Mike McGowan SOC

i had the same problem......... upper right corner, 'View New Content'

Thanks Eric! So basically the exact same unit save the 20amp vs 13amp and .1lbs heavier. I'm going to pick a few up.

Hey Matt! Since it seems you have had your HC's for at least a little while, do you have any comment as to their longevity? I have mentioned it before but I have had incredibly good luck with 2 Hytron 50's and a 140 for my monitor. A 435 seems to be about my 3rd or 4th most common camera and I'm frequently running at high speed. A few of my 50's are getting a bit long in the tooth and I was thinking of getting a few HC's. It sounds like for the most part people seem to like them?

Hey Matteo. Nice site, simple, easy to use. Nice reel, good low mode stuff, short and sweet. My only note is that some of the transitions are a bit harsh. Might be a good idea to throw in a small dissolve here or there and maybe fade up from black for the opening shot. Overall, really nice.

not stupid. in some situations (this was one) i had no choice but to 'strong arm' the post as i had the girls touching and bumping the camera for the entire take. the traditional grip (one hand doing all the work on the gimbal and one hand [thumb and a few fingers] doing the fine work on the post) would not have worked or led to the rig getting knocked out of my hand............ or, if your talking about the part where we are walking around the street, i was in the "im over this" mode and just using one hand. some times, perticularly on rap videos, directors get a bit too creative for their own good. we might have spent 2 hours walking around the block if he didnt have 40 or 50 other shots to finish in the next 4 hours.

lol, yea, i tried to talk the director into a different approach but he was convinced that the best way to go was to put me in a wig and spandex and then have the girls hide me as much as possible. but he didnt want them just standing there, he wanted them doing something. so one has a slate, one a boom, one a light, one is my dolly grip and one is looking through the eye piece. i offered to let her hold it not attached to the camera but the director thought it looked too fake. i explained that it looks fake to have the operator looking through the eyepiece too but he had his own opinions. he actually wanted (and we tried to do it) to have her stand in between me and the rig and actually put her arms on the post and gimbal. it looked really realistic but there was just no way for me to operate with any percision (or spell apparently). no cards, only drive, down converter, transmitter, preston, stupid eye piece, etc = long ass post. it would have been nice to be able to actually operate instead of just moving along with my stripper possy but it still came out ok. funny enough, i own exactly 5 pairs of pants. they are, one blue jeans, one black slacks and 3 basket ball warm up type pants. as it's been cold in florida for the last 4 months or so and blue jeans and slacks dont steadicam very well so ive been in the athletic pants a lot. of the 3 warm up pants, one is white, one black and one grey with a red stripe. the black ones get too hot when the sun comes out so that leaves me with white and grey/red stripe. it seems i get photographed quite a bit so as of late, its all about me and my white pants B) all that actually paid off as i got a kind of sponsorship from thorlo socks. i wear a thorlo patch on my vest and they send me free socks from time to time. i also had my picture on their website for a while..................... now if only i could get Nike to come my way.........

I confess........ The problem (if you could call it that) was that I didn't look enough like a hot chick in my wig and spandex. So the director insisted that the girls stay really, really close to me, for 18 hours straight. It's amazingly hard to operate when there is anything touching your rig or arm, much more so when it's a hot, totally naked chick. Now the first few times I got smacked in the face with a ta ta or accidentally bumped a hooha with my hand, I apologized. After the 20 or 30th time however I'd just smack the bootie and shove them out of my way. The other big problem was that it was about 35 degrees out side and most of the shoot was exterior. I was cold as hell when we were shooting and the girls (wearing nothing) were really frickin cold. I wasn't totally happy with how they edited the thing and the steadicam shots were really nothing special but how often do you get to play a naked, female steadicam operator at work.

ive also seen a few used first gen prestons for sale for around 10k. the preston is the industry standard ass kicking focus unit.

that rig as is does not have to be unsafe. i cant see how everything is attached but if it's done right, that tower could be super ridged. if you are properly secured, you are super safe as well........ that being said and even if everything is done super safely, the steadicam is probably not the best tool for the job. any decent stabilized head should do that perfectly with no vibration or unwanted movement.

im available :P

think of the balance / weight distribution possibilities...

