Thomas English

250 !!!!!! wow..... on a proper job? rather than a student/lowbudget short ? hard core. Who was it? name them! I always use the focus unit on TV stuff and often have to train the camera assistant in how to use it there and then. Sometimes there is simply no need to put the FF on board due to the stop/lens but I generally always end up with an assistant on steadicam. I can t remember a job where I did nt have one for TV stuff. The zoe is cool, I have used Joe macs one a couple of time and it is nice. Shame about the cable.

sure I was aware of the different types of motor. One of them "pushes" in each direction whilst the other is a stepper. I thought this was the problem. I will have to investigate further and check seeing as the successes you guys have had with iris/focus motors.

So you guys are having absolutely no problems popping your focus/iris bartech onto your zoom? Maybe its my sld100 that has a low resolution? It really does seem, on slow slow zooms that its going in steps!

I think the circuit generating the video synch (the signal drum beat that runs that timing of the scan lines) might be a bit buggered on that tap. Your monitor can handle a messy synch ok but the circuit putting the framelines on needs a much more precise signal so it can tango with it. A dirty modulus could also affect the synch on the whole sled. The fact that it was working at different levels is just something to do with your framelines circuit having an easier time dealing with the messy synch under certain circumstances. i.e. when there is loads of information on each pass the synch is not read well when no video info on each scan line pass the weak/messy synch signal can be made out ok. Just a theory. I am sure it s a rubbish video tap and not your fault at all, definately notify the camera house. I assume the picture transmited ok and was recieved by all and sundry with no problems. If no other suitable frameline generator was available I suppose I would have set my framlines with the video level at optimum and white camera taped thin lines but I would not be happy.

I find my bartech jumps a bit due to the lower resolution on slow zooms when using Iris/focus on the zoom. The seitz must be much higher resolution! Fast zooms are fine though on my bartech. Cheers

DAVID!!!! I love you! I have been trying to chat up my holiday chick on msm messenger in flemish all day and had real difficulty finding a interweb translator for flemish (plenty for spanish etc) and been blundering about with online phrasebooks.... Is it just me or am I the only one with no work at the moment! Yes Ben IS A TWAT. The moment he resurfaces in some form or another everyone should grass onto this forum possibly as PM s so he is not aware. He has a history of crookery by all accounts previous to uni cine. I am sure he is somewhere.. whats the total bad debt he has accumulated to forum members? can we add it up? People should be able to coment on this forum in whatever language they feel comfortable in. especially since Davids find! making love to spaniards.......... buenas noches

I am a big fan of doing steadicam contrazooms and I have just been watching your reel Alec and I have to say that contrazoom at the top of the B+W promo is simply awesome! How did you do it? vehicle mount? trade secret?

I try and wear the loudest and finest hawaiian shirt I can find that does not stink too much of smoke and beer from the night before.

slighty off topic to the rig drama How much does an early pro sled without monitor go for nowadays? cheers thomas

I reckon Job s right, he knows the glidecam series and I really don t know it at all. My only question if you were going to go the glidecam route is how upgradeable is it? is it the same arm post size 5/8th of an inch so you can borrow other peoples arms in an emergency or upgrade your arm? Can u use a klassen vest? I don t know the answere s to these questions. I have not flown a V25.

Ninja and co. are a funny old breed. They have approached the whole video side of things "from the other side" doing big visual shows that would never have been possible if approached proffesionaly. On the CanDu (anti depleted uranium tour) we were heading out into sarajevo/mostar shooting rave visuals around the bombed out city with digihi8 cameras, cutting them and playing it out at the first massive party having invited all the muslim kids and the christian kids in one big party "experiment". They are great as an organisation and ethos. Hence my slogging it about with a DV camera on a handheld glidecam2000.... which worked very well... if a little "creative" The LowFi approach is now starting to look crap because its no longer cutting edge because anyone can do it as it no longer needs imagination and ingenuity to make everything work... it just works.The funny thing is that the quality of visual shows at clubs/raves is actually getting worse! because... well ... anyone can say they can do it! Which is just the problem a lot of operators on here face, a person with a useless rig undercutting massively for the same major league jobs. Hence some of the "anger" The quality of work overall goes down and thus so does the perceived value of said work. The point being.... if your trying to make something look wicked and creative on low budget u can use absolutely anything... a broom with a HDV camera magic armed to the end. Eventually you may end up producing a product that works well if very sketchy at the outset. However if you want to render the director and DPs imagination reliably and consistently you need kit that is reliable and consistent. which cannot be said for the glidecam series bar the Gold which seems sound. I have no problems with magic arming an aaton minima to a broom stick if thats what the shot requires, we are lucky to be working in a very creative industry. ..... I suspect I would get a broom made of aluminium though.... a klassen brrroom Anyway... ninja are very cool... my mate Arun Taylor just lit and shot a promo for cold cut (matt black) for their new single .. you can watch it on http://www.goclaygo.com/reel.html

