Lars Erik

Rebuilt Archer

I saw this movie a few weeks back. And I was quite disappointed by it. The Steadicam shot (which had become famous before even hitting the cinema here), was also a little bit of a let down. Maybe because I'd heard so much about it. When I saw it tonight, I was a bit more positive. But I think it still could have been a better shot. To me the director is trying to tell the madness of war by this shot. This I pressume because of the boat on the beach, the soldier on top of the sails screaming I'm coming home, shooting of the horses and the big paris wheel in the background. And this is were the shot really contributes. This is slowly revealed to us by the tracking shot of the main actors. The problem for me is whenever the main actors leaves the frame. We kind of lose a bit focus on what is driving the camera forwards. Why is the camera moving now? What characters are we following now? I understand that they want to show us whats happening. But to me, it's such a big change in the viewing that it actually in some sense cuts the navel cord to the audience. My wife also reacted to this. And the shot sometimes feels like it's a bit long. I would have liked to see more of a point of view at some stage. This could be why I think the shot is too long. A POV could have intensified the scene more and brought us closer to the worn out soldiers faces on that beach and the mad state they're in. Maybe they tried to use POV by letting the actors leave the frame. But it doesn't work. By the boat the main actor James McAvoy stops for a second. The camera could have pulled up to a close up to his eyes, turned around and had then become his point of view. Only to turn back again to a tracking shot after the singing men. But hey, it's a good shot. And I pity the operator walking on that sand. Must have been tough! LE

Hey guys, thanks for all the tips. Appreciate it. LE

Hey Jim & Robert, I would say that the problem was the first troubleshooting Jim mentioned. Mechanical mounting. I had to push the motor hard onto the lens not to slip. But this is "normal" then I guess? The solution would be to "torque" it more? Is that it? Just pushing the motor harder onto the lens? Lars "always tryin' to keep it in focus" Erik

Hey all, I own a BFD unit w/ M-One. Did a shoot with Arri UltraPrimes. 16, 24, 32, 50mm. Sometimes the engine slipped a bit. Causing the markings on the T/x be unaccurate. I used the 0.8m - 32 P ring for the lens. Has anyone experienced this before? LE

I don't see the harm in creating an aesthetcis section. The "operating" section is the second most used section on the forum. Filled with everything but why a certain shot helped the movie from a storytellers point of view. The section discusses, who did the shot, if walls were removed during the shot and on and on. It might as well be a section on how to build a house, it's all technical. I think an aesthetcis section would be of great help to many of us in improving our skills in storytelling, and thus be a greater asset to the DP and director. In a forum that is rather difficult sometimes to navigate through, (no disrespect to the moderators, you're doing a great job, but there's a hell of alot posts here), a section on why different shots contribute to the films might be a good idea. LE

Alec and Charles, I've told the production we need to rent a Miranda, so that should be fine. In the past I've usually powered the Miranda from a Hytron 50 attached directly to the downconverter. But now I've invested in the new powercubes (24v) so power shouldn't be an issue. Just out of curiosity, is the P-tap similar to AB's power tap? Have lots of those. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5150..._XLR_Power.html Thanks for the replies. Have a happy new year! Best regards LE

Hey all, I'm scheduled to do a 8-day shoot with RED in March next year. And I don't have a HD monitor yet on my rig. I'm guessing the Miranda downconverter will work with the RED, or does the camera require a specific converter? Regarding 2k or 4k: this doesn't affect any video out I guess? LE

Great work, Brian! You even got my old film school in Norway I graduated from in '99. I'm impressed. LE

Ouch...that looks painful. But I was sold at this phrase: "This system is usualy (sic) being used in professional Steadycams (sic) at almost unaffordable (sic) prices. Now available to everyone!!!" YES!!!

