geoff shotz

thanks for all the questions and offers, but my old klassen harness has been sold and now resides in korea. i hope it likes kim chi as much as i do. yummee. HARNESS HAS BEEN SOLD! thanks again, geoff

thank you all. this getting old thing sucks. as for the walker, at least the dubs and lowered suspension keeps the chicas thinking i'm still young. i will do my best on the guild photos for you brad. we'll see who can guess who's ass that is in the one photo. happy, healthy, successful, new year to you all. geoff

i can't believe that this contraption really allows you to do those amazing pans and zooms like they were doing in the demo/example section. wow. really pushing the envelope there. i think ron is right, we should get them to shoot the next gathering. that would make my day. geoff

hey all- a while back i was saying that tiffen had not responded to my requests for a trial on the new power cube batteries. well, frank did indeed get back to me and he and kyle worked out a shorrt borrow on 3 of their new batteries. i gotta say, they are not much to look at. they're plain old idx looking things. really light and compact, not too fancy a meter, just plain. well guys, don't let the looks deceive you. the power output on these batteries is really impressive. for those of you who haven't been paying attention, the genesis is pulling around 12-13 amps continuous. it's a beast. i did a couple of tests with both one power cube and two power cubes. it wasn't the most scientific test around, but the power cubes beat the pants off any other batteries we tried. as it stood: 1x power cube = 45 minutes of run time on the genesis body, record deck, down converter 2x power cubes = 1hr 15min of run time on the genesis body, record deck, down converter and an astro h.d. monitor these batteries were new and seemed to weigh almost exactly the same as the old idx's. i have no idea how many cycles they will be good for, but they far and away out performed any of the other chemistry's we tried. even panavision was impressed when i told them. my complements to frank, garrett and jerry, these batteries are a great step in the right direction. thanks for the test ride frank. let me know when i can test out an ultra 2. hee hee. geoff

sydney- just this week i had a big l.a. company screw me. the d.p. told me i'd be on the commercial. big d.p., big commercial, so i think no problem. we are shooting wednesday through friday. come monday afternoon no call yet from production. all my a.c.'s and grips and electrics have been called, but not me. so my a.c.'s call production and leave them a message to call and settle my deal or i won't be available. first rule of negotiation, never make the first call. i miss the call when production finally calls in the late evening on monday. their message is asking wether i want to travel on tuesday night or wednesday morning and regarding hotels. i think great, i have a job. i call them back and say i'm not sure about travel because the upm hasn't booked me or cut a deal with me yet. he immediately gets on the phone and asks my rate and tells me that the russian arm has a tech/operator with it and they don't know wether they will be able to afford both he and i, yadda, yadda, yadda. i remind him that they are going to have 6, yes 6 cameras, a helicopter, a russian arm, and stunts and only the d.p. to operate and then i reiterate my rate and tell him to let me know. i think, bye-bye job and resign myself to a little much needed rest. no return call either way, pretty typical, no problem or suprise. then, thursday afternoon at 4:45p.m. i get a call from the upm telling me that they are removing me from 'hold' for friday. i am a little off guard and stunned and thank him for the courtesy of calling. a beat later i regain my senses and tell him he never put me on hold or made a deal with me, so taking me off hold is sort of silly. anyways, hold isn't really valid until 5pm the day before an out of town job. then i thank him again for calling and hang up on him. even my wife, who isn't in the business, was laughing at the ridiculousness of these people. once again, it's pretty typical. good luck. geoff

charles- i think we should fire that grumpy puppy up at the next steadicam drinking....er....social event and use it for the laugh factor. maybe we could even have a show and tell of all the expensive toys we've all bought over the years that don't really work. we could toast every hundred or thousand dollar loss with a shot. oooh, that could be a long night. geoff

still have the harness for sale. here are some pictures for all those that were asking. thanks. geoff ... ... ...

to hell with the service and the product, jim. thanks for the sense of humor and the touch of humanity you bring to all that you do. happy birthday. the next pint at limericks is on me. geoff

that's it charles, i'm calling you and we're having drinks. geoff

charles- the help he provides is what skycaps used to do. now you are lucky to get one to help you pick your stuff off the curb and move it anywhere. some airlines are helpful and some won't help you with that many cases. alaska airlines doesn't even have skycaps anymore. at lax, there are just crickets. there are no carts, no help and you can't leave your stuff on the curb while dragging your cases inside. the police almost arrested me once while i was traipsing in and out with cases. it was silly. also, with alaska, there are no production deals for overages and they charge double if your cases weigh between 50-70lbs.. not my worry, but it sure pisses off production when they see that bill. as for jerome, i am just happy someone is still available to us and helpful on a personal level. geoff 'missing the old days of operators and skycaps' shotz

after several attempts at finding the right fitting operator, my rearmount harness is still available. give me a call and we can arrange a fitting and some test time if you are in the l.a. area. 310/ 880 2233-c. geoff

