Peter Abraham

Ron Vidor, far right in light colored jacket. I think that's Kyle Rudolph way down front, leg stuck out. That's Garrett's wonderful wife Ellen Shire just in front of Garrett and to Garrett's left, hiding behind his fingerless glove is Ted Churchill.

I experienced a slight numbness on the top of my left thigh for a few moments on the second day I ever tried on the prototype of the Exovest. It was Day 2 of NAB 2012. I talked to Chris, who examined the front pads and exclaimed that someone else trying it out had moved the pads so far to center that they were almost touching. He adjusted them back to the normal position and that is the last time I've ever felt that. This includes the 2012 Presidential Inaugural Parade in front of the White House, where I wore the vest and large broadcast kit with return monitor, etc for 3 hours. I had a dock to use at each end of the 150 yard walk, but for most of the parade I had to get my light, track with a band or group, finish the walk, hustle back to 1st Mark in time to pick up the next band, etc. etc. No problems. All of the advice you're getting regarding taking small breaks is good for you for many good reasons. Blood flow, release of muscle tension/ lactic acid buildup/ drink of water/ stretch, etc. Find ways to dock the rig when you can. They're paying you to deliver great moves WHEN it is time to wear the rig. When you are on commercial breaks, dock or hand off. Get a second docking bracket ( just priceless investment ), find a place to hide it as far from the first dock as is logical. Best luck, Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

So it is written, so it shall be done. Good tip there, Brant.

Must second the use of a Tri Ax jumper. Use the Tri Ax to Co Ax turnarounds and Mogami 2964 HD Coax. The neoprene jacket allows it to be very flexible and it has more copper than the very thin Belden. If an Engineer balks and throws the whole "Acceptable" crap at you, remind them that the camera will just shut down if the cable shorts. Nothing evil will happen. You won't die of electrocution. Please. In my experience, the ( usually yellow colored jacketed ) "Thinner Tri Ax Jumpers " are insanely stiff. YMMV. Best to all, Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

Justin, I will buy the Bolt kit in its entirety. Will PM you later Best, Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

Fortunately I have a firm grasp of reality ;I never claimed to be a doctor. You have succeeded brilliantly in disrespecting a highly complex skill by comparing it with yanking a piece of rope. Congratulations. And so we are all very clear this has nothing to do with stealing other people's ideas.

First of all, comparing real life feats of science to movie work is like comparing apples to stove bolts. I saved a woman's life once using manual C.P.R., when I was an E.M.T. Does that have anything to do with cinematography? Of course not. Indeed, science is in the air every time we operate. We are subservient to Newton's Threee Laws of Motion. Please regard:

This is exactly what I wrote up there: " Just so we are all very clear, this is a direct copy of a device covered by a patent owned by The Tiffen Company. The device is The Lynn Axis, invented by Chris Fawcett and is covered by This Patent." Now, the patent is indeed held by Tiffen. My mistake- which you are all welcome to flail me with until I retire and sell all of my gear off in shame- was that I credited Chris with the invention, knowing that it was Lynn ( two N's, people... ) who had filed the original patent. Chris did indeed actualize a part of the patent, quite brilliantly. Having said all of this, my original statement is accurate. This is a copy of a patented device. Period.

Um, yes Eric. I did state up there that the patent is owned by The Tiffen Company. Not Chris. Or were you correcting me because I spelled Lynn's name with one "n" up there? Apology for your mistake already accepted. :)

Eric is correct. Chris informs me early this morning that his efforts are based on a portion of the Patent cited above. Chris- a brilliant inventor- gets to take credit for actualizing the patent idea, but not for the original concept. My mis-statement, however, and I apologize for the imprecision of that part of my post. My statements regarding ownership of Lyn's Patent, however, is 100 % accurate.

Abad, Just so we are all very clear, this is a direct copy of a device covered by a patent owned by The Tiffen Company. The device is The Lynn Axis, invented by Chris Fawcett and is covered by This Patent. As a one-off, nicely copied. But this is protected intellectual property- just as Gregg Bubb's device is HIS invention. Best to all, Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

You know what they say: Keep your friends close and your Magliner closer.

You know what they say: It's always darkest just before the iris pull.

You know what they say: Every cloud has a silver nitrate lining.