Yes, Charles. Thank you for correcting. How could I have forgotten. Guess I'm not very into fashion. LE

eh...didn't PRO have an 98% identical photo campaign like the Basson system has done? Wow, that's so original. Copying someone else's works. But hey, it's Basson... But seriously. Operating with sunglasses. That's sooooo yesterday. LE

Hey Bryan, I wouldn't start with production companies and producers in the area I would start with the operators in the area and not step on any toes and start filling in on some of the gigs they can't do and work your way into the rotation that way. If they refer you then the directors and producers will listen. Good luck Fly safe Seriously guys, we can't expect to have an exclusive in the market. It's good with competition. I would call anyone I wanted. I wouldn't take a job from an op whos job had already started, but would have no second thoughts on taking a job that hadn't been handed out yet, even though the producer had used a different op on past time projects. Part of our job is trying to sell our way into the market. That's not going to happen if we're afraid to contact a producer just because he's used another op before. LE

They said no to letting me use my credit card. I told them I had people in the US in the industry who could vouch for me, I told them I was a Steadicam operator and a user of this forum. Linked to my homepage etc. They only accept a wire transfer, which is a LOT more hassle and it cost $40 just for the transfer. This because of fraud and that international orders are much more "time consuming". Hmm...strange that Bhphoto, Cinebags and Jim Bartell and all the other guys in the US don't charge extra for international orders... BTW, it's not really good business by complaining to potential customers that their orders are time consuming. I don't know, maybe I'm not a great business man, but I wouldn't tell any client of mine that they were. Forget it. Ordering somewhere else. F' em'! Lars "in a really bad mood" Erik Reply form Filmtools: "Lars-Erik, Unfortunately this does not solve our international orders issue. The issue lies within the credit card verification process and the fact that international orders are much much more time consuming. Please read the attachment and let me know if you would still like to place an order. Thank you, Aaron Rainwater Filmtools Assistant Sales Manager 1400 W. Burbank Blvd Burbank, Ca 91506 818 845 8066 Voice 818 845 8138 Fax 888 807 1900 Toll Free" Filmtools International Orders Policy At this time we are unable to handle international orders as efficiently as we would like. Unfortunately, this means that international orders will take longer than others and that certain precautions must be taken in order to avoid fraud. While we value our international customers immensely, we do need to place our domestic customers first, therefore it may be up to a week before you receive a quote and another week to ship the order once you approve it. We are currently working to rectify this situation, however for the time being we must enact the following policies: 1) We can only accept payment via wire transfer for which there is a $40 fee. We are sometimes able to verify American Express card numbers and we can attempt do so, but please be advised that this does not always work and if we are unable to verify the billing address we must ask that the transaction be completed via wire transfer. 2) The customer is responsible for all customs, duties and brokerage fees. These charges will not be included in the quote that you receive, so you will need to be aware that your government will most likely charge you for these. Once an order leaves our store you will be responsible for these fees. If you decide not to pay them and return or refuse the merchandise, you will receive a refund minus all of the aforementioned fees, the return shipping fee, a restocking fee of 10% and any other fees incurred by Filmtools Inc . It goes without saying that in many cases this amount will exceed the total cost of the order, thereby nullifying any refund that you might receive.

Hello. I'll be doing a 10-shoot in February next year. The director wants to shoot on standard 16 (maybe), hope he goes for S16. Please, please!!! Anyway, there's no video tap on this camera, I remember reading in a book I got from Jerry Holway at the workshop, that one should have a viewfinder tap. Are these still available. If so, how do I get hold of one? Also thought of using a helmet camera, attach it in front of the lens, but worried about lack of precise shooting then. Anybody got any other good ideas for resolving this? Best regards LE

Strange. This is what's stated at Filmtools website regarding international shipping; "International Shipping Policy (non US Military) Due to increased international credit card fraud, Filmtools has suspended all international orders, with the exception of Canada, and the United Kingdom (see International terms and conditions)" LE

Hey all, did a search. Found nothing. I'm looking for a director's viewfinder, I'm not going to buy one at $5K, but I'm willing to invest about $1K. I need a finder to be able to walk shots, and get a clearer view of the shots. I realize I might not get a finder that will be 100% accurate lens wise, but one that is close is better than nothing. I used to own one from Kish Optics. It was ok. But has anyone got any good tips for a good one? I've heard ok stuff about Mark V finder. Can anyone confirm that? And please don't link me to FilmTools, as they don't ship abroad. Thanks. LE

