Keith Wood

I'm with Jerry. If you're a professional shooter, you will often wish that you could be completely INVISIBLE. As a Steadicam op, you will already be attracting the eye because you are moving. Remember also that every color that you wear may reflect light, making the gaffer's job that much more interesting. Shooting TV news, I learned early that one sign of professionalism was to never be the story: "Those who know, don't show. Those who show, don't know." Don't be the guy who's buried under patches, stickers, and lanyard with 48 out-of-date access passes.

The Steadicam EFP Video Training Manual (it's actually a video). While originally intended to cover just one series of Steadicam gear, it is the definitive technique presentation. If you watch that, THEN read Da Book, everything really starts making sense as you read. The other book that I strongly urge fledgling shooters to read is "Matters of Light and Depth" by Ross Lowell. You can tell the great Steadicam ops from the good ones by how they understand the things that Lowell explains. They are even far more important to us than they are to trolley and tripod users, because we are IN

Glad this is singing to you! Starting young will work out well if you make this a career.

Jacob, what did you finally do, and how is it working out for you? For the next potential operator who reads this thread: FIRST, before you spend a PENNY on equipment, get some practice, either at a workshop, using someone's rig, or even RENTING one for a test drive. Until you have spent some time working with it, you really don't know that you want to go beyond that one experience. THEN, if this still sings to you, DON'T BUY JUNK. There are good used rigs available at reasonable prices. Spread the word that you're looking for something to start with, and check the ads daily,

The only clinkers that I saw were at 3:28 and 3:33, and both were so minor that if I hadn't been watching to see technique I wouldn't have noticed. I would call this a TEXTBOOK example of how to work.

Grab some friends and go do some tests, outside, indoors, through halls of an office building, etc. Try Missionary, Don Juan, Goofy Foot, plain vanilla, ambush, stationary, close, far, low, high, ZZ Top, flyby, whatever you can think of . . .and you will start seeing where you are getting the shots that you want. Have fun doing this, and you may discover some trick that will come back when you need it later. Remember that YOU are the one getting the shot. What you are told by even the most expert operator here is ADVICE, not DIRECTIVE. Everyone has their preferences, and if yours turn

You're moving too much and too fast. The only time that the lens should move is when you have a REASON to do so. What you're doing here is using the shot to show how nimble your stabilizer is, instead of using the stabilizer to get your shot. As Musashi said, "Do nothing which is of no use." You're doing an art video, not the Rebel attack on the Death Star. Go look at the shot of the leaf. You start drawing back, good, nice, but this is when you should change the angle, even if only by the slightest amount, and you should do so smoothly. To go beyond that, reimagine the shot, yo

I'm surprised that nobody has said to GET THE VIDEO. In fact, I would watch the video before opening the SOH (but it's probably too late for that advice). Get an idea of what's going on, how things fit and move together, then the Handbook will really start to sing to you. You've already got some experience, and maybe have killed the kangaroo, but when I was getting started, once I began to think of myself as part of the system (rather than as a guy with a bunch of equipment cantilevers from his body), things smoothed out. The LENS is the center of the Steadicam universe, everythin

It looks interesting, but the more I see, the more it looks like a pro get-together, above my operating level. I'm on the fence about making the trip (650 miles each way, about $250 - 300 expenses). Can someone tell me if I would get much out of it as a Steadicam newbie who runs a Pilot? Or would I be better off to wait a year, when I'll have experience and maybe fit in more?

NOBODY has a brand preference for tape???

I worked for a network affiliate which was being used as a test site for digital, so we got a lot of visiting bigwigs. Bigwigs like to show off by telling underlings what to do. They like to add urgency to the situation. After one such incident, I pointed out to my station manager that the military solved this problem a long time ago. Generals don't give orders to privates, they go through the chain of command -- there is no doubt that A), the order is to be followed, and B), the person giving the order knows what will be needed to comply. "Grab just what you need" = "load the truck

That's about as useful a description as trying to explain the taste of salt in text messages. "Lots" as in how many? How long, how big? Are you talking about carrying them from place to place during a shoot, or hauling them from home to location, setting the carrier down and coming back to it when needed? Little ones? Try nylon binders, like loose-leaf organizers and notebooks go into, Bigger, or more of them? Briefcase. A lot or big ones? Luggage. Hit the swap meet or thrift shops, and you can set up your outfit on the tightest budget. Hang the cables inside the c

There is no shortage of good Sony ENG digital camcorders, CHEAP. Check Craigslist. Since you're practicing with it, you can get the DSR300 and be happy. I don't want to think about what these cost when they came out -- I've got a DSR300 on the market for $250 and a DSR500WS on the market for $500. You can probably find a similar deal in your area, walk up, talk him down, and wonder why you ever used consumer cams.

The scumbag probably just grabbed a target of opportunity that felt heavy enough to be valuable. Hope when he realizes how hard it will be to sell, that he just abandons it somewhere that it gets found.

My back hurts just looking at the pic. Have I mentioned lately that I LIKE my Pilot and the EX1R that rides it? ;)