Brad Grimmett

Sounds like a good plan. I'm in. I'll even voluteer to flip burgers if needed. I'm not too shabby in front of an open flame....and I look cool emerging from a cloud of thick smoke with a plate of burgers in my hand (at least I think I do).

I think the Cinegear get together is gonna be packed enough without this going on there as well. We should make it a separate thing. I think the group would be rather large for the "exchanging of the sled" ceremony and the "Jim's buying drinks, WOO-HOO!" ceremony. Of course, that's just my opinion. What are the dates for Cinegear this year? I haven't heard yet.

I don't think Tim took sides at all. He just reported that a bunch of new members came from the same IP at the same time. He didn't say a word about you. So to say he took sides is silly. As for your multiple voting question.... No one voted multiple times (at least not from the same login name). As you know, members can only vote once in the polls. I doubt most of the people who frequent this board have the time to create a bunch of fake email addresses so that they can fake the results of an internet poll. Oh....well.....I guess ONE member does....

Congrats on the addition to the family Mitch!

Thanks for the info guys.

Gotcha. That makes more sense. I'm on the verge of joining now and it's great to be able to see some opinions of other operators out there. I hear so many mixed things about the union while I'm on jobs that it's hard to know what to believe and trust. It's nice to hear things from people I know and respect. Anybody who's joined recently care to share what it costs to join as an operator these days?

I'm not in the union, but I'm wondering about something. What happens if you're out of town? Whether it be for work or something else? Would you get fined anyway? Or what if you're working and can't make it to the meeting? This seems like something a fraternity would do, not a union. Do you have to have a note from the producer saying that you couldn't make it? Seems like the membership would want to show up if the union is truly supportive of them and listened to their needs. Just curious because that seems strange to me.

It didn't seem any more power hungry than any other camera to me. It seemed about on par with any other film camera. I've worked with it twice and don't remember having to change batteries any more than normal. Good luck.

Actually, I think the swaying created by the "boat drinks" counteract the swaying created by the boat, so he should be OK.

Liar, liar, pants on fire! That sucks Michael. You should have had a quick release plate. If you hear this again and need one give me a call, I own one. It's always convenient to have my own when they want to switch from tripod or dolly to steadicam when there's only one camera, and therefore only one plate. This is the one thing that is nice about shooting video. You can balance the rig and take the camera off and just come back, plug everything in, and be balanced again. No fuss.

Jim, Please just make sure to leave your address on the ship, so that anyone who has a problem can send their BFD direct to you. I'm sure they'll just helicopter drop something that important right onto the ship. I'm sure most of the ops can tolerate it taking a bit longer (12 hours) than usual. You won't mind that will you? Brad "crossing the line" Grimmett

On every HD job I've done the camera has had a downcoverter on the back of the camera with the battery attached behind that (except with the Miranda). Panavision does this as well, so don't worry about it. It just makes the beast a few inches longer. The only cables I would worry about are start/stop cables. If it's a panavised job they can tell you what you need as far as start/stop cables. I suspect Fred Davis could tell you what you would need for Fuji or Canon lenses....or any other lenses I'm sure. Good luck, and have fun with the "Sky King" of cameras.

Sounds strange to me. This setup is more than enough weight for your arm. All I can think is that maybe you have a problem with your arm. Maybe some blown bearings? If something is binding this could be causing it I think. If you can't figure it out call Robert Luna and maybe he can help you.

Forever? Really? Mine take less than an hour. How long do yours take? What kind of charger are you using? I'm just curious as I've never heard that before and I've never noticed that mine take any longer than any other batteries.

Yeah, that's him Ramon.

Cool shots Marc. You're becoming quite the archivalist (sp?) aren't you! Thanks for posting those.

Ron and Erwin, How's the quality when you playback from the Archos?

It was definately one of my favorites as well Dan. I might have said favorite until tonight....I saw "In America". Wow! What a beautiful film. I highly recommend it to anyone. Talk about acting! And I saw Howard Smith's and Will Arnot's names in the credit's if I'm not mistaken. Really nice work guys! Great film. Oh, and I have to mention "Elephant" again as one of my favorites this year as well. Another great bit of filmmaking and steadicam operating.

gnespolo, You wrote that you think that the only reason Sofia won for best screenplay is because of her background....but if that's the case, then why wasn't her first film nominated for anything? I think you're a bit off on your thinking on this one. Personally, I liked the movie a lot, and thought it was both great writing and directing. I can understand if not everyone liked it. Hell, I REALLY disliked Kill Bill, but a lot of people liked it, and I'm glad they did. Just cause I think it's a piece of crap from a directing and writing standpoint doesn't mean that I think less of anyone that did like it. I also thought Bill Murray should have won best actor this year. I think Sean Penn was great (as I often do), but I really enjoyed Bill Murray's performance and thought he should have won. But hey, it's not often that someone gets nominated for a comedic role, so at least they recognized him. You also made a comment about them having "tons of money". I guess it's all relative, but I don't think they had tons of money. I believe they had somewhere around 2 million. That's not a lot of money to make a film. They also had a very short shooting schedule, which makes her directing that much more impressive. Sometimes movies that "everyone" likes just don't connect with some of us. I'm sure that's the case with everyone at one time or another. Sometimes you just have to say, "eh, I didn't like it" and be happy for them anyway. Personally, I'm happy everytime I see a movie get released that isn't an action movie. It seems like most of the movies that get made these days are action movies and dumbed down comedies. It's a relief to see a small movie with heart have such great success.

Ok, ok.....backing away slowly....you win Michael. You obviously have more info on the subject than I do. So I'll just crawl away slowly, making sure I spelt everything correctly in this post. :unsure:

Are you sure it's really a word? It seems to me "spelled" would have been the correct word in that sentence. Although I'll admit to using "spelt" in the past as well. It may just be slang. But take this with a grain of salt....I recently made a debacle out of spelling "debacle". I spelled it so poorly that I can't even remember how I spelled it. :blink:

paranoidwhattayameanparanoidwhosparanoid? :ph34r: :unsure: :wacko:

I think Jim was mainly making a joke about "get em on the rebound". He doesn't need to try to get business that way. His service and product get him all the business he needs. But your problem does bring to light how great Jim has been. I'm sure, and I hope that everything will be fine with Unitcine, but these things do sometimes remind us that an already established product that works great and has great customer support already, can often be the best decision, even if it costs more. Because taking a risk on a new product can sometimes cost you more in the long run. David Grove's LC3 debacle is a perfect eample. Of course, I'm not saying that this is the case with Unitcine, but in general it's something to think about.

Good point. I forgot to mention the insoles. I use Superfeet. They're a hard insole that keep your arch up. They're not cheap at about $30, but you can use them for a long time and switch them from shoe to shoe. REI is a good place for both Merrells and Superfeet. They have an amazing return policy there so that even if you wear your shoes for a while, and then realize that they don't quite fit right you can take them back and get another pair. I believe that's their policy on everything they sell. I brought a pair of shoes back after realizing that I needed a 14 and not a 13. I had worn them for two weeks straight. They took them back without blinking an eye. Pretty great. Check them out at the REI homepage

I wear Merrell's pretty much all the time. They're super comfortable, last forever, and have great traction on any surface. They also have waterproof styles that are also VERY warm. I would recommend them to anyone, not just Steadicam Operators. As a matter of fact I know a lot of AD's that wear only Merrell's because they're so comfortable. Check em out. Good stuff. I believe it's www.merrellboot.com