Just used the ACF-50. Works like a charm! LE

Peter & Steve, thanks for the replies. Good news about the arm then. And the fall does give me an opportunity to rebuild my sled, as I'm not happy about its bottom part. I'm ok, just a few bumps and scratches. LE

I own the G-70 arm. Had it for about 4 months now. Worked great and still do. But I had a fall a couple of weeks ago which broke my rig (the bottom part broke), and after that I noticed a squeaky sound in the lower part of the first arm section. Don't know if anything has happened, but both knobs work fine, and no fault on the way the arm is acting. Just the sound. Worried that something might have happened to the arm, but hope not. The fall wasn't really hard enough to put great strain on the arm I believe. Anybody got any good tips for making the sound go away? Should I send the arm into a check up? LE

This is Johan Sandklef. Never met him. But we all know who he is here in Norway. An excellent operator. Watch the video... LE

Hi Philip, I should have explained better: the 5 extra pounds on the Clipper is spread about the sled. On a modified Archer (such as Lars Erik's), you can add that all 5 lbs at the very bottom, allowing you to shorten the sled somewhat. In theory, although you are looking at a less robust rig in the Archer, it will fly a heavier camera than the Clipper with a G-50. Lars Erik now uses a G-70 with his Archer sled to allow him to fly even heavier cameras. All the best, Chris Hey Chris and Philip, I don't know the weight of the F23, but I did a F900 shoot recently. Camera: Sony F900 Pro35 Lenses vary from 16 to 50mm Sony BLP V-lock battery (camera) Dionic 90 (CanaTrans & Preston) CanaTrans Preston sender + motor (VF something) (12v) Custom bracket for Dionic 90 battery for CT and Preston Matte Box Chrosziel 4x5.6 Polarizer filter Rod system Custom made camera bracket (for less vibration) The camera weighed in at about 17 kilos / 37 lbs Anyway, with this setup, I lengthened the rig not very much, this due to the bottom part, where I have Hytron 120, a Archos 500, and 3 weights I attach with velcro. The rig was more short than it was long. The weights I use make this possible. But I've done a lot of experimenting finding the correct weights, They had to be a certain size, I've tried placing them different places on the bottom end, and I've tried different weights. But I've found some that is perfect for my set-up. It lets me get DB pretty easily with most cameras, and and I operate freely with the ones I have now. PS! The drop time was a little over 3 seconds. LE

Hello Fernando, first of all, you need to use your real name. Not "skabo". So please change it asap. It seems like you have very general questions about steadicam, so I guess you have no or limited knowledge of how it works? Search the forums, and you'll find lots of interesting stuff on its history and how it works. Your questions; 1) a weight of a Steadicam can vary a lot. It's all to do with what type of system you have and what type of camera you're operating 2) how long a person can carry it again depends on the weight of the camera. But lets say up to 1 hour. This doesn't happen in fiction though. Only on tv, like music shows and sporting events. 3) And the operators who work a lot, usually have their own gear. But one can rent sometimes also. LE

The problem here in Norway is that none of the rental houses have low mode brackets. So they expect me to show up with everything... I'll be looking into the 435 low mode bracket. But what about the ST and the LT? I didn't see a low mode bracket for those on Jerry's page. Will the 435 bracket fit these also? And what about the new 416? Will the Arri SR-3 Low Mode Bracket work here? Anyone know? Thanks for all the replies. Appreciate it. LE

I've done some low mode the last months. Both film and HD. I only have a low-mode bracket for the gimbal. So we've shot with the camera upside down everytime. And it hasn't been a problem yet. But the films I've been offered keep getting bigger, so I may want to invest in low mode brackets. I was wondering if I bought a low mode cage, would this eliminate the need for a different low mode bracket for each camera, i.e. 435, SR3, F900...? Would the cage work as a universal mount for all cameras? Will film cameras fit in the cage or is it just for video/HD? LE