Bryan Fowler

Just curious, Who's going to NAB this year? I am, for all 1 of you who know who I am. =) Bryan (Sorry for the semi pointless post. I toyed with posting this in the off topic, but it's fairly steadicam related...right?)

Thanks everyone for the help. I went through and cut more, and trimmed more. Changed the opening shot to what I thought was a good one. totally removed some shots. Are there any shots that anyone sees that should be taken out totally? Again, thanks for the help. =) Bryan

Thanks guys very much for the advice. I knew that I had a little to much in there, but was having trouble choosing which clips to take out. I'll be working on it tomorrow in the middle of working on storyboards. I do have a clip from a Barlow Girl Music video, but the raw footage is still on it's way. Hey Matt, Are you saying to take out the corporate stuff? I work full time for a corporation, so that's why there is a lot of it on the reel. FowlerFilms is my side project, but I would love to be able to produce and direct more than just what I do now. What about corporate videos make them undesireable on your reel? Again, thanks very much for taking the time, and sharing experience.

Hi folks, I saw Afton's post about his reel, and thought I'd toss mine up to be shot down. Here is the link http://www.fowlerfilms.com/movie.html I think it's a tad to long, but what I'm wondering, is which shots to cut out? My fulltime job doesn't give me enough time to do steadicam as much as I'd like, so I'd like my reel to be ass good as it can be. any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I found some more info. http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/8040/ "they" say the MSRP is $250

I know there are several different ways of recording video on our rigs, but for those of us who have an iPod already, this is interseting. http://w3.isee-ato.com/

Jay! you're a doctor! That's awesome! congrats. all is well here in TN =)

In preperation for the next year, I've been trying to come up with ways of boosting business. Doing things that will hopefully help people who need a steadicam operator, find me. Aside from having a great reel (maybe that's for another thread) what are some methods that you guys have used, and were they successful? Do you offer incentive plans for referrals? Fancy business cards? New gear? Thanks for the help Bryan

So, in listening to all of you, (thanks for your input) we are not going to try it. It really wouldn't save us that much i guess. Maybe I was just looking for justification to get rid of our 20inch 4:3 TV that we have had for 5 years. =) I'm making an appointment to visit a Tax Accountant asap. Just wondering...where are we supposed to learn these laws about taxes? I didn't learn about any of this in school, and my parents didn't even know these answers. Like paying taxes quarterly and so on. Again, thanks for the help. Bryan

Yes, it's probably juvinile. Yes, it could be called greedy. Yes, I dont care, we want a new TV. Being new to this whole... tax thing, i'm wondering what kind of things might be deductable in our industry. I've deducted cable TV in the past, because I get a lot of ideas for production, and shots. So if the cable is deductable, shouldn't the TV that you watch it on ALSO be deductable? Any ideas? Bryan

yeah! I'm sure you are right! =) But think of all the looks I would get with a G arm...I would be the envy of the town. On second thought, I think there are 2 others that would know the difference. heh...one is my wife. Maybe if I can get a week long job, or even a two week gig! boy...that'd be nice. I guess for now I'll keep on working on the EFP arm. Becides, Imran gets one first. He deserves it too. =) bf

Still working on it. I haven't had time to try very hard, but I need to. I think it's a great excuse to get a G50 or G70! =)

Hi "Parenthesis Big O Underscore Little O Parenthesis" I second what the others say. More specifically, in my situation. It took me 5 years of working at it to get my rig. Although I had wanted one since '89. I talked to as many Ops as I could, both here in the US and in Australia (where I lived for a bit) just asking them about the profession, about the mentality of operating, and what it took mentally, physically, and interpersonally. Then I spent a few months just researching what a Steadicam, and parts of the Steadicam did, as well as pricing for the different parts. Finally, I found someone that would let me rent their rig from them after a day of one on one training. I had his rig for a week of shooting. 6 Months later, after renting it from him a few more times, my wife and I spent 60% of our savings, borrowed the other 40%, and purchased the rig from him, at a decent price. I knew it was a decent price because I had been doing a lot of research for the past few months/years. Then, I went to a workshop. It's worth the money, hands down. Today I'm writing a huge check to the bank to pay off the rest of the loan, then anything I make from now of will be to upgrade the rig to help me operate better. Take your time, work hard, read a lot, respect others, ask questions, save money. Oh, don't forget you are a camera operator before you are a steadicam operator. It will be harder to keep a job if you can't frame a shot. That's my newbie advice. Bryan Fowler Chattanooga, TN Oh yeah, start a new account with your name, that will help. Then read as much of this forum as you can handle, take a day break, then read more.

Thanks Rob, I'll try the hairdryer method first. The WD scares me. =)

I have an EFP arm with a stuck aircraft pin. The one that you switch from goofy to regular with? I don't think it's been changed in like.. 5 years or something, but for whatever reason, it's stuck. I've tried to tap it out with some soft wood and a mallet, but I don't want to hurt anything. Any ideas? Bryan

Hi Afton, When I made my cage, the local power coat guy was going to charge me $10 to do mine black. You might want to check around to see if you can get a similar deal. good luck. Fowler

Hey thanks Brett, I'll look into the extra battery idea. Another option is to get a monitor like the transvideo III or whatever. I think it weighs more, and has framelines. But powering the LCD with the added weight is a cool idea. I had a quick look around for the XCS dual rail system, but can't find it. Where did you get yours from, and what was the cost? I have Hytron 120s now, and they seem to be ok to power what I usually have on the rig. D-beta and Video stuff. Fowler

