Doors and load-in
Our floor manager opens up. Carts roll along the rubber walkway, never across the mats. Cable mats go down at the edge of the padding before a single case is opened.
Plan a shoot · Tool and day sheet
Check the idea against the wall before you write the call sheet.
Planning a climbing gym photo shoot or a film day at 575 Degraw St starts here. Type what you want to make, get a straight answer, then read how the day actually runs on a working floor in Brooklyn.
01Shoot finder
What are you planning to shoot or host?
Sneaker lookbook, drone, night shoot, team night, a product sitting on a hold. The finder knows about forty kinds of job and the rules that come with each one. It answers yes, yes with conditions, or no, and tells you why.
A routing answer, not a quote. Nothing is booked or priced until the floor desk replies in writing.
02Sequence of a shoot day
A film day on the floor, hour by hour.
This is a typical full-day block for a commercial shoot in the gym, with load-in and strike counted inside it. Stills days run shorter and lighter. Drag, scroll or use the arrow keys.
Floor walk and safety brief
Ten minutes, whole crew. Where the spotter stands, which wall stays climbable for members, where the video village goes. Nobody skips it, including the director.
Light and stands
Stands go up on sandbags. The mats are soft and a C-stand on them walks. Grips light the first wall while talent warms up in the training corner.
Talent warm-up
A climber who goes cold onto a steep problem gets hurt. Twenty minutes on easy holds first. That time belongs in your schedule, not stolen from it.
First setup, spotted
Rolling. A studio spotter is under every move above head height. On the overhang we agree a take limit before the first slate, because arms fail before enthusiasm does.
Midday light check
The overhang throws its hardest shadow around noon. Most crews flip to the rope wall or the training corner here and come back to the cave later.
Lunch off the floor
Food and drink stay off the mats. Crumbs in the padding bring in mice and nobody wants that on the next call sheet.
Quiet window
If you need clean dialogue or an interview, this is the held slot. Music off, members told. Record room tone twice, gym quiet and gym running.
Last looks, last climbs
Talent is tired by now. We will call time on high moves if a climber is fading. Close-ups and chalk inserts are the smart finish.
Strike and walk-out
Tape up, sandbags out, walkway swept. The floor manager walks the mats with your producer before anyone leaves. Chalk on your cases is normal. Gaffer tape on our holds is not.
01 / 10
03Recce visit
Walk the floor with the shot list in your hand.
The failure we see most: a crew arrives with a shot list written for a studio cyc and finds the best wall faces the wrong way for their key light. Two hours go on relighting. A recce stops that happening.
Bring the director or the photographer, the DP or gaffer if there is one, and the lens list. We walk every wall you might use, say where the light falls by hour, show which mats move and which do not, and point at the hold colours that are up that week. It takes about an hour. Most people leave with a shorter shot list and a better one.
We would rather you did one. If you cannot come in person, send reference frames and we will shoot phone stills of the walls from your intended angles and send them back.
Price basis · Recce visit
Arranged by email before booking. No charge is stated until confirmed in writing.
The recce is also where the real quote comes from. We do not quote a binding price for any booking before a recce or a call.
- What we check
- Light direction on each wall by hour, lens behaviour, mat layout, ceiling clearance under the trusses.
- Bring
- Shot list, lens list, lighting list with power draw, crew size, the date or a two-week window.
- Lens note
- What a wall reads like on a 35mm and on an 85mm is two different conversations. Bring both lists.
- Hold colours
- Routes get reset on a schedule. A specific colour in frame needs a week's notice to the setters.
- Arranged by
- [email protected] or (215) 479-5335
04Load-in and prep
Rent a climbing gym for a commercial shoot and it behaves like a location, not a stage.
- SandbagsBring them. Every stand on or near the mats gets weighted. We have seen a C-stand walk a foot and a half in one take.
- ChalkIt gets everywhere. Cover your lens changes and do not put a black backdrop on the floor.
- MatsOur staff move the mats that move. Your grips do not. Ask about mat moves at the recce. They eat more of the day than crews expect.
- CablesTaped at the edge of the padding, never across a landing zone.
- Haze and flameNone near the walls. Haze settles on the holds and makes them unsafe for the next session.
- DronesIndoors, under the trusses, with a named pilot we have spoken to first. Floor cleared for every flight.
- ParkingStreet parking and permits are the production's job. Plan the truck before the call time.
The walls themselves, with light direction and what each reads like on camera, are on the walls and floor
05Which booking you need
Four ways onto the floor.
-
A
Photo shoots
Lookbooks, editorial, catalogue in use. Handheld social crews usually fit here too.
One wall kept clear of climbers for the booking, strobes on sandbagged stands.
BasisHalf-day or full-day block, quoted after the recce by crew size and walls used -
B
Film and video
Commercials, branded content, music video, documentary. Anything with a monitor and a gimbal.
Video village off the mats, power agreed in the first email.
BasisFull-day block with load-in and strike counted, quoted by crew size and power draw -
C
Athlete portraits
Climbers and athletes from other sports, on real holds with real chalk.
A floor spotter comes with every session.
BasisPer session, floor spotter included, quoted on the request -
D
Events and reportage
Competitions, launches, team nights, with coverage if you want it.
Our floor staff run the climbing side.
BasisPer event, quoted by headcount, hours and whether climbing stays open
Send the shot list and the date. We answer with what the wall can do.
No rate card. A reply from the floor desk with the walls that suit your frames, the questions we still have, and a quote once the recce or the call is done.