C Stand with Turtle Base – 10.5ft Steel

The extension gobo rod arm precisely slips into the aluminum 2.5″ grip heads, supporting light modifiers, arms, scrims, cantilever flags, gobos or smaller lights, into exact position. The 5/8″ diameter arm and Grip/Gobo/Knuckle Head combination can be used as a short boom, is tremendously helpful on still life sets, supporting everything from reflectors to soup spoons in clamps. The cast aluminum head design has interlocking facing surfaces to keep a fixed position when supporting accessories on the steel arm in one of its four 3/4″, 5/8″, 3/8″, and 1/8″ diameter channels. The jaws open to a maximum of 1-1/8″ to hold rods, dowels and studs. The channel disks pivot about the center tightening handle and is grooved to friction hold firmly. When used atop light stands, it attaches via a 5/8″ baby pin receiver hole with a choice of two places on the length for the tightening grip handle, taking best advantage of shorter studs on standard light stands or longer baby pin ends on Century Stands.

The name ‘Century Stand’ goes back to the days of motion picture production. There were no artificial light sources. No large tungsten lamps and certainly not quartz bulbs to illuminate. Just light from the sun. The film sets would revolve on platforms to assure a constant light from the sun above. Carefully positioned giant reflectors would be strategically placed to deflect the sunlight up onto the stages and thereby illuminate the scene and actors. While the reflectors were made in many sizes and shapes, the most popular was the 100 inch, or ‘century’, sized reflector. Stage assistant then created tools to aid them in the support of these 100″ reflectors and invented what we now call C Stands. The first C Stands could not adjust or swivel, but they easily nested together just as they do today. Time tested and proven as an invaluable stage property, today’s Century Stands, or C Stands, are an essential element in the image maker’s inventory of tools.