Peter Abraham

The Tiffen Company is pleased to announce that The Camera Company is hosting a Steadicam Flyer/ Pilot Workshop. It is being held the weekend of June 13 & 14, 2009. This intensive training is the first of its kind in the Boston area.

Details and registration information may be found at our comprehensive Steadicam Workshops web site. Workshops Web Site

Please contact me with any and all questions regarding training or sales of our Steadicam systems.

Best to all,

Peter

Peter Abraham

Director of Technical Services

Tiffen / Steadicam

6 Lake Street

Monroe, New York 10950

Cell     (917) 453-1219

Fax  ( 845) 595-2270

email: pabraham@tiffen.com

http://www.thesteadicamworkshops.com

Eric,

Thank you for posting the invitation to our evening at N.A.B. We look forward to seeing many of our Steadicam Operators at the event, as well as at our booth. Stop by and take a rig for a spin.

Best to all,

Peter Abraham

We were pleased to see a lot of our colleagues drive up from Los Angeles for the afternoon and evening. A handful got to watch as Garrett led the groups through their Test Shot.

Our thanks to all who made the journey into the mountains. It gave the students a very strong sense of community and a first glimpse of what a great group Steadicam Operators are.

Best to all,

Peter Abraham

Dear Charles,

Just watched the trailer on my Tréo.

I'd no idea they made a BPM 8 !! Great stuff !!!

Peter Abraham

The Tiffen Company would like to invite all Steadicam Operators to the 3rd Annual Lake Arrowhead Classic's Operators' Night. We are hosting our Lake Arrowhead Classic at the UCLA Conference Center at Lake Arrowhead, CA.

Plan to arrive around 2:00 p.m. that day. Spend some time with Garrett Brown, Jerry Holway, Ruben Sluijter, Dave Svenson, Patrick Van Weeren, myself and our group of 16 hard-working students. Join us for dinner in the lovely dining room and stay into the evening. If you wish to stay over, make arrangements with the folks at the Conference Center. ( Info in the link above )

Please contact me if you would like to attend. RSVP's are key so we have a good head count for dinner. Hoping many of you can make it !!

Best,

Peter Abraham

pabraham@tiffen.com

Peter, any chance of doing a workshop in the Los Angeles or San Diego area this year?

 

Thanks,

Michael

Hi Michael,

I bring the Flyer/Pilot Workshops to L.A. about 2-3 times a year. They're always full. Please do keep an eye out on the Workshops web site. I'm about to lock up some new workshops and that is the place to find out about them !

As an aside, I did a Flyer Workshop at Video Gear in San Diego a few years ago. Martin Banks owns the place. He's immensely knowledgeable about camera, lighting, accessories and Steadicam. Solid local resource.

Best,

Peter

Note: The Austin Texas Flyer/ Pilot Workshop has been canceled. Keep an eye out here for another workshop in Texas.

 

Why was it canceled?

Rare, but it happens. I am going to bring the Workshops to Texas, no doubt about it. We're working with some of our other dealers in the Lone Star State to make it happen this year.

Best to all, and do feel free to call or email with any questions.

Peter Abraham

Thanks for the nod- the team in Glendale did a yeoman's job on this one. Glad to have been able to help you out, Michael.

It's all about the shoot. Have a terrific weekend and make good pictures !

Stand up straight !

Watch that thumb !!

Best,

Peter Abraham

A lot of your work makes the actors look more erotic. It's like a calling card. Bless you...

;)

Agreed that the least disturbing is best. I always sweated stairs work where within a step or two of ascending or descending, it is not apparent where the heck we are and why we are suddenly flying around.

N'est pas?

Hi Peter,

 

You meant : "N'est-ce pas ?" ?

 

That translates into : "Isn't it ?"

I sit corrected. :)

About the "elevatored world" versus tilting down, it depends of the style/mood of the shot and the skills (or lack of) of the operator.

 

The "no tilting" style can be pretty cool and not distracting at all if made in perfect sync with the talent and without wobble, that's something that Steadicam is able to do in a way that is hard to achieve with other tools.

 

As always it's better being able to deliver both styles flawlessly (and create many new ones).

 

K.

Oh, the assumption is that you can pull it off with no wobble. I was addressing how the world "feels" as you watch the shot. It's an odd one. Always seemed to me that the way to make a "sit down" with someone feel more natural and less like an elevator is to precisely emulate what we humans do when we sit:

1. Approach where we will sit.

2. Slow, and drop our head and eyes for a split second. This is a basic self-preservation motion. Unless you are a wild and wooley 6 year old, nobody throws themselves into a seat blindly.

3. After quickly checking visually, we drop into the chair and then- even if we are sitting down with the intention of reading a book or newspaper- we instinctively glance up at the horizon. As though we are taking a moment to tell our brains, " You're here now. Lower. See horizon? Got it? Okay then".

