Behind the Craft: The Driftwood Philosophy of Emil Hall

Few grip stories begin with driftwood, theatre stages, and Ingmar Bergman — but Emil Hall is not a typical key grip. Founder of Drivved Grip (“Driftwood Grip”), Emil built his identity on a mix of raw craft, intuition, and a deep respect for the set.

Raised inside a theatre run by his parents on the island of Gotland, he learned early the culture of silence, precision, and collaboration — the fundamentals that still guide him when laying track, designing POV rigs, or operating cameras.

His path didn’t pass through film school. Instead, it was shaped on the road, taken under the wing of veteran DoP Bengan Widell, traveling from commercials to music videos in the 90s — an era where creativity was wild, budgets were indie, and everyone wore multiple hats. That energy became Emil’s film school.

Across the years, he has collaborated with some of the most respected names in cinematography and directing: Romain Gavras, David Fincher, Jeff Cronenweth, Gösta Reiland, Niklas Johansson, Linus Sandgren, and Hoyte van Hoytema.

From building 60-meter wooden tracks in the woods for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to riding an off-road electric skateboard for the Zlatan biopic, Emil’s rigs are a blend of problem-solving, humour, and fearless practicality.

Today, Drivved Grip is known for its off-angle solutions: wood-based car mounts, POV builds, custom welds, and handcrafted rigs that solve problems modern tools can’t. Emil’s story is not about gear — it’s about the mindset behind the rig.

Origins & Influences

Emil, you grew up inside a theatre and started traveling with DoP Bengan Widell at 22. How did those early years shape your philosophy as a key grip?

I think it builds character and work ethic. You work till the job is done, and don’t give up.
When I got the opportunity from Bengan to work with him, it was fantastic. He was the first to own a Steadicam in Sweden, and he also owned one of the first camera cars.
In a way, he was a pioneer for the Swedish film industry.

We traveled a lot together, making music videos and commercials. When traveling light, we couldn’t bring that much equipment, so we had to use what we had. I remember one time in Kenya (Africa), we used tape and some straps to mount his Arri SR3 to the wing of a Cessna aircraft.

Another time, we filmed a music video in South Africa and flew a helicopter over the dunes. All of a sudden, the helicopter did a 180-degree spin, and the pilot screamed, “Oh shit!!!!” over the intercom. We just fell into free fall. I remember thinking, “How am I going to get all the sand out of the equipment?” when he got control over the aircraft, maybe 10 meters from the ground.

That was day one. On day two, we flew over Table Mountain in Cape Town with Bengan hanging out the door filming, and I had mounted the camera with just a strap. When we landed, we noticed that Bengan’s seatbelt had come loose and punched a big hole in the side of the helicopter. So he had just been hanging on to my little strap.

And on day three, they landed the helicopter on a beach where an endangered bird was nesting, so the pilot lost his license.

I think it was a bit more wild back then, and security wasn’t a priority; the shot was.

You’ve worked on high-impact jobs like No Church in the Wild with Romain Gavras and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo with David Fincher. Is there a moment or a challenge from those sets that still stays with you?

No Church In The Wild 

I was the b-camera operator for my longtime friend DOP Mattias Montero. We had blocked off central parts of Prague and staged a riot. I can’t remember how many extras we had, but it felt like 200 rioters and riot police with horses and dogs.

It was mostly handheld cameras, Mattias and I, running around with Easyrigs and kicking the shields of the police, and had molotov cocktails landing by our feet, so it burned the hair on our legs. And I got kicked by one of the horses and woke up between the legs of another horse, a little banged up. It was a wild shoot, but super fun.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

There’s an action scene on an escalator in the movie. Where they wanted to follow the actors up and down the stairs. I came up with the idea to use the handrails of the escalator as our track. So I custom-built my own skatewheels to fit the handrail, and from that, we built a basket for the camera operator, David Worley. And then the keygrip Darren “Dutch” Holland and his best boy David Cross and Ben Goode used a pulley system with the Chapman Peewee dolly as a counterweight.

It was a great collaboration between the Swedish and UK grip departments.

Beyond the technical challenges, what did you take away from working with such strong creative personalities? And what has influenced you the most from those collaborations?

Well, working with David Fincher was challenging because he is a man who knows exactly what he wants down to the smallest details. And he is full of both creative and technical knowledge, and would not take no for an answer. If someone said “we can’t do that or that doesn’t work”, he was like “why not?”.He wanted an explanation on why it didn’t work, and since he knows, for example, what the camera can or can not do, you really had to know what you were talking about if you said no.

He also went to the rental house to test out the telescopic cranes for himself. I can respect that, because then he eliminates finding out if the crane vibrates or makes noise before you’re out on set, with expensive actors, or losing sunlight.

Craft & Rig Philosophy

You often build rigs from wood — from car mounts to 60-meter tracks in the forest. What’s the logic behind choosing wood over aluminium or standard systems?

When I make car mounts, I like wood because it’s soft compared to aluminium tubes that can scratch the surface. And I can cut it to the shape of the car if I have to. I also get a big flat surface to screw the Camera Leveling Head in; I’m not locked to just two parallel tubes.

For the dolly track, I can just cut it off if it’s too long. If you use stage decks or I-beams, you’re stuck with the length/size they come in.

And the island of Gotland, where I’m from. It’s where Swedish director Ingmar Bergman shot many of his classic films. He used local fishermen to build the dolly track, and they always used wood. And put a lot of pride into building it, they also had a tradition that the last nail they put in the build was a “Gold Nail”.

