Peter Abraham

Yes. You do get extra credit. You're half way there, Charles...can't you just almost TASTE that tally light?? :P ( I'd no idea that was Nelson's crane rig. God, that is a great gag- and doesn't O'Toole look so very smooth sitting in it? )

It's a heck of a thing. I have one of the ones that C.P. was sending out, on the shelf. Then again, I have the first Demo ever videotape on the East Coast of a Steadicam. It was done by G.B., at The Camera Mart in 1977. Vintage Steadicam-35 and all..... :D Peter Abraham, E.M.T.

Erwin, This is a message board. Tim does a lovely job running it, and it's all of ours. It's truly poor form to state, " Let's leave it at that", essentially telling our entire community that you've decided the conversation is over. By very design, a thread dies when nobody else posts to it. Not when one member decides they want to shush everyone else up. Peter

One-handed operating. Wow. The VERY first thing I did when I bought my Model I was to go out and discover A.I.N. Plastics, and buy some black polypropelene from them, to alter the vest plastics to black. The second thing was to get my uncle who is a sharp machinist to fashion me a black delrin knurled round handgrip. He cut the inside hole so tightly, that no glue was ever used. We lined it up so the locking screw head was going to be accessable, and pounded it down the length of that white metal fingergrip that came stock. Not only was it round, but it was not metal- it didn't get bitter cold to grab in the winters. -sigh- I miss that rig, I sure with John Seitz hadn't burned it up........literally. Peter Abraham, E.M.T.

This brings up an interesting retro-fit. I adored my BFD's, and are perilously close to being the guy who owned # 3 EVER MADE and # 26, sold them both and now may shop to Jim for yet a new system. My BFD's never slipped on their own. There was simply zero drift. Ever. Period. The ONLY time I saw a shift in marks was when I'd handed the sled to a big burly grip after a murderously long take ( well, takes ) and the grip- not knowing better- held along the top stage in front for balance. His hand must have moved along the knurled wheels, and voila- shift in calibration. Those wheels have a lot of friction to them, they cannot just "slip" out. It was obvious and extreme, we realized what had happened before the next take, and in 20 seconds re-set the rig. Jim- perhaps a tiny cap of some kind? I know that it'd be rough to retro-fit a cap and clasp mechanism into existing BFD's, but this is the only thing I've ever seen that could move calibrations. Now, as to the person who claimed that lots of big time Ops use a Seitz or WRC-III/IIIA. Those systems were prone to hard signal interference from a variety of sources. Since the sampling rate was so slow, and the way the signals were sent and recieved ( Jim, step in and slap me around and correct any mistakes here ok? ), the units were able to be interfered with directly with an outside RF signal. A walkie talkie on set, a cabbie with an illegally strong radio, and the single most distressing fact of life on our planet: Standing RF Waves. They do literally eminate from the core outwards into space, they are a peculiarity of the electronic fields surrounding the earth. You can turn on a Seitz or WRC-IIIA or WRC IV and walk around slowly, miles from a walkie talkie or other RF source and suddenly your motor will twitch hard, and twitch back to its previous mark. Standing Waves. Ach. I had the best take of the night on Spike Lee's "X" ruined by an RF hit. I was using a WRC-IV at the time. There are no responsible Ops using technology that allows RF hits to stop or alter their signals to their FF units. For the cost of a BFD you never have to sweat dalies again. The whole issue of brand names guaranteeing work and careers, I will leave to others to hash out. And besides- if your Preston box fails, you have a useless hunk of metal the price of a Mazda Protege LX, and NO FF. IF your BFD xmitter OR reciever fails ( I haven't heard of such, but eventually all electronics fail ), you simply take the secondary or tertiary unit from your case. Shift the channel knob on the outside, and you're off ! Of course, one could make the claim that you could just as easily own three complete Preston systems. For $ 45,000......... :o Peter Abraham, E.M.T.

MINOR TWEAK to contest...( heh ( It was the Steadicam Operator seen somewhere in "Sweet Liberty". Not in "The Four Seasons". Carry on. B)

Holy Flyback Circuit, Batman !!!!!!!!!!! :ph34r: THAT is very impressive. I love how you packed all of that wiring and stuff into a matchbox. My box is a bit bigger, but cannot light a match. Everything is give and take, huh?

Oh, god no. Not me, not hardly. Thanks for the very generous offer for your tally light. Fortunately, I've still got about 20 left in the case !!!

