Celebrating The Workhorse in Production: The C Stand
When building out a production studio that you hope to be versatile and as turnkey as possible for the people who will use it, there are countless decisions to make, including how to equip it.
The C Stand is one piece of equipment used in almost every REV Studio production. It is the equivalent of the Swiss Army Knife for production, capable of holding lights, cameras, booms, props, and more, making them the ultimate multitaskers. REV Studio provides eight as part of its studio usage package.
“In the fast-paced world of production, efficiency is key,” said Lynne Arciero, founder and CEO of REV Studio. “When we built out REV Studio in 2019, we wanted to help productions focus on their creative process and not have to worry about lugging in and out a lot of heavy equipment. With the size of our studio, eight seems to be the magic number.”
The term C Stand, or Century Stand, comes from the early days of lighting equipment and is named after the company that originally designed it for live theater and filmmaking: Century Lighting.
“We liked the idea of having all black C Stands for the aesthetic and to limit any reflection with lighting,” explained REV Studio’s manager, Mark Strube. “Since REV Studio has white floors, we upcycled discarded tennis balls from the La Jolla Tennis Club public courts down the street on the legs of each stand to prevent the feet from leaving marks on the floor. It also makes it easy to slide the stands around.”
Mastering the safe use of a C Stand involves proper technique and on-the-job training. Given that these stands elevate equipment high above or to the side, the stand’s base requires weighting, typically with sandbags. It is also important not to exceed the limit of the weight capacity of the stand. Each of REV Studio’s Avenger and Mathew’s C Stands have a load capacity of 22 lbs according to the manufacturer’s specs.
Strube explained, “We’ve seen all manner of ways that people use sandbags on the C Stand base. We recommend pointing the tallest stand leg in the direction of the equipment it is holding. From there, the sandbag should drape over the top of the tall leg, making sure the weight rests on the stand, not the ground.”
REV Studio also provides several 25 lb sandbags as part of its studio usage package. Our team is happy to provide a safety check to see if the stands are secure.
After all, in the production world, C stands are the muscle to support the expensive, technical, and specialty equipment. Most importantly, keeping people safe on set is our highest priority.
