hi, am writing a movie script...in one of my opening scenes, a
character who is an automobile mechanic would be fixing a car in a
servie-garage...i have not been to a service garage that often....so i
want the description of a typical service garage and the general
everyday four-wheeler repairs my character could be doing in that
particular scene along with the description of the tools he could be
using(my character is cynical,egotistic,crude and an expert
mechanic)....i welcome the answers from personal experiences.....since
am an indian and shooting an indian movie, i prefer an answer from an
indian researcher, if there is one here....ofcourse, if there aren't
many indians here, well, never bother, just answer the question....by
the way, i want a fairly descriptive answer, if u can help
it.....Murali...

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Clarification of Question by ammanmurali-ga on 14 Jan 2006 00:55 PST

ok....my preference for an indian researcher is only optional...i
would just as well settle for any satisfactory answer from anyone
other than indian...besides i only want the typical description of a
service garage and the typical repairs an automobile mechanic could be
doing...i don't exactly expect you to write the screenplay for the
scene...that i can take care of myself.......

The appearance of a service garage is going to depend on what type of
facility it is. The garage in a dealership will generally be larger
and better equipped than an independant or a specality garage. The
types of repairs will generally be the same, however there is really
no repair that would be considered typical, or that a technican would
do on a daily or even weekly basis. Probably the most common thing
done would be an oil change. But, if your charachter is a full-time
professional technican, he would most likely not be performing oil
changes as they do not pay as well as larger more complicated jobs
(techs are paid a flat rate for each job that they do). The thing you
would probably see a professional tech doing the most often would be
hooking a scanner or computer into the vehicle, since that is the
first step in diagnosing most repairs. This doesn't take long, but is
done to nearly every vehicle that comes in. From there the repairs go
off in a thousand directions.
As for tools, a set used by a professional full-time tech would look
something like this:
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&tool=all&item_ID=65545&group_ID=2294&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog
Screwdrivers, pneumatic and hand ratchets (w/ sockets), and wrenches
are probably the tools used most often by a professional tech since
nearly every part of a car is attached with either a bolt or screw.
Probably the easiest way for you to see a what a shop looks like would
be to go to one. Just find one that looks like one you plan to have in
your movie and ask to see the shop. People bringing a car in for
repairs often ask to see the facilities. People generally tend to
associate a clean, well-organized shop with quality work.
Let me know what kind of place your character is working in and I can
give you a better idea of what it will look like. Is he in a
dealership? Independant shop? Specality shop (such as air
conditioning)? A car restoration shop? A vehicle customization shop? A
performance shop? All of these will look quite different on the
inside.

hi mensaman, thanks for your comment.....my clarification for the
questions you asked is as follows:

1) My character works in an Independant shop that is located in a posh
locality and i want its general description.

2) Is it possible for an Independant shop to have a car restoration
shop as an accessory?

3) Thirdly and most importantly, if a novice mechanic is prepping a
damaged area of a car door and is fumbling, what sort of conversation
that is likely to take place between the junior and a senior expert
mechanic who would come to rescue the junior....i mean, i need the
technical part of the conversation,you know, how the senior would
demonstrate to the junior how to get the job done smoothly, how he
would order the junior to fetch the tools required to carry out the
repair, how he would tell the junior to handle the tools more
skillfully etc., etc.,

4) Lastly, if you can suggest any better and more suitable example
than prepping an damaged automobile door to make the scene more
realistic, you are most welcome..........

I hope you don't consider the help i am asking from you a bit too much
and come up with the goods i can make use of in my script.......