If your going to take the analogy further... well maybe the major leage guy s gonna say... don t use a piece of wood that can work as well as a bat use a proper old bat. You would not find any of the elite here slagging off an old busted EFP or a mk2 . I do personally think that the glidecam gold is probably a good rig and everyone is entitled to their opinions including those that slag it off! especially considering their qualifications Anyway this argument has been cropping up repeatedly on this forum and is dull as dishwater. I shot a load of stuff on miniDV for ninja tunes last month on a handheld glidecam2000 and once balanced it all looks wicked! but they did not pay me and this site is intended for people and their opinions that charge money.

The other thing I make sure off on jobs like this.... I make sure that coming from steadicam to sticks is as fast as possible... super fast.. Like a race pitstop. Don t let the AC/2ndAC daudle as they do. Fast fast fast. going onto steadicam take your time and get things right not worrying too much if AD says "we are waiting for you" but coming onto sticks ..... get the sticks into position where the Dp wants them and that camera on it before he has time to think and light. This way director/DoP never hesitate in going to sticks/dolly for a shot that needs it. Other wise you end up doing whole days where the director requests that steadicam static feel to it simply because he thinks its a big deal changing over. If it s super16 or lightweight 35mm carry snap plates and request a lightweight follow focus. Change over 1 minute 30 seconds. Your back/knees will be pleased. If its tape... have your own sony baseplate

No worries Ben... I do regret passing that to you as I had to film a horse all day and the bloody git bit me! I had the same problem as you Ben with the tingle and the Klassen. I rang Don Klassen up and he recomended me the following. On the back of your vest you can adjust your arm up or down. Don t have it at the mid point, either have it at the top or bottom. I have not looked back and never get the tingle now! Experiment with where you can get away with having that arm.

use 2 laser dots that way you can keep an eye on the roll as well as the position.

An element of "sticking" or locking at the ends of the boom range on the master arm was perfectly normal I thought. It can sort of jam/get comfortable at the ends. With the klassen the arm is doubled back on itself much more so your point of leverage is much closer compounding the problem, if I push the sled/arm out a bit it becomes much easier to leave the restaurant at the end of the travel. Something I do probably without thinking now and as a result it never "sticks". On the front mounted vest this is less of an issue because your leverage is higher. N.B. I have probably got all my physics completely wrong as well as my spelling and sticking is definately the wrong word to describe it.... sorry saturday hung over.

I have pondered this wireless issue for ages. Been using all the film 2.4ghz stuff out there as well as the high power illegal ones and got myself a modulus with transvideo recievers.... UHF is LOADS BETTER! ! absolutely without a doubt. When u get breakup it comes in the way of gradual image degradation rather than synch loss and flickering image. It goes through and around walls. For my applications (100 yards maximum) the picture just is loads better! I am very very happy having gone UHF . The video playback boys are very impressed, they don t see much UHF here since it is illegal. Thomas

Worlds colliding David... well done... did not think of that. I had realised that most Lcd monitors (panasonic 7in) are designed to be viewed from underneath to straight on. i.e. if it is flat on the table and you are looking at it sitting at your desk to it is upright like a computer monitor. The transvideo monitors seem to have visability from the top to flat on which is strange. Flip it upside down! wicked! What are you mounting your monitors with? the transvideo steadicam mount is completely crap.

