Filming & Production
C-stand
Also called: century stand
Century stand is the full name and it is the workhorse of a film set. Three staggered legs at different heights let two stands nest over the same patch of floor, a steel column carries the load, and a gobo arm with knuckle clamps holds something out over the set where an ordinary stand could never reach. What hangs off it is usually a flag, a light, a reflector or a boom microphone.
Two habits keep it upright. Put the tallest leg under the arm so the weight sits over the base, and sandbag that leg. Tighten every knuckle clockwise, because rigged that way the load pulls the arm in the tightening direction.