In August 2025 we put a pond on the cove.
A timber frame went down on the white floor. A black liner was laid into it by hand. Hoses ran in across the yard, and the tank was filled until the water sat level and still. Above it, rain fell from just under the lighting grid. That was the first rain rig in the barn, and it is still the clearest way to explain what one involves.
Why the tank is black
Still water is only a mirror if you can't see through it. Put clear water over a white floor and the camera sees the floor. Line the tank in black and the water gives back whatever is above it: the rain, the lamps, a person standing in it. That is why the liner is black, and why it went in by hand. A crease under still water shows.
The timber frame gives the water a hard, straight edge, which matters when the edge of the tank is also the edge of the picture.
Where the water goes
The first question about rain in a studio isn't the rain. It is where the water goes afterwards.
Ours arrives by hose, which on that first build meant runs across the yard from outside. Everything that falls has to be caught, and the tank does two jobs: it is the set, and it is the catch. The rain falls into it. Floor protection goes down before a drop is let go, because the cove floor is paint, and paint and standing water are not friends. When the shoot is done the stage is dried and inspected before the next booking. That drying time goes in the schedule like any other setup.
Electrics are the other half of the same plan, and the principle is one I don't bend: power stays up and away, water stays down and contained. How that is achieved changes with every build, which is one reason rain is quoted and never simply listed.
Rain you can see
Rain is surprisingly hard to photograph. Lit from the front it vanishes; the drops only read when there is light behind them. So a rain setup is really a lighting setup. Backlight comes from the grid behind the fall, and drawing the blackout curtain lets the drops sit against dark rather than a white wall. With 4.5 metres to the grid there is room to hang the rain below the lamps and still get a light behind it.
This is one of the places where having no windows pays for itself. Nothing outside decides how the rain looks, so the tenth take looks like the first.
People get wet, then cold
Rain is hard on people and harder on clothes. Wardrobe that gets soaked doesn't dry between takes, so anything that has to look fresh for a second setup needs a duplicate, and the running order should go from dry to wet. Hair and make-up follow the same order. The dressing room next to the stage is heated, and towels and drying-off time are built into the plan rather than found on the day.
In October 2025, a year ago this month, a two-model fashion editorial was shot on the rig. Two models means two sets of wardrobe, hair and make-up to keep wet or dry on cue, which is the sort of thing a schedule has to know about before anyone turns a tap. If you are planning that kind of shoot, our fashion studio page and planning a fashion editorial on a cove cover the rest of the day.
Why every rain job is quoted
A drizzle falling past a window flat is a different build from a downpour on two people standing in a pool. How wet the cast needs to be, how long the rain runs, whether the floor is in shot, whether a set surrounds it: each of those changes the water, the protection, the time and the crew. A window flat or a wall for the rain to run down comes from our set building team, twenty metres away in the workshop.
So rain isn't part of a standard hire. On a content day it is a signature element from £750+VAT. For a production it is quoted on top of the White Space hire, once we know what the shot is. There is more on the rain effects page.
Tell us what you are trying to shoot and we will quote the build.
More from the Journal
- Why our studio has no windows, and why that is the point
- How much does a corporate video cost? A studio's breakdown
- UK production spend fell in the first half of 2026. UK-made films went the other way
- All Journal articles
Ready when you are
Availability and a firm quote, usually same day. No pressure, no hard sell.
Questions we get asked
Is the rain rig included in studio hire?
No. Rain is built and quoted per production, on top of White Space hire. As a signature element on a content day it starts from £750+VAT.
Why build rain in a studio instead of waiting for the weather?
Because the weather won't repeat itself for take six. A rig gives the same rain every time, keeps the camera positions dry and lets the cast warm up between setups.
granary.digital · 01243 884993 · studio@granary.digital · The Old Grainstore, Adsdean, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 9DN · Prices exclude VAT unless marked inc VAT