My DIT Cart: Grant McPhee

Scotland’s dramatic landscapes have long attracted filmmakers, but shooting there is more than just capturing beautiful backdrops. Mud, wind, remote locations, and unpredictable weather can challenge every department on set. Few people know this better than Scottish DIT Grant McPhee, who has seen both the industry and the DIT role transform over the years.

Grant has worked across features, commercials, and high-end television, including eight seasons of Outlander, while helping shape Scotland’s digital production infrastructure. An early adopter of Livegrade, he has followed its evolution from the earliest versions to today’s Livegrade 7. In this interview, he shares his journey breaking into the industry, building practical DIT setups for demanding environments, and why the real skill of the job lies in collaborating with people as much as mastering technology. Let’s dive in! 

Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! To start, how did you first get into the film industry? 

Grant: „I didn’t know anyone in the film industry when I started out. My first opportunity came through a community video charity that produced political documentaries, focusing on underrepresented people in deprived areas and giving them access to video equipment. That early experience still shapes how I approach the film industry today. 

After joining a local authority training scheme, I landed a job as a camera trainee on a large feature shooting locally. It was a huge learning curve. I quickly realised that even though I thought I knew about film, I really didn’t. That humbling lesson, that there’s always more to know, has stayed with me.“ 

How did that path lead you toward becoming a DIT?

Grant: „I’d worked on around 200 commercials in my video assist role, witnessing the transition from analogue tape recording to digital hard drive recorders. I found that evolution fascinating and was very engaged with it, while many others weren’t. I realised that being interested in something most people were less so could keep me employed.“

Seems like that curiosity really paid off, doesn’t it? 

Grant: „Yes, things really changed for me in 2007 when I worked on a Scottish feature shot on the Viper camera. It was my first experience with a digital cinema camera. The camera was tethered to a van full of hard drives, and we had to radio the team inside to ‘turn over.’ It seemed cumbersome but fascinating, so I started talking to the people in that van. 

I realised that being interested in something most people were less so could keep me employed.

One of them was Marc Dando, who later co-founded Codex. His role was called a ‘Digital Imaging Technician’, a title I had never heard before. I felt like I was witnessing a revolution and wanted to be part of it.

Not long after, I worked as focus puller on the first RED shoot in Scotland, a short film by the brilliant DP Robbie Ryan. There was no DIT on set and the camera owner handled the data, but I made sure to learn the camera and workflow inside out. Soon I noticed visiting camera owners being replaced by people with laptops calling themselves DITs. One of them, Vlad Martins, taught me a great deal. When he became busier in London, a gap opened up in Scotland. Since I was a terrible focus puller, it was the perfect time to switch. From then on, my career changed completely. My phone did not stop ringing for years.“

You’ve worked on so many sets since then. How would you describe the film industry in Scotland today? 

Grant: „Most large productions here are service-based, like U.S. films shooting in the U.K., with varying levels of local crew involvement. In some ways, we get the best of both worlds: Scotland’s scenery attracts commercials and big-budget features, and we also have a healthy level of high-end TV production thanks to strong local crews.

These big productions provide great experience, while local films and serial dramas offer opportunities for the same crew to “step up” and grow their skills. That said, because the service industry is so dominant, there’s less investment in nurturing a fully independent local filmmaking sector. Thankfully, several local producers are doing excellent work despite those challenges. So generally, it’s very strong and busy.“

What kinds of projects do you typically work on?

Grant: „It’s changed a lot. I used to work mostly on features, but that’s shifted dramatically with the rise of high-end TV. Medium-budget features have almost disappeared over the past decade. Now, there are huge superhero films at the top, HETV dominating the mid-level, and an indie sector below. It’s a healthy mix overall. 

I recently worked on a series of large superhero films as a data manager. Before that, I spent eight seasons, over 1,200 days, as the main DIT on Outlander, running a Livegrade setup. Afterward, I worked as a second unit DIT on a major feature covering dailies. It was directed by someone I had admired for years, and I got to collaborate with DIT Laura Redpath, whom I respect immensely. Even over a few days, I learned a lot from her.”

So, let’s talk about your gear for servicing these different productions! How would you describe your setup overall? 