4. We get on with whatever we're sitting down to do.

If we use this exploded view of sitting down as a guide, then we can see why it's very natural feeling to tilt slightly as we boom with an actor, and as they settle, we continue our boom down but tilt up slightly to kiss off the shot. ( Not tilt UPwards, but as we stop booming, we slightly level the frame from the angle we'd committed to as we boomed down. )

Make sense?

Hey Steve,

Long time indeed !! Stay in touch, and enjoy Directing. Congrats on the move !

Peter Abraham

pabraham@tiffen.com

Perhaps the shortest example of this is the "wrong way" to sit someone down in a shot. If we simply boom down with them as they sit without altering the angle of approach to the subject in any way, the actor has essentially remained neutral while the world behind them has " elevatored" ( new word ) upwards violently. Not nearly what we as animals experience as we sit.

Which is why when we work on sitting people down, we incorporate subtle tilts into the operation. It breaks that moment of perfectly matching size and pace of the subject and allows us to "feel" them sit down properly.

N'est pas?

Peter Abraham

Director of Technical Services, Steadicam

The Tiffen Company

" The Tilt Guy"

pabraham@tiffen.com

So, in a way, the shots are the story, and therefore every shot is serving the story.

Boy. Talk about distilling everything we do with Steadicam down to one sentence.

Peter Abraham

I bought hard-shell kneepads about 15 years ago at a skating store. Foam on the inside, hard plastic on the outside, they do cover the entire kneecap area but nothing more.

Good idea from Robert, to use different types for different work. I would sometimes use the hard-shell pads for kneeling during hand-held and it was not ideal.

They were there to protect the knees and career. Spend $ 25.00 or $ 200.00, but get some and always have them in the kit.

Peter Abraham

Reminds me of Ted Churchill, who used to operate Steadicam wearing rollerskates. The 4-wheeled variety. I believe in the book " LightYears", there is an accounting of Ted showing up to shoot a live concert by wheeling through the crowd up to the stage in skates.

The Steadicam Operator's Manual of Style has a photo of Ted's gear in a pile- including a rollerskate.

Yipes.

Peter Abraham

jeff,

 

thanks for posting this. i have wondered how it looks and your photo does it.

 

its also good to see another cat here at cnn. i do Steadi here in Atl at CNN with old school Triax!!! i use triax adapters but still!! you big city noo yawkers get all the good gear! :-)

 

i use anthony violanto's method and it has worked really really well.

Remind me when I come down soon to CNN to train- I'll bring you the crimper tool for the Mugami 2964 High Def Audio/Video Cable. It has a neoprene jacket. Great soft limp stuff. Used it for years on Tri Ax to Co Ax set up. May really help you out.

For the price of a good sushi dinner, it's yours to use !

Peter Abraham

I run a thin fiber or triax down the center of the camera just in front of the gimbal. I keep the cable in front of me and attach it to the back of my vest.

 

Adam Keith

Superb form and classic grip. You look relaxed and in control. Who taught you? :D

Seriously now. Jerry's new coiled arm technique would have saved me a lot of heartache- and split attention- back when I was doing live t.v. I was forever watching out to make sure the long loop didn't catch on the sled.

The cable path you're using ( which I used to use ) is successful. Just forces you to be a BIT more aware of where the cable is going after it leaves your hand area. Try Jerry's during the endless rehearsals I know they still give you on All My Children !

Peter Abraham

It takes a few loose screws to remind me to obey the basic rituals. Check everything periodically. Check ALL of the screws and bolts after flying. The high-frequency vibration of flight wreaks havoc. A few thoughts in this regard.

1. Blue non-permanent Loc-Tite will keep screws from unwinding. For those that are never moved aside from major projects or overhauls, apply a drop and let set. When I had my Master Series Elite rig, I used it on the stage screws that held things together. Similarly, it's VERY useful to apply to one's top thumbscrew on the vest. The one we use to measure our settings? Unless you gain or lose a lot of weight, those settings are rarely touched. And yet, every time you put the vest into the bag/ case, the thumbscrews are turned randomly. Some blue Loc-Tite will stop the top one from moving day to day. Quite useful.

2. The Stomp Test ^tm. Useful for all rigs and set-ups. Unless you are completely confident in the mountings of all gear, try this when you set up in the morning. Similarly, try it when a new bit is added to the camera. Get in good posture, fly the rig with fingers barely touching and stomp your back foot hard. Watch the corner of the monitor housing. If there is vibration, you can usually see it there. Or, zoom in all the way on the video camera and hit record. Watch playback. If you see vibration when doing a stomp, you will see it when running because the vertical shuddering inherent in running is identical to the vibration caused by a stomp. On a film camera, hit record on your on-board to check. Quick test, done at the stand ( you needn't RUN to do it ) and delivers valuable information before you get on set with the rig.

