mount mine on the same stand as my fixture using Cardellini clamps, grip heads and arms. A little light stand can work, though I find the super lightweight ones terrifyingly unstable most of the time, even weighed down with sandbags.
 
Matthews MiniGrip will mount a flag or a frame on a light stand without using the spud. It's designed to be used with their Road Rags. It's a pretty compact and useful system, but not particularly cheap. Might be cheaper to buy a couple of used c-stands.
 
Biggest issue is gravity. A flag hanging out in front of your light needs some weight or a big footprint in many cases.

Still, I have a bunch of small steel manfrotto stands, and often I'll stick a small flag or card on them (by themselves). Just be sensible.

I have really very often used the superclamp joining stud - the one that locks two superclamps together with about 6-8" between them. I'll often stick another light on a c-stand or beefy column that way (kind of scared of crushing a lighter stand's column), and clamp the 2nd super around a baby pin or use it to hold a flag. Also, the superclamp-to-round-baby-opening fixture is handy, you can lock a baby pin in it and then mount a knuckle or whatever. Generally, that sort of rig is for smaller flags or when I want to get several open faced units behind a diffusion panel.
 
Those MiniGrips are interesting! I'll keep that bookmarked for future needs.

I enjoy the ingenuity behind these contraptions you guys are using! These superclamps sound like lifesavers! I don't have much specialized grip gear, and only saw limited use of them on the sets I PAed for, but will try to find a grip handbook or site and read about them in the near future.

My biggest problem is that as a college student without a car, I depend on others to bring my stuff from place to place. It hasn't been too big of a deal so far, but I am limited in the number of stands and gear I can fit into their vehicles. Grip gear seems to be the key to my problem.
 
Avenger's 2.5" Grip Heads are great for use on light stands, or other oddball rigging. The stand adapters are threaded for long, or short, 5/8" pins & the grip head has four different sized holes.
 
I have made up some regular grip (gobo) heads with a double baby stud (Manfrotto) bolted into them. This allows a light to be mounted on top of the grip head, so only one stand is needed. This works great if you have severe space limitations, but it is harder to adjust your scrims etc. than it would be with a separate stand.
a Lowel Lobo clamp will also work for light duty applications.
 
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