Brad Grimmett

Now imagine if we all bought you beers and lap dances! Robert I am, and it's beautiful! Thanks Steve. I don't know if I could handle one from everybody at one time, but I'd sure try!

Thanks fellas. Alec...Uh, yeah....I think I remember....thanks I think Jim....the keg is indeed empty BJ....name the time and place and we'll do it. Tiny's? Nick....thanks buddy. Long time no see...hope you're well.

Happy Birthday Jim! What time should I bring the keg?

Don't be silly....there's nothing left of Ron's liver!

Happy B-Day Alec!

I saw this: Action Dolly and thought it might be useful. Although it may be a bit narrow for a step-on. Have fun.

Sebastian, I can't help you with the wind shield, but have you ever considered wearing a harness in that type of situation? It appears the grips theory on safety was, "if you don't know the knot, tie a lot". A harness and one or two connection points would make that mount a lot easier on both you and the grips. Plus, in the event of an accident, I fear you might be injured by all all the "safety's" tied to you. I'm not an expert by any means though, I'm just going by what I see. Just a thought...

Well, I'm not quite as "experienced" as you Chas, so I don't have any pictures with a rig as old as the one you do, but I do have a picture with a camera I flew in the "old days" (that's roughly 6 years ago) that I will never fly again. The Panaflasher was just a bonus!

An old family friend who's favorite movie is "The Jerk" may just get a funny gift for his birthday this year! Thanks Chas.

So they let you use their rig for other gigs? Must be nice.

Congrats Daniel! Cute pictures.

I think you could use a crane like the Chapman Leonard Hydrascope. The location would be important of course (it would have to have the correct geography), but you could arm the crane down a hallway and start the shot looking into the changing room and as the swimmer exists and heads towards the pool you could arm/dolly the crane down the hallway with them and follow them all the way into the water. This would also allow you to adjust from high to low mode, or vice versa, during the shot, which won't be possible with steadicam in that configuration. In my mind, I can't think of a way to do this with steadicam without cutting, like others have mentioned. And even if you decide to do the shot using a cut, as suggested above, you run into issues of how to pull focus and monitor the image with the housing on the camera and the steadicam because it may not be possible to run cables into the housing.

First of all, I have a Master arm, so my situation is different than yours. Secondly, I've never actually used ACF50, I've just read and heard about how great it is, so I would defer to those folks that have more experience with it than me.

I just finished shooting in the Bahamas for a month and I found that rust was constantly trying to form on my arm bearings. Everything else seemed to handle the salt, heat, and sand OK. I kept an eye on the arm and wiped it down with fresh water often to remove the salt. While I was there I was wishing that I'd gotten some ACF50 for my arm before going.

I have a really well cushioned guitar strap that assistants seem to love.

Was that actually the case on your job Chas, or is that just what the Red folks are saying? I didn't find this to be the case on my recent job using build 16. I found that it normally took about 45 seconds to a minute before we could see any image and even then there is a huge logo covering the center third of the frame, so I found it a bit useless anyway since that tends to be an important part of the frame.

Why don't you ask Walter? He's a nice guy and I'm sure he'll tell you. It's probably the quickest way to find out.

Afton, Thanks for a really informative and well thought out post. It comes at just the right time as I'm leaving for a feature with the Red tomorrow morning. I notice you liked the setup when you had the rods and batteries mounted off the top of the camera instead of the bottom. Why wouldn't that same setup be better with the rods and batteries mounted from the bottom of the camera? I would think you would have preferred to mount everything lower and move the batteries in towards the center of gravity. Is there a specific reason that didn't work for you? I have a few days prep when I get to location, and I have time to consider what the best option is, so any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I've flown the camera before, but that was just a few days on a commercial, so I probably haven't had to deal with many of the situations you have. On a side note....did you have any problems with the camera itself? I've heard story after story about Red's going down on jobs and I hope we don't have the same problems, but we are working in the Bahamas on a movie with a lot of water work, so there is heat, humidity, and water to contend with (including underwater work), so I have my reservations about the camera bodies holding up throughout the shoot. Considering many people are having problems on jobs with none of the weather issues that we have, I'm wondering how many bodies we'll actually go through.

Which top ten show is non-union? Is it a reality show? Seems like the union should be all over them to sign a deal.

You should post that video you have of that Ron. What has the union said? It sure sounded like they were gonna take care of it. Still no solution?

I would check back regularly and see if that post is still there. There are many accounts of any negative postings about Red being deleted from that forum. Thanks for the good info. It was very informative and helpful

He just rubs some 'gav on it and imagines he's in his happy place. Oh, and he drinks.

I had a blast last night! It was great hanging out with everyone. Many thanks to Jim Bartell who picked up the tab for many drinks and lots of food! Great location choice by Dave Grove too. I took a few photos as well. You can check them all out on my Flickr page. And now the countdown until next years gathering begins!

I'll go wherever. I was just trying to come up with something close that was big enough that our large group wouldn't be an issue. As we all know, it's not easy to find a place that is close, not busy, and stays open late on a Saturday night, no matter where you are in town. I was told by the special events person at Saddle Ranch that it wouldn't be busy until much later, but I haven't been there, so I don't know. I'll go to the Universal Bar and Grill, or wherever else, but we should pick somewhere definitive soon so that everyone knows.

Hopefully no one has any problems with Saddle Ranch. It's a big place and it will probably get busy later in the evening, but I think it will be a good spot for us since it's bigger and closer than Tin Horn Flats. I was hoping that we could just walk from Cinegear to Saddle Ranch, but because of the parking situation for Cinegear I doubt this will be possible. I haven't been to CityWalk in years, so I called Saddle Ranch and was told to park at Frankenstein (I'm assuming the lots are named), then go up the escalator and to the right and you will find Saddle Ranch. Parking will be validated, so bring your ticket. If for some reason you have to park in another lot I'm sure finding the place won't be too tough. I haven't been to this particular Saddle Ranch, but I've been to the one in West Hollywood and the food is good and there are plenty of drink options. People will probably start getting there at about 5:30pm, or as soon as they can once Cinegear is over. There is a mechanical bull inside the restaurant which Ron and B.J. will be riding for our amusement. I'm told the saddle is generously lubed with Lisigav, which will make the ride even more exciting! Here's the google map to CityWalk. And here is a link to Saddle Ranch And here are directions from the Cinegear parking to Citywalk parking-map-I hope this is right...if you're unsure please check for yourself. I hope to see you all there.