I really like that, to put pride into everything you do.

Your approach to pre-rig planning mixes sketches, welding, and hands-on preparation. What does a perfect pre-rig process look like for you?

Well, a perfect pre-rig would be. Knowing the idea and having a good amount of time to build and test it out. To troubleshoot in advance.

When also operating a camera, how does this dual role shape your grip decisions and timing on set?

I think timing is crucial when pushing or jibbing a dolly or crane. You really have to have a feel for the movement and try to anticipate what’s going to happen next. Most actors are very unpredictable and move too fast. Same type of movement you do in real life, but when making movies, there are so many factors you don’t have in real life.

The focus has to be shifted, the camera framed, and the dolly has to be jibbed up if you, as an actor, are sitting down and then standing up. It’s so nice to work with actors who have understood that part of the profession.

You’ve shared many POV and product rigs, including the IKEA builds. What’s the key to making POV rigs both stable and comfortable for talent?

If someone is going to wear a camera for a POV rig, for instance. It’s very important to have balance. Having counterweights to balance it out. If it’s too front-heavy or back-heavy, you won’t last too long wearing it.

Since we use mostly film cameras and not GoPro-sized cameras. They are big and heavy.

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Collaboration & Creative Partners

Collaboration seems central in your career. What, in your experience, makes a relationship with a DoP or director truly efficient and creatively strong?

Three words: Trust, Fun, Creativity!

You’ve worked with directors like Adam Berg, Filip Nilsson, Jens Sjögren, and with DoPs like Linus Sandgren and Hoyte van Hoytema. What do you usually look for in a creative partner?

I love working with all three of these directors you mentioned; they’re all quite different in their style of directing. But the common thread is being prepared and professional, but at the same time not failing under pressure. Keeping calm in stressful situations is key, I think.

It was such a joy working with Linus; he still is the nicest guy. He usually brings up-and-coming Swedish DOPs on as a B-camera or 2-unit Dop on some of his films. I think that shows he has such a big heart to do that, and give them the experience and boost in their career.

Hoyte used to live in Sweden, and it was a blast working with him. He is such a force of nature; it feels like he was born with a camera on his shoulder. Sadly, we only did commercials and never got to work on a full feature film together; something always came in the way.

He reached out to me a few years back when he wanted to hand-pick the crew for Christopher Nolan´s film Tenet. It was a huge honor to be asked to work with him on that, but the universe didn’t line up that time either. I know he has brought on other Scandinavian crew members on both the Tenet and Interstellar movies. So same thing with him; he hasn’t forgotten his early days and tries to give them the opportunity and experience to be on some of the biggest movie sets in modern film history.

So what I look for in a creative collaboration is probably, in one word, kindness.
As Bob Dylan sings in his song Too Late
“You know what they say about being nice to people on your way up, you might meet them again on your way back down”.

Experience, Growth & Vision

You’ve built rigs in extreme conditions — ice, cold, vehicles, stairs, and even underground environments. How do different locations shape your approach to safety and design?

To work in minus-35 Celsius is a bit extreme and makes the workflow difficult. Below -30 Celsius, the equipment starts to fail, and you have to cover and heat the equipment.

The cameras nowadays have so many electronic components that generate their own heat, which helps in the cold but is a problem in warmer climates. So I guess just use common sense to keep the equipment safe.

Can you share an example of a rig that initially failed but turned into a better solution after adjustments?

No particular rig comes to mind. There’s usually no time to start all over again if something doesn’t work.

Sometimes you just start adding stuff to make it better, but it just makes it worse. And it would have been better to just start all over again.

Many young grips and camera technicians look up to you. What advice would you give to someone starting today? Which skills matter most in 2025?

I think the best advice I would give someone is, don’t rush it. Try to work closely with someone who has the knowledge. I’ve always said.

“The best way to learn is to make a mistake. If you make a mistake, you don’t ever want to do that again”.

So it’s probably better to work as an assistant for a few years, and also try working in some of the branches of the industry. Before you choose your path. 

I met my Best Boy, Fredrik Johansson, when he was just 16 years old and I was 23. He was a pain in the ass back then, but we both grew in our profession from working with each other and others.

We both worked with a legendary grip here in Sweden called Ocki Hansson and learned a lot from him. Soon, Fredrik and I have worked for 30 years together, and he’s now a fantastic KeyGrip (@keygripsweden on Instagram).
Sadly, we don’t work as much anymore. But the next generation is coming and I work with my son Elvin instead, and that’s super nice.

Question coming from one of your mates

From Alexander Ryden – What’s your dream project — the one that would let you combine everything you love about rigs, collaboration, and craft?

I’ve always been a skateboarder, and before I started working in the film industry, we filmed our own skate videos. And that has a dear place in my heart. So a dream project would, without a doubt, be a skate video with some of my favorite skaters.

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A huge thank you to Emil Hall for his professionalism and for sharing a story shaped by craft, grit, and genuine passion.

Emil has been a long-time supporter of the FilmmakersWorld community, and we’re proud to spotlight the mindset behind Drivved Grip.

And thanks to you, as always, for reading and being part of this journey.
If you want to dive deeper into Emil’s world, make sure to follow his work on Instagram and keep up with his latest builds and behind-the-scenes experiments.

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With Love,
Filmmakersworld Team