Imran, hey man! Yeah, I'm not doing to bad. Trying to balance full time job with part time steadicam work. All with out advertising. I can't shoot myself in the foot just yet. If you can email me some photos of your vest mods, I'd love it. I have some buckles from an ultra vest. As detailed as you can be, without taking up to much of your time. Actually, I'll PM you my idisk info, and you could post them there if you want. I got an LCD from the flyer. Peter A helped me decide which one to get. It's been working great. I wish it had framelines though. I ended up going to a tyre (tire) store, and asked for their used lead weights. They had a bucket, and I took the flat ones, wrapped them up, and attached them to the monitor. I think about 1/2 a Kg total weight.. and DynBal was still not quite there.. but much better. I need to make a moveable arm for the monitor. right now it's the single EFP arm.. can't move up or down without moving in or out.

So, I figured I'd post a few words about this weeks shoot. It was my first music video, and on a shoestring budget. We were using an SDX 900, and neither the DP, or myself had ever seen one in person before. I only had a few posts here at the forum to go by. We set it up in 24PA and it really looked good. I'm sure we could have tweaked a bit and improved some, but they were happy, so I tried not to meddle. We never did get the video out to have framelines and camera info though. *shrugs* They wanted to see what was going on, so they gave me a tether. It was a big'ole stiff cable, but i'm lucky I had a tiny BNC to hold. So it didn't end up being to bad. The first shots were pretty simple. Medium zoom and a little slide to the side. After about 30 min working on a ver variations on that shot, I bumped something in my pocket, and blew one of the takes. I couldn't remember what I had left in my pocket, (I usually empty everything) so I patted my leg to see what was in it. the top of my leg was numb. I'm not a seasoned operator. I've had my EFP rig about 6 months, and been moderatly active with it. And for sure been in it more than 30min, but this is the first time that had happened. I'm assuming my oversize vest was pressing on the "leg" nerve. After a 5min trip to the bathroom, it was back to normal. One of the last shots of the night required a vechile mount on the back of my ranger, (my wife driving) with the producer in the back holding a 10-15foot sprinkler system. It was to simulate rain, and for what it was, it worked...i think. The shot was a tracking shot of the actress running through people...in the rain. I protected the sled with trashbags wrapped around everything, and gaff taped to the post, and other things. For the LCD, Ame (wife) got some lexan, and we taped that real well to the front, and plastic on the back the camera had a jacket. The DP was protecting the lens with some old Black Foamcore I had in the truck. In the photo, nothing is holding me, or the camera in. The socket block is on a short post, on some plywood, that is clamped to the tailgate. Then I sat on it. It's something that came with the rig, and worked great. But isn't really same. I'm going to work on fixing it up, or buying an India Mount... I was wrapped at 4:30 am, but the rest of the crew stayed on longer. Things I learned from this shoot: -I need a cart, Magliner with Shelves, or Liberator..whatever. Something to carry all my sheet with. -Low budget is ok, but estimate my profit before agreeing to do it. -Carry tools..hammer, tin snips, wrenchs, etc.. -I need a new vest, or modify this EFP vest to fit me better. -Naturally, Jerry H was right, changing shoes is nice. -My "long" shot isn't quite what I want it to be. -I need a heavier LCD. -I'd like a frameline generator -My posture seems alright, but I lean back to much A couple of photos. My wife took them in between helping me, and driving. She liked my plastic skirt...er... kilt... yeah.. kilt.

oh oh.. me too.. what are the requirements I need to meet. I'm bald! Bryan

I'm looking for a used magliner / convertable handtruck for my EFP and all it's cases. A smaller one would do, since i'm just getting started, but it would be very handy to have one with a shelf, and even a post to mount the rig on. If anyone knows of a used one, my budget tops out around $350 Thanks Bryan - Tennessee

Thanks Jerry, I think i actually have that file. I'll look at it again when I get back from this shoot. by the way, after your suggestion for cheaper antlers, I made some. For $22 I went to home depot, and made some that fit on the lowmode bracket I have... it worked great for attaching to the handle of the D-Beta. Not as nice as the missing something brand, but fit my budget for now. =) [here are some un-informative photos] Thanks again for the continued help. Bryan

Oh yeah. it's like.. 1lb or something. Maybe less. I have some lead weight that I picked up at a hobby store that I velcro'd to the back, but I'm not sure what is to much, or not enough. I looked at the primer PDF, but have not ran the numbers yet. I'll try and do that on monday... or at least before the next shoot. thanks for the assessment. =) Bryan

I have an EFP steadicam, and would love to be able to achieve dynamic balance with it. It's got a single Anton Bauer batt, and i recently replaced the old CRT with a very lightweight LCD on the front (from a flyer) the monitor looks great for only $700. No framelines, but I get by for now. anyway, i know that Bob deRose, and possibly some others make battery, and monitor mounts for the EFP so you could get DynBal. Any ideas on the cost, how long it takes, and how easy it might be to do on my own? I searched around the fourms, read some threads, but didn't see any links, or contacts for people who did those kind of EFP mods. Thanks for the help. I attached a photo so you can kinda see my setup. Don't laugh at the hat... fashion comes second to more sunburn. =)

Thanks Evan for the reply. I figured it was just some crud that had gathered there over the years (or months) Since that post, I purchased an LCD monitor from a flier, and it's working great. Now my CRT is my backup, and I hope I dont' have to use it. =) thanks again for the reply. Bryan