Tip of the day. Don't scratch the floors!

David G. Smith

David G. Smith

Steak Knife Member
I ran across this while perusing videos on Vimeo. It is a screen shot of a scene from the Sony promotional film for the NEX-FS100. I noted the tennis balls, used to cover the light stand legs and just had to go back and get a closer look. They are shooting on a beautiful floor and this makes a lot of sense. I think I am going to have to pick up a few dozen cheap tennis balls to add to my kit now.

TennisBallsupportlegcovers.jpg


It is from this video BTW:

http://vimeo.com/21389725
 
Yes, definitely a good idea. I have used black duvateen taped with gaff tape to each leg, it works well too.

You really don't want to scratch a expensive hardwood floor, have the owner wake up the next morning after shooting has wrapped, and notice a huge scratch in their expensive hardwood floor from a c-stand.
 
Marc Villafan said:
Yes, definitely a good idea. I have used black duvateen taped with gaff tape to each leg, it works well too.

You really don't want to scratch a expensive hardwood floor, have the owner wake up the next morning after shooting has wrapped, and notice a huge scratch in their expensive hardwood floor from a c-stand.
Click to expand...

I had an owner find a scratched up floor DURING shooting once. We got kicked out. It was a nightmare. I've used cut up furniture pad like material tapped to stands, but that is kind of a pain. I like the tennis ball idea, quick and simple.
 
Because I own my own kit I can be careful to check my stands frequently and replace worn feet. All the manufacturers sell them and for C-stands I find I can screw a drywall screw into them and pry them out with pliers. I haven't tried them but people swear by crutch tips and they come in several sizes. Maybe they would be better than tennis balls because being rubber they wouldn't slip. http://www.filmtools.com/
 
been doing that for twenty years...........the only thing i can use tennis balls for..... as i am no good at tennis......
also good for c stand arms or any other bits that stick out and could cause head or
eye damage.
 
Yeah, a second vote for crutch tips....

http://www.filmtools.com/crutchtip1.html

Not that expensive and a lot nicer looking.

Or even better yet, do what an actual production would do and put out layout board all over the house, then selectively pull it up in the areas where you need to shoot. Much better to cover the fragile thing than cover all of the potentially harmful things that come in contact with it.
 
White and black in sizes from a hardware store.

Measure the sizeof the leg and get the same sized tips.

They usually come four to a package so you get a spare.

Tips_UniTO.jpg
 
The tennis balls are also good for sticking on the end of Gobo-arms, when they are in positions where the gobo arm sticks out and could potentially injure a passer by. The bright yellow makes people aware of the 'point', and the big round rubber texture is good when you fail to see the yellow and walk right into the point on a dark set.

The grips out here call the tennis balls 'fuzzies', I think.


Those black rubber feet, are all nice and useful, but the tennis balls can also make people aware of where the ends of the lighting stands are and avoid tripping on dim lit sets. They also can't double as gobo-arm safeties.... I like the yellow tennis ball. It does it's job, and creates a level of set awareness that promotes safety.
 
Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
The tennis balls are also good for sticking on the end of Gobo-arms, when they are in positions where the gobo arm sticks out and could potentially injure a passer by. The bright yellow makes people aware of the 'point', and the big round rubber texture is good when you fail to see the yellow and walk right into the point on a dark set.

The grips out here call the tennis balls 'fuzzies', I think.


Those black rubber feet, are all nice and useful, but the tennis balls can also make people aware of where the ends of the lighting stands are and avoid tripping on dim lit sets. They also can't double as gobo-arm safeties.... I like the yellow tennis ball. It does it's job, and creates a level of set awareness that promotes safety.
Click to expand...

While this is all well and good, I think it should just be mentioned that 95% of the time people put tennis balls on the end of stands they're basically admitting they've set the c-stand wrong. I mean I'm even guilty of this myself, but you can pretty much always find a way to set it so there is nothing to hit or poke someone in the eye.

Most of the time this means just inverting the c-stand arm and sending it high up...or just extending the arm all the way out so there isn't very much on the backside...or even just using a short arm in place of a long arm. It is a good thing to have around, especially when you're moving quickly and end up setting it sort of silly. Instead of changing it, I'll just throw a tennis ball on the end and remember how I screwed up for next time.
 
Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
The tennis balls are also good for sticking on the end of Gobo-arms, when they are in positions where the gobo arm sticks out and could potentially injure a passer by. The bright yellow makes people aware of the 'point', and the big round rubber texture is good when you fail to see the yellow and walk right into the point on a dark set.

The grips out here call the tennis balls 'fuzzies', I think.


Those black rubber feet, are all nice and useful, but the tennis balls can also make people aware of where the ends of the lighting stands are and avoid tripping on dim lit sets. They also can't double as gobo-arm safeties.... I like the yellow tennis ball. It does it's job, and creates a level of set awareness that promotes safety.
Click to expand...

I didn't think about the increased visibility, but that is a major plus. I mean, shoot, they jumped out at me from only a few frames in the Sony video. On the guerrilla sets I'm used to inexperienced crew and talent are good for tripping over stand legs. Good call.
 
Last edited:
RyanT said:
While this is all well and good, I think it should just be mentioned that 95% of the time people put tennis balls on the end of stands they're basically admitting they've set the c-stand wrong. I mean I'm even guilty of this myself, but you can pretty much always find a way to set it so there is nothing to hit or poke someone in the eye.
Click to expand...
I was going to make this point and I agree. When I have to tape an empty water bottle on the end of a gobo arm I know a screwed up.
 
I like to use the "wont scratch floors, move furniture" coasters you can buy anywhere. (home depot / wal-mart / ect) It keeps the stands from scratching the floor, plus aids in ease of movement if you do want to move a light without too much hassle. But tennis balls would work just as well too
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top