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Couldn't help it... Bo - no no no no. That may sound negative, but hear me out, and I'll try to give the broad strokes here, saving details for later. No such thing as a half day rate, and who cares how long you operate for the day. 8 hour guarantee, 10 hour guarantee, whatever you can get. Whether they use you for 10 hours or 5 minutes - you get paid for a full day. And it's not because of all the hassle of phone calls, getting to and from set, etc... it's because once you take that half day - assuming you're an honorable guy and fulfill your commitments - you'll have to turn down every other full day that is looking for an operator that day. I've had producers at the end of a day where the Steadicam work was literally one shot try to negotiate a lower rate. With as straight a face as possible I ask, "If every shot today had been Steadicam, would you have paid me more than what we agreed on?" That usually ends the conversation. No introductory rate. You'll find it very difficult to dig out from down the road. And $800/day for labor AND rental???? Is that really the going rate down there? I guess if you don't have a big rig, and aren't in the union, you're probably in a market with which I'm unfamiliar. Perhaps that rate is fair. I wouldn't be able to advise. The first two points, however, should apply regardless. Be consistent. Be clear. Get things in writing. Try not to do "favors", especially for people/producers you don't know. An $800 day of Steadicam is already doing them a huge favor.

This is sort of coming down to semantics, but then again we are in a business that relies on common terminology for efficient communication. If a director or DP requests that I make a whip pan, I know what to give them; likewise, if I offer up a whip pan when we are talking through a shot, they (hopefully!) know what I mean by that. Obviously the first time we rehearse the shot, it will become apparent if we are talking about two different things and will make whatever adjustment is necessary, but as operators we like to be the ones using the proper terminology regarding camera movement, and are forced to be patient with those who don't (classic example: director asking us to "pan up")! In the worst case scenario, this can result in a serious miscommunication that can be quite costly time-wise. Once I was shooting a party scene at a house and the director and I walked through from the front door to the back door as he defined the path of an actor, saying "we follow him through here, around here, into the living room" etc. I set about lighting the space which was extensive. A good hour and a half later, we put the Steadicam up for the first time and started moving behind the actor, the director yelled "Cut! Cut! What's the deal? You're shooting the back of his head!" I said, "I'm following him, as we discussed". His response: "I meant following him from the front!" Grit teeth, smile and nod; 45 minute relight and we were back on track. You get the point. On this specific issue: I too would not characterize a type of camera move based on what technique was required to achieve it. My definition of a whip pan is fully in the eye of the beholder--it's a fast pan, fast enough that the image between the beginning and the end is pure motion blur, fast enough that you could make a cut or short dissolve in the middle of two separate takes and never see it. Whether it is achieved on Steadicam via gimbal pan or body pan, or whatever technique is used is purely the operator's concern and the decision is based on personal preference and how one gets into and out of that section of the shot. Based on watching your piece, Mark, I think that most operators would opt to make the move around the corner as a body pan, since the camera is pointed the same direction as the operator in the sections preceding and following the pan i.e. missionary backing up to missionary pushing in. Trying to unravel your description of the physicality you used, it sounds like you landed with your body rotated to the left, then panned on the gimbal and pulled the rig around the side of your body before pushing off again, which seems comparatively awkward. Even worse would be panning on the gimbal while still facing in the original direction, which requires pushing the rig away from the body then having to race around it before moving in the new direction. I checked your avatar to see if you were goofy-foot (apparently you aren't) as that would make a bit more sense--the rig doesn't have to cross the body with that configuration. Long response here. I'm sitting in a hotel room, bags packed and waiting out the hours until the wrap party, so plenty of time to noodle on the computer...!

It does require the same technique? I wouldn't go that far, I certainly don't operate a pan like that. A whip maybe but not a normal pan like the pan in your video. I did a 270 degree pan lastnight and I didn't use the technique you describe, I used a combo of normal pan and foot panning, and said pan was at whip speeds, but I wouldn't call it a whip pan Don't get me wrong, great job on your first paying gig. Just understand that while there are many techniques to achieve a result you can't group all results under one description because you used a specific technique