Was doing my taxes and making some calculations about how much I'm making and how much I'm working. I worked 86 days in 2009. I didn't do any features or shows full time so the number is less than usual. However, I noticed that I actually made more money per day (on average) then I have ever before. Partially because I worked mostly commercials in 2009 which pay better. My best year in terms of number of days was 2007 which was a television and feature year. I worked 208 days in 2007. The features were medium budget so my rate per day average was not quite as high as it was this year though I made more money total for the year. I don't want to talk about money and how much we all make but I am curious as to how many days you all worked last year (and any other interesting facts you can provide). Mike: 2009 - 86 days (most money per day in any year). 2007 - 208 days (most days as a steadicam operator in one year) - (I did work 350 days as an assistant in 1997). 1999 - 43 days (least days as a steadicam operator) - (my first year only doing steadicam)... I also made much less per day that year. My average number of days per year since I started doing steadicam (1998) is 102.

Funny, I saw Avatar in IMAX 3D and I still cant stop thinking about how frickin awesome that movie was on so many levels. I actually found myself doing the same thing the 8 year olds do, reaching for the fire flys..... Make it so I don't have to wear those stupid glasses and I'm sold. As for sports, the only thing lamer than football (US or Euro) is baseball (and then maybe cricket). Give me some exciting sports (like MMA, Wake Boarding, Rock Climbing, Vert Skating, Cliff Diving, Snow Boarding, etc.) and I'll watch them in 2D, 3D or any other D.......... MMA in 3D would kind of kick ass you must admit.

quick wipe with your sweaty T-shirt before you put it in the case. Those sleds are dam durable.

hummm........ does it work? can you walk and frame and not have any crazy camera movement?

As far as I know, the Red only recognizes Red batteries. You can easily have a life meter added to your rig or you can go by the bars on the battery itself.... Although, it doesn't really matter does it? If your doing a 'oner' you will either have enough juice or you will not?

That's a great idea Janice! And if you don't mind, if Tanner doesn't use your idea, I think I will......

Holy Zues' butthole that's a 27 lb sled without a monitor! Maybe try 3 dionic 160's -- they have quite a bit more power (12.5 amps vs 9.5 amps) and will shave over 6 lbs from a Pro2 with all h-140's (and thousands of pounds from your lower bulging disc). Start using lisagav now! Mike, I love the NASCAR analogy! **shameless plug -- hey Tanner, if you do happen to want/need h-140's: http://www.steadicamforum.com/index.php?sh...amp;#entry51945 rb wow, over a 2lb difference per battery! so yea, use 3 dionic 160's! i currently use one hytron 140 on the front to make up for the light weight of my lcd. the 140 plus the pro uber long monitor arm seem to work perfectly to work out balance with a boland 8.4 instead of a greenie.

Wow, ok, I've done super long shots with the RED. Here's a few thoughts... First, I read your post and I understand that you didn't want any advice other than equipment advice. Understand that for many of the operators here, that is almost impossible. For one, there is a very intimate connection between man and machine with a Steadicam so it's kind of hard to just talk about parts when the operator and the operating are so relevant to the equipment. Also realize that if this was a NASCAR drivers web site, you basically came on and said, "I just got my drivers license and I'm going to race and win Datyona this year, do you guys have any thoughts on how I should set up my car?". That being said, I'll offer only equipment specific advice: I think (and I hope for your sake) you are talking about the Optimo 15-40 zoom lens? It is super light (about what a Cook S4 weighs) and is a 2.6. It is one of the nicest pieces of glass ever made in my opinion. It would be a great choice for this shoot assuming you don't need to go wider than 15mm and tighter than 40mm (tighter than 40mm after about 15 minutes would be kind of crazy any way). The Preston is a great choice for wireless focus. Not for nothing (I love Canatrans) but I'd go with a Modolus 3000 for wireless video. In my experience it has a more consistent track record. I'd for sure go with an LCD monitor even if the whole thing was in screaming bright daylight (but that starts to become a personal opinion). For the drive I'd go with a RED-Ram which is less likely to drop frames but depending on your recording mode may or may not have enough storage space. Finally batteries. While weight is obviously going to be an issue but I think power will be an even bigger issue. If it were me, I'd go with a PRO and 3 Hytron 140's. That's one for the monitor and 2 for the power. That would eliminate the 'do I have enough power' question. It would also allow you to have a short rig which might prove handy after 30 or 40 minutes of shooting. Finally part 2. Charles Papert (if I remember correctly) mentioned that he used a steadicam jr (or something like it) and a mini dv camera to do rehearsals on a job. I would suspect that you are going to rehearse the heck out of this movie so that might be a super handy tool. Having done quite a few music video 'oners' and many scenes that were several minutes in length, I can suggest that after a few rehearsals you will be pretty exhausted. It sounds like (and I'm sure you are) in excellent physical shape. For reference, I am 36 and I can run a low 3 hour marathon. I fight mixed martial arts as a hobby and I train for several hours on every day I'm not working. Carrying a full sized rig with a camera like a RED, I am exhausted after doing 3 passes back to back of a 4 minute music video. You might want to consider using something like a RED dolly for walking onto and off of when it's not necessary to be on your feet. Best of luck! mm.