Nope, wrong on both counts. Did I forget to mention that if you guess incorrectly, YOU have to give ME an accessory from your kit? Oh, I guess I did forget that part...... :P

Hey, thanks Job !!!!! Now I don't have to wonder if it arrived at your doorstep, huh? Yes, that's it. David, it's basically the same design as the one described by Jerry Holway in the Steadicam Letter, lo those many years ago ( although, someone else turned me on to the diagram at the Atlanta Olympics ). This one's fairly hardy, and I found Ultra Bright LED's to use......... Peter

:D :D :D :D In a manner of speaking. Let's just say that my drive to make a rig just the way I want it is no less forceful than anyone else's. My rig has astonishing karma. ;) Cameras are getting lighter. Peter

I'm looking for someone's spare or outdated docking bracket. My Steadicam Mini centerpost these days is a Model III post, and a Model III gimbal. Either a standard older CP dock would work, or a fancypants DeRose with the spin balance pin out the back. Anyone have a piece in a box to sell? Email me or post here if you have something you aren't using any more. Best to all, Peter Abraham, E.M.T.

This universal tally light can be used on any rig made by any manufacturer. It is self-powered and bright enough to be seen clearly outside. I've sold about 20 of the original run of 40. The power source runs for close to a year, if the rig is used 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 50 weeks. Simple and elegant, and cheap !!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D For $ 100.00 USD, I will ship it to you. Email me if interested. Best to all, Peter Abraham, E.M.T.

Spattered with blood? Check. Shit on by pigeon while shooting Limp Bizkit's "Nookie" video? Check. SPAT upon IN Sing-Sing Prison while shooting opening sequence of "No Way Home" ? Check. Mud? Check. Ocean water? Check ( to me, the most eggregious insult to gear outside of molten lava is salt water, but that's just me ). Love Saran Wrap. I used a custom made cover for my old MS Elite, made out of thick clear vinyl slipcover sheeting. Incredible stuff- self stick velcro sticks to it SO well, that one takes great care to apply the velcro in the proper place first time out. For those with home made or home customized rigs, I heartily suggest this as a good way to go. Peter Abraham, E.M.T.

Spot The Operator In The Movie Trivia Time !!! 1. The Stunt Man. Who was operating the Steadicam-35? He appears very briefly in two different shots. Heh heh. 2. Who is seen in the Alan Alda nightmare The Four Seasons A free Steadicam Tally Light - made and sold by moi- to the first Member who correctly names both people ! :P Peter Abraham, E.M.T.

Then there's the Operator who fired up his brand new PRO monitor on set, and half the monitor was incredibly dark. Then, after an hour, all dark. Then, it shut down and that was that. Brand new, out of the box. So yes, things do break down. No matter who builds them. :unsure: I adored my Master Series Elite. The chipset design meant that I had the best of all worlds. A single battery, BUT with zero ground hum, and perfect full-strength video signal. Why? Because there are video D/A chipsets, and 12v-to-12v filter chipsets in the rig. Ditto with the frameline generator. It's NOT in the monitor. If something fails, it can literally be pulled and a new chipset popped in- in the field in under 60 seconds. THAT'S nice. And yes, Master Series rigs have electronic problems too- ALL rigs develop them. The underlying question has always been, what have the designers of a particular rig done not only to advance the needs of operators, but to advance the needs of in-field emergencies. Not everybody lives in Topanga Canyon, frequently an Owner/Operator is incredibly far from any kind of support/spare rigs or parts/repair services. So, you look at what might go wrong, what likely WILL go wrong on a shoot, and how your rig will fare. My Model I and Model II rigs were dangerous beasts to have out in the boonies. Even after I learned how to insulate an errant high-voltage tripler wire leak! They were by design NOT user-friendly as far as repairs went. That was a long time ago, and things have progressed. I would recommend keeping the problem of Problems In The Field, on your list when considering what rig to get into. Being penny-wise but pound-foolish can cost you a career move, if you burn the wrong producer by not being able to overcome an emergency. There's a fine art to what people carry as far as repair items and spare parts. Ted Churchill said it best in his Steadicam Operator's Manual of Style. ( paraphrasing ) " Since the vest is unlikely to break down, you are left with the arm and the sled. Purchasing spares of each of these is advisable" :o

Erwin, Normally I readily admit that you know what the frick you're talking about around here. This time, you're giving false hope. The simple fact is that the locking ring on an EFP Gimbal is an integral part of the gimbal/handle piece. They are one and the same, and the lock rests at the bottom of the handle. it does not reside within the gimbal ring, as is the case with the Model III and Model III-A Steadicam ® gimbals. He cannot swap and change parts. he just can't. What he CAN do, if Tiffen cannot replace that lower handle portion of the gimbal/handle, is to try replacing that gimbal with another one. It is a commong diameter, he could indeed pull off the EFP totally and replace with a III or III-A gimbal. . But, he cannot in any way cannibalize a III or III A gimbal to put a lock in, where his is broken. Peter Abraham, E.M.T.