3. Keep a good collection of very long zip ties on hand. When adding on elements whose bracketry is suspect, zip ties are a great way to stop movement / vibration. A good example here is an older follow-focus set up. Heden motor, IIIA-style rod off of "rabbit-ear" on the dovetail plate, stiff lens. Motor struggles to turn, can "roll off" of lens, causing lack of grab and vibration. Zip tie can pull the motor against the lens- yet the lens barrel can spin against the zip tie freely. Not so with velcro and tape. Anyone using a rig with a broadcast video camera and a teleprompter has had to deal with vibration.

A bit of forethought in terms of a kit that allows you to rapidly reduce vibration, and a few moments of checking when building in the morning might help you to prevent this situation.

Best to all,

Peter Abraham

Director of Technical Services, Steadicam

The Tiffen Company

( and 21 years Operating. 5 sleds, 5 arms, 3 vests )

Note: The Austin Texas Flyer/ Pilot Workshop has been canceled. Keep an eye out here for another workshop in Texas.

Ricardo-

Great question !! I will create another one in late May or early June . Keep an eye out here, and there will be an announcement.

The NY Workshop is now sold out.

Best

Peter

" Why walk when you can ride? "

Good question- asked by Garrett, Jerry and many others through the years. At our upcoming Lake Arrowhead Classic, we will be providing an assortment of methods of moving a Steadicam around that do not involve shoe leather.

I've arranged for the well-designed and remarkably flexible Cine Rover. This system was designed by long-time Steadicam Operator Tony Foresta.

Also working on having one of the Hands-Free Transporter systems designed specifically for Steadicam all week.

Traditional Vehicle Mount is always a part of the Lake Arrowhead Classic. This year is no exception. We'll have several systems to make use of- the standard top-hat vehicle mount as well as the Steadicam Rickshaw provided by our colleague David Allen Grove.

Standing still? Walking down stairs? Running? Riding? Climbing a hill at 45 mph in a vehicle? All a part of the week up at Lake Arrowhead. A few slots are still available for this event.

Steadicam Workshops Home Page

Good morning.

We've still got 2 slots left for our upcoming Hauppauge, New York Flyer/Pilot Workshop. Don't miss the chance to train on Tiffen's Steadicam Flyer LE and Steadicam Pilot.

We have arranged for a rare treat- a Steadicam Hands-Free Segway will be on site on Sunday. All students will be given an overview of operational techniques and a short spin on the system. Steadicam / Hands-Free Operator Jon Beattie will be providing this for our group.

To register, follow this link and submit the forms and tuition as instructed. Call or email with any quesitons.

Best,

Peter Abraham

Director of Technical Services, Steadicam

The Tiffen Company

917-453-1219

pabraham@tiffen.com

The Steadicam Workshops Home Page

Good morning,

Glad to help you in your search. Tiffen does indeed make motor mounts for our Steadicam systems and plates. For your Clipper plate, we offer the kit of one bracket that screws into the plate with two rods for two motor clamps.

Frequently folks buy these in multiples, because- as was the case with my last big rig- you need to be able to reach up and around part of the camera body to get to the lens at an advantageous point of contact. Using a few "dogbones" and rods, I was able to put my focus and iris motor wherever it needed to be.

Below is the part number and price per kit. Contact me if you'd like to order them.

Part # 250-7915 15mm Motor Rod Set ( 2 rods and mounting bracket ) $ 260.00 per set.

Best to all,

Peter Abraham

Director of Technical Services, Steadicam

The Tiffen Company

pabraham@tiffen.com

917-453-1219

Change in dates : The Austin, Texas Flyer/ Pilot workshop is now being held on the weekend of April 18 & 19, 2009.

The Tiffen Company is pleased to be hosting the 3rd annual Lake Arrowhead Classic Steadicam Workshop.

This intensive 5 1/2 day event features 4-5 instructors, 16 students, at least 4 big rig Steadicam systems featuring our new Ultra2, Clipper 324, Clipper 312 and Archer, tons of gear, accessories, hard work and fun. Jerry Holway will once again be the Lead Instructor.

The Lake Arrowhead Classic is held March 22- 29, 2009 at the UCLA Conference Center at Lake Arrowhead, California. Those flying in will want to fly to Ontario Airport.

We are still accepting applications for this workshop. Please feel free to contact me with questions and visit our Steadicam Workshops web site for full information, syllabus and registration details on this and all of our Steadicam Workshops.

Sincerely,

Peter Abraham

Director of Technical Services, Steadicam

The Tiffen Company

pabraham@tiffen.com

917-453-1219

http://www.thesteadicamworkshops.com