This goes to a point I like to make. Some operators are great because of their technical ability. Some are great because of their artistic ability. Some are great because of their diplomatic ability and some are great because of their abilities in all of those areas. I have worked with operators that were fantastic in one of those areas and horrible in the other two. I would suggest that you are discussing the diplomacy skill set. It is probable that you could almost totally eliminate the problem your are talking about if you could have perfect diplomatic skills. Nobody does so you have to do your level best to figure out the correct diplomatic path for each job, DP, director, shot, situation. It's not always possible to hit the nail on the head and when you fall short in that endeavor you should do what's mentioned above and suck it up until your name is on the slate. Over the years I have definitely got better at being a diplomat but I have also improved my Gandhi skill set. When it doesn't go my way, I just smile and do what I'm asked. I have found that more often than not, I am vindicated and my suggestion is either re-visited or it is at least obvious that my suggestion would have worked better. In the words of Lennon, "let it be"...

i believe that the 'C motion' unit has this function????? and it might be helpful in some situations (for example knowing what the operator is pointing at) but the conventional wisdom is that if you have time to look at a monitor to check your focus, it's already too late.

I used a milenium with a primo and frequently use a 435 or 235 with Cook's...... It would be fun to try a small sled like a Jr with a mini dv camera, I could haul ass!

I rollerskated when I was a kid but I only use rollerblades with the steadicam. Two wheels in front does not seem like a good idea to me but I have never tried those skates so I'm only guessing. Again, I just want to make it really clear that in my opinion, rollerblades + steadicam = a really bad idea for most people. you could do 100k worth of damage plus seriously injure yourself with almost no effort.

I also skate with my rig. I was a really good rollerblader (I won a state championship for freestyle skating) before I ever put on a steadicam. I would suggest that you need to be a fantastic skater before you try to skate with a rig, even then I would only do it at first with pads and a grip or two to spot me. Maybe even a practice cage or something that doesnt cost as much as a film camera to replace. Hope that helps, mm.

what is the groups thought on pricing used equipment? for me personally as a buyer, if im not going to get it brand new from the factory, i expect to pay about half of the equipment's new value. again, for me personally, it's not worth saving ten or 20 percent to skip the warranty, ability to finance, customer service, etc... ive seen a lot of equipment for sale around the web and it always floors me to think that the poster expected to get the price they were asking. for a point of reference, i sold my first PRO (8 year old gen 1) with a PRO arm (arm #21), PRO vest (#5), and my Preston (2nd gen) with 2 motors, Modulous 3000, Super post, Back up monitor and a million cables (a totally complete ready to walk on to James Cameron's next Titanic rig) for $39,000. Now it was 8 years old, some of the batteries were less than stellar, the arm needed some work as it had a crack near the post and the pads needed replacing on the vest. I feel like I got a good deal and I felt like I gave the buyer a good deal. I started at 40k and dropped the price 1k because of the crack in the arm. I was also ready to sell and didn't want to sit on the rig for 6 months trying to eek out another 5 or 10 grand. does anybody else think it's crazy to expect to sell something used for like 10% less than you could buy it for new???????????