this post applies mostly to the l.a. brethren, but also to anyone working in and out of l.a.. having made a few trips out of town in the last few years, with and without my gear, i have begun to dread flying. there are days when it all goes right annd there are no problems, and then there are the others. we've all been there and it sucks. well, if you must fly out of l.a. try to use burbank instead of lax. the reason being one gentleman- jerome davies. he owns and operates the skycap service at burbank curbside. call him in advance and he'll be waiting personnally or have one of his trusted guys there for you. you unload at the curb and he takes care of the rest- ticketing, seat assignment, baggage check. you just pay at the counter for excess baggage. sometimes he even knocks a few bags off the overage costs too. just be sure to tip him and his guys well! some commercial company blasted through there a while back and didn't tip, they almost ruined it for the rest of us. don't be afraid to give him some of productions' money. so you know, on my last trip through, he had me checked in with 10 cases and my cart (charged for 5 and nothing was weighed), paid up and marching through security in under 15 minutes from the time i hit the curb! pretty much the same as the 2 previous times. well worth the $100.00. life is so much better with help like that. he can be reached at: jerome davies 818/ 846 1349 put it in your phones. geoff

jens- i used to play hockey, strangely for 'die Haie' in cologne, and i wouldn't think about skating with my rig on. i have done some roller blading with my rig and that's doable, but not recommended. rollerblades seem much more forgiving for some reason. i think handheld or with a doggy cam is the way to go for ice. on ice or pavement, get a 'puller' if you can. someone who skates really well and that you trust should do all the pulling or pushing to maintain speed and let you do the operating. that works the best. also, wear a helmet. good luck. geoff 'i'm only missing a few teeth' shotz

for sale is a klassen deluxe rearmount harness. it is the older double door style and is made from red carbon fiber. the arm is the older, square corner version, not the low profile version. you can upgrade to the low profile arm and trade this one in if you like. it is in great shape and has a ton of life left in it. the harness fits an operator around 5'8"-6'0", 180-200lbs, 34-36in. waist. all those are approximate measurements. i have all the spare parts for it, but no bag. i'll put some pictures up in the next few days. i'm asking $3250.00 for it (plus shipping if neccessary). i can be reached at 310-880-2233 anytime. thanks, geoff

frank- thanks. i'll try to get in contact with you guys this week. i look forward to trying them out. i'd be ecstatic if they are everything you say. thanks again. geoff

jerry- i had heard about the new idx's you guys have and called tiffen to see if they would rent or demo some for the feature i am on. they never responded one way or another. i would love to try them. i liked them when i saw them at cinegear, but how do i try them? let me know.thanks. geoff

dan- i flew the viper on a feature in the spring. we didn't have the venom then and went with a fiber cable for all the controls and one onboard battery off the back for a better balance. there is a super thin fiber cable that is really easy to adapt to. depending on which lense you are flying, prime or short zoom, the viper can be a little front heavy. mounting a battery off the back will even that out a bit. i agree with the short post theory. the venom pack should be about six pounds, if i remember correctly and will counter the smaller zooms nicely. as for the power, matched dionic 90's are the way to go. the problem is with the newer smart a/b batteries. whichever battery has a higher charge will try to charge the other to balance them out. this will cause the chargee to shut down. i fly an ultimate and we have to install blocking diodes in each a/b plate on the rig to fly more than one smart battery, of any chemistry, to prevent this. in answer to brads question, you should try to do the same so voltage only flows one way. at the moment, i am on a genesis feature and i am running with the 2 piece setup. i actually had panavision build a vertically mounted dual anton bauer bracket off the back of the camera body. basically, i fly 2 dionic 90's off the back where a mag would be. it adds 5 1/2 pounds but made the camera feel much more familiar in performance. anyways the record deck weighs almost 13lbs, so it's way lighter than that option. i'll put up some pictures when i get a chance. but for reference, we all know what a power pig the genesis is. well, 2 dionic 90's will power the camera for an hour and i made production rent them from pananvision so we aren't killing mine. the fiber cable off the viper is much lighter and easier to deal with than the dual bnc's off the genesis. and if all this isn't confusing enough, panavision has bought plus 8 digital and will be doing there own variations on the viper and venom soon. that will be intersting. hope this helps. geoff

i think erwin means the record deck bracket will not fit in the top rear position. geoff

god, i hope that's an xl charles! my back ached just looking at that. geoff

well dan, here's to you kid! happy birthday. may we all look and feel as good as you at 100ish! as my father says, 'may you live to be 100 like 20!' (it's some old hebrew phrase.) happy b-day. geoff

if i remember correctly, the mmx upgrade is done by brant fagen in new hampshire. he's on the board all the time. give him a call and see if he can repair the problem. good luck. geoff

bruce- now that's comedy. well done. geoff

doh! i told you guys not to tell him! geoff

dan- i'll have some free time in august and maybe september (finally, a vacation without house construction) and would love to play a little roller or ice hockey. i usually play in culver city, but am open to burbank too. by the way, a little secret, eric's a big softy! just don't tell him i said it or he'll hurt me. geoff

i'm in on all counts, fired, own a rig, working, still a newbie for the rest of my life, etc. really though, i want to hear ron, b.j., and matt's stories from the whitney trip. i'm envisioning something between "ravenous" and "brokeback". geoff "i just can't quit you steadicam" shotz