Grant: „Completely modular. It changes depending on the job and its requirements. At the moment, I use an Adicam cart, but on Outlander I needed a Senior Magliner because nothing else could survive the mud, hills, and Scottish weather. The Magliner isn’t flashy, but it’s indestructible. My gear is always practical, simple, and robust. All the small embellishments and home comforts get destroyed when being moved up in Haaglunds, an hour from the nearest phone signal.“

Let’s break it down further. Which monitors do you typically use? 

Grant: „That usually depends on the DP. Most have a preferred monitor brand they trust. Flanders is the most popular in my experience, though some still prefer Sony PVMs or SmallHDs. What matters most is consistency and accuracy. It is not just about calibration but matching the look across the entire pipeline. I like to ensure the DP sees the same image on their lighting monitor, at my cart, at the data management set-up, and later in post. 

I like to ensure the DP sees the same image on their lighting monitor, at my cart, at the data management set-up, and later in post.

It’s not always easy, but using the same monitor models across departments helps hugely. If a DP joins a pre-existing setup, we’ll discuss and find a solution that works for them— often by adding a monitor they’re comfortable with.“ 

What other tools and hardware do you rely on in your setup? 

Grant: “Macs are the backbone of everything. For Livegrade, I use a switcher, usually a Blackmagic 20×20 or 40×40 with physical buttons. I prefer that over software controls because my brain just works that way. LUT boxes vary; visually, there’s little difference, so I choose based on reliability, durability, and flexibility. I like Terradek COLR boxes for ease of use and Flanders BoxIOs for their robustness once configured. 

Other key tools include a Leader waveform monitor, Blackmagic recorders for playback, Blackmagic mini-monitors and recorder for screengrabs, Tangent panels as they have great Livegrade connectivity (I like the Wave2, and especially the Element Kb when using old NDs to shift green/magenta bias), and various Blackjet readers. 

Our data carts use a Mac Studio M3 Ultra and an IBM rack-mounted LTO. Power is handled by EcoFlow batteries now.They’ve made life much easier compared to the old days of leisure batteries, inverters, and modified UPS setups. I’m surprised I’ve not been electrocuted. I still keep a Honda generator as backup just in case. “

When did you first start using Livegrade, and how did it change your workflow? 

Grant: „I checked my emails recently and found I was using a beta version as early as 2011. To me, it was as revolutionary as the introduction of digital cinema cameras. Before that, I’d seen Iridas Speedgrade Onset used with extremely expensive LUT boxes — far beyond what most Scottish productions could afford.

When I realised that Livegrade could do something similar with a simple, inexpensive HDLink box, I was amazed. For a fraction of the cost, I could own a professional grading setup, and it worked better than I could have imagined. It took a while for it to be adopted, but by 2014, more and more productions were using it, and it’s now almost universally expected.

“Livegrade 7 is wonderful. It has everything I need […]. I think we really are getting close to a digital standard (finally!), and Pomfort has done huge work to achieve this.“

And today, what can I say: Livegrade 7 is wonderful. It has everything I need, works in stops, and integrates beautifully, not just with other Pomfort products but those from other companies. I think we really are getting close to a digital standard (finally!) and Pomfort has done huge work to achieve this.“

You’ve also been instrumental in helping establish digital workflows in Scotland. How did that come about? 

Grant: „I’d spent years trying to help establish a digital infrastructure in Scotland that could support big productions. I’d seen how other regions outside London had done it successfully, and I wanted the same for us. Outlander proved that we could sustain major productions locally with a skilled, homegrown crew. The local producer, David Brown, was instrumental in helping develop this, and his trust paid off. 

What did that mean for your live grading workflow? 

Grant: „Our first DP, David Higgs, was incredibly technically minded and had his own 3CP. I’d started using an early Livegrade system in season one, mainly for my own experimenting. The DIT team then consisted of me, a trainee, and a dailies colourist, so we could confidently ensure that a) what the DP, Director, and Editor saw was the same, and b) that what was being sent to producers, execs, show runners, and writers was what had been seen and approved on set.

By season two, in 2014, we had an American DP, Steve McNutt, who was very experienced with Livegrade. In fact, the very first thing he asked me was ‘Do you know Livegrade and can you use it?’. The previous two years of experimenting allowed me to confidently say ‘Yes‘, and from then on, it was a fully fledged Livegrade show. 