Vis a vis back seat dp ing. Definately don t back seat Dp but be attentive to the lighting situation. but it is your job to do a lighting check for shadows and the like before every shot. Don t make creative suggestions but I would always ask the Dp (quietly) if we can move a light a foot forwards or backwards to enable me to get a shot. If in doubt speak to the Dp very quitely so nobody can hear, this way he does not feel like your publicly telling him what to do. A back seat Dp is a nightmare but a polite thinking steadicam op. is very much appreciated.

I don t know about the horror stories regarding vest s digging in and paralysing. There have been previous threads about the vest digging into the spot at the top of your leg where the nerves come out and giving a numbing feeling. I had this myself when I got my klassen, I solved it by simply raising the klassen arm to the top of its level. I have had it to a lesser extent when soft mounting on vehicles as you describe. What I will say is this level of paralysis/numbness happens gradually and you will know about it, its not a sudden thing. It only becomes permanent if you do it constantly contastantly then you can damage the nerve. (mountain climbers have the same problem with their big rucksacks). I hope this helps. Like I say there are previous threads about this type of sensation.

remember these europeans take lots of holidays!

British Low Budget Features!!!!! rates!!!!????? nightmare (all prices here quoted in UK pounds) There are a lot of lowbudget features shooting over the last 2 years in the UK where the focus puller gets about 200 a week, the grip EVEN LESS and they are hassling you to operate steadicam for little money. These are very common! often with american money!!! I think american producers are starting to realise they can shoot a very cheap feature in the UK by blaggin crew or is it that most of the money in this bussiness is american. I think its dangerous to talk rates on this forum as producers could easily use our open conversations against us by simply loggin on here. I am sure there are deals done , kit 4 for 6 days etc etc. The big operators (A-camera/steadicam) seem to do an overall deal with kit thrown in for when/if it goes steadicam on the understanding as to how much steadicam there is. The low budgets are simply after super super cheap deals. I got asked a little while ago to do a 6 day week on a 750 with kit for 400 uk pounds a week. Whatever deal you do, make sure it is bumped up to a reasonable rate defered that way your ego stays intact and people understand costs. I have had producers ring me up and say, yeah I got this guy for 200/day. The guy who did a deal does not realise the producer is mouthing off talking about how cheap he is thinking he simply did a favour. goodluck... British low budget features... nightmare... British low budget feature producers.... NIGHTMARE!!!!! nightmare I mean it! ... rescheduling work losing, labour inducing NIGHTMARE! goodluck... I will PM you with more info.

it s a fickle game ours to say the least, are you confident you could get your clients back after a years break? Do you feel there s enough work as a producer out there in the longer longer term to sustain you once you have lost your shooting coups? especially these bigger jobs like the one you have been offered. The benifits/understanding you would bring to producing would clearly be immense. I don t think I would have an issue with back seat dop ing (but I have a fraction of your experience), you would quickly and efficiently see if someone is crap. Would you be mean and hard nosed enough to produce though? This is something I am not sure of in myself. I have a very good friend of mine, was one of the biggest promos dop that crossed over to directing and has been struggling for a few years now trying to get back his premium clients in a very fickle world. He does regret trying I think, but he s doing well again now. It s a shame your producing stint is a whole year! not 3 months or 7 months but a year. You need to think about it, you ll definately be getting some very cavalier advice about "just go for it" , the nature of cameramen is they are very cavalier and tend to run their bussineses, relationships and advice as such (I know I tend to)! but potentially there is certainly more money to be made producing! There s also quite a few skint producers slogging there guts out, over here anyway.

chasecam would be great, there s a lot of SD card recorders coming onto the market at the moment though. Generally for around 100 USD. They all seem to be built around a very similar chipset (probably what the chasecam is also chasing). The chipset is very good and easy to use for recording/playback etc. What I would say while experimenting with mine is get good quality SD cards! I bought recorder in thailand where they are a plenty! there was a previous thread on this ipod unit http://www.steadicamforum.com/forums/index...?showtopic=2524

Thanks Ben, I had already tried that. Not having much luck at the moment. Going to try and source one of the xc-75 s thomas