And just so it is very clear as to what I am advocating and what the legal limits are on noise-blocking protests in this situation, here are the L.A.P.D. Noise Enforcement Guidelines.

Well done, sir. CNN is covering the article posted to the Entertainment Tonight website on your Facebook drive to stop crew personnel from joining the Midnight Rider production resumption.. It's on CNN's Front Page right now. The more light that is shed on this dark corner, the less chance it has to flourish. Very well done, sir. Although I am about to post these sentiments on that Facebook page, it is worth repeating them here: This is the United States of America. We are guaranteed the right of peaceful assembly. As far as I'm concerned, anyone not working on any day this production tries to press ahead with shooting is honor-bound to gather and protest as close as they are legally allowed to get to the location. Just as loudly as it can. Best, Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

Greetings Jamie, Find out what the diameter is of your centerpost. Then find relevant rigs today, or look for older docks that fit posts that size. For example, the CP Steadicam™ Models III, IIIA and EFP all used 1.5" centerposts. A few newer rigs do as well. You may find a manufacturer who makes a dock now that can accommodate your post size. You will need to make sure that the docking bracket has a stud on it that is identical in diameter to the arm post diameter. However, if you find a great dock for your post size and it lacks the proper diameter stud, a good machinist can turn one out for you. Best of luck, and welcome ! Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

I owned one of the DeRose XY plates. It was a solution, though it was neither elegant nor lightweight. Bob did deliver some remarkable mods in there early on- and I was glad to put out the sheckels needed to buy his plate. Larry McConkey turned me on to his XY plate before Bob was making the one he sold. Larry's was a one-off and when Bob produced his I heard about it from Derrick Whitehouse immediately, and bought one. I wasn't in Ted's apartment when he brought his first PRO Sled home but I was at his place when he first got the MovieCam Compact. He was the first person/ company to own one in the United States. He'd not even had it a week when we went to visit him. Chuck Jackson, myself, one or two other Ops...I cannot remember why Chuck was in NYC?.... Might have been the trip he made with Chris Haarhoff when Chris did some instructing and I helped out. Not sure. Anyway, we all trooped up to Ted's place in the WestBeth building. Stood there admiring the damned thing. Sitting there. On his sled. On the docking stand. Then Ted says, " It's running". My jaw dropped. Next to every 16mm and 35mm body I'd ever stood next to, I could have sworn this device was not on. He put my palm against the door. VERY faintly I could feel the movement. I asked, what about a flashing light to be able to TELL you've got the film running? He cracked up and said it could be dimmed and disabled, and he'd done so just to have it purring along without our being able to tell. For me, that evening and the concept of a Compensating Pendulum set the bar high in terms of gear geek.

Thanks Wil. Excellent. It's the first 35mm body I learned to thread. I remember the km no , but not the reason!!!

Please regard the photo embedded below. This is a common enough image. Back in the day, the Panavision PSR ( and perhaps other very early Panavision bodies ) had a magazine cover. It looked just like this. Many of the images I see include the information that reads, " R=200º ". It seems to me that all camera bodies go out the door ( or, went out the door ) with a 180º shutter unless specifically altered for a shot or project. Note that this information is a part of the molded side of the Magazine barney and not a strip of tape, etc. Why would the early Panavision bodies have a 200º shutter angle as a default when either a Maltese Cross type ( 90º x 2 ) or a 180º shutter was the standard? And how would this different shutter angle be resolved when projecting prints in a projector that used a Maltese Cross shutter? Best to all, Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

Great stuff ! I used to have a printed set of these. Interesting that in Plate #1, Ted indicates that an X/Y Top stage is a "mod", when in fact the IIIA Stage was the first Steadicam rig to present side to side adjustment on the stage. I wonder if he was using his Model III for these templates and by the time they were released, the IIIA was out with that feature?

Wonder if this offering from IDX is as good as the Bolt. Anyone seen this thing in action?? CW-3 Wireless. Best to all, Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

Hi- so this company is advertising on the Forum page. Just to the right of what I'm typing, actually. Is it an answer to the Teradek 2000? Anyone using it? How is it? The price seems identical to the 2000. Not in the market for something like this yet, but once NAB hits, I'm guessing the latest and greatest will drive this down to $ 4K range. Rebotnix RB-2 Best to all, Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

Price?.......

Bidding War !! How much indeed, I'm interested.... Best Peter Abraham, S.O.C.