Many trainees and assistants learned the system there, which helped make Scotland ‘Livegrade ready.’ Visiting U.S. productions could come here and work exactly as they did at home. I think some of them expected we would all be wearing kilts with straw in our mouths. I’m pretty proud of that.

And we had some great Outlander DPs after – Owen McPollin, Stijn Van Der Veken, Nic Lawson, Mick Coulter, and Neville Kidd, who were all Livegrade experienced. We had a really neat setup, a little hybrid alternative development of the DIT world. We had an excellent Video Assist, Mihail Ursu (who eventually became the data manager), who understood the simpatico world of DIT/Video. Towards the end, Pomfort had developed Realtime Pro. We had a Beta copy and were on the road to having a fantastic integration between both worlds – which is something I think is absolutely inevitable anyway.“ 

Having worked with so many different DPs, what does your collaboration usually look like? 

Grant: „My collaboration with DPs is never consistent, and that’s part of the skill base that can only be learned from experience. The technical aspects are easy, but you have to accommodate multiple personalities, multiple expectations, multiple interests, and they can all change depending on many other factors. It’s chaos theory.

My collaboration with DPs is never consistent, and that’s part of the skill base that can only be learned from experience.

I’ve worked with DPs who want to operate Livegrade themselves and know it far better than I do. Others have literally no interest in a LUT; far less in manipulating one live. Some give you the iris handsets and a gaffer (including an Oscar-winning DP, which was nerve-wracking), others don’t even want you to look at an Iris handset. But generally, there’s a very pleasant level of building trust that I enjoy.

I think everyone is now getting more comfortable with how the role is changing, and I think that’s for the best. My primary task is to assist the DP in whatever it is they are trying to achieve. Whether that be being quiet, taking the iris and filters so they can dedicate time to something else, providing facts about obscure post-punk bands, being an agony uncle, or whatever it needs for them to make a better picture and tell better stories.

The DIT role isn’t purely technical. It’s about creative collaboration and communication.

You’re just aiding them in one of the many tasks they have that they could do themselves, but by taking something off their plate, it helps them concentrate on other areas. They’re your boss, and you’re there to help them; everything else works backwards from that. And you learn to understand that in your job (dealing with the technical aspects), there are times when the technology gets in the way. Sometimes, perfect exposure is not best for the story, that clipping is not best for the story, and so on. When you build up trust and understanding with experience, you learn that unlearning is sometimes a better approach.

The DIT role isn’t purely technical. It’s about creative collaboration and communication. Especially when it comes to exposure, interpretation, and consistency, the DIT’s input can make a huge difference (well, at least that’s what DITs think).“

Speaking of your thoughts, are there any set memories (scary, weird, funny…) that stand out?

Grant: On one film in the Highlands, a very drunk farmer arrived on a quad bike carrying a loaded shotgun and tried to shoot a sheep in front of the crew. That definitely ticks both the weird and scary boxes! 

Another strange moment happened on a supposedly self-funded short film. For my sins, I used to always do a few freebies a year, and this was one. The shoot seemed quite glitzy despite those involved seemingly having little means to support such an endeavour. On the last day, the producer’s father drove the editor and me to the train station. He suggested we stop for a pint first. When we walked into the pub, everyone went silent and stared at him like a scene from An American Werewolf in London. Later at the station, he gave us each a book he had written, an autobiography about being a big-time bank robber. That probably explained the budget…”

Ok, wow.. After everything you’ve seen and done, what’s next for you?

Grant: „My biggest move is a new collaboration with Serious Facilities, Scotland’s biggest post-production company, based in Glasgow. Together, we’ve created a company called Vault by Serious — the first (and currently) only Scottish company covering the entire imaging pipeline from set to post. 

Their backing has allowed us to invest heavily in a storeroom of kit: multiple rigs for Livegrade, carts for offloading, Baselight suites, Resolve suites, MCR datalabs, and a highly experienced team ready to train up an entirely new team. We use our extensive experience to listen to what producers want and offer a modular approach that ranges from a bespoke personal project to a giant superhero project. I think it’s going to be the biggest game-changer for Scotland in terms of digital shooting.“

Good luck with these endeavors, and thanks so much for sharing these insights with us!