Ed Moore

Hi all, I made a fairly ridiculous site about working in the film industry (I had a couple quiet weeks okay :); you may like it. Hope you don't mind the promotional post. http://dopgifs.tumblr.com Cheers, Ed

Might be in the market for an Arrihead (will consider v1 or v2); please give me a buzz if you're thinking of selling, or know any on the market. Many thanks. Ed

SOLD. Thanks.

Hi all, Selling my magliner - only 18 months old; usual Backstage modifications plus the Steadicam riser with swing away handles. Take a look at http://www.bblist.co.uk/item.php?item=33565. Many thanks, Ed

Hi Matteo - this was the standard Archer 1 not the SE (they did end up putting a tilt stage on it for some reason) and it was a few years ago bought with a lot of other kit so possibly we had a good discount. Bought through Creative Video. E

Sold!

Sold!

Hiya, just to say the video Scott shot with me with the Meridian system is back online: We're very happy with the system. In fact, in the stage just next door another op is using two Meridians on his rig for the live-to-air BBC show "Magicians". He's got the remote CCU control setup as well and all seems to be working flawlessly. No interference issues either despite him being on only the next channel up from me. PS we have the high gain 5 way antenna Scott demoed above and it was the only thing that caused us an issue: I started with it on thinking there'd be no downside; the reality was that the signal strength overloaded the receiver and we got a little digital noise. So you really only need to break out the big antennas over really long distances. E

The video of me waffling on about the Boxx Meridian system is back online: Sorry to Scott for making him take it down seconds after it had gone up; we realised the cast / character list was visible on the side of the camera and it's all hush-hush. The Meridian has been absolutely flawless. Can't recommend it enough.

Hey all - yeah you need SDI kit capable of working with the "3G" variants to deal with the output from the Epic. We're about to start a show that has four Epics vision mixed to a live audience (with the real edit happening later from the r3ds) and the vision mixer doesn't like the the 25P 3G from the Epic. We've got a load of those Redbyte converters as mentioned above and they're working great. I also have a original Decimator doing something somewhere and that takes the 3G signal too. Incidentally I'm using a boxx.tv Meridian to send HD-SDI back from the steadicam and that seems completely happy with the 25P as well. Not tried a CamWave. EDIT: I think we have the Redbyte converter set to change the 1080 25P to 1080 50i PsF, there's no need to drop down to 720 if you don't want to.

Aw thanks Mark, I appreciate that!

Just to say Mark Fisher from Marshall got in touch and it is indeed a factory upgrade. However it's free and they'll pay your return shipping. Contact details for Mark: Marshall Electronics 1910 E. Maple Avenue El Segundo, CA 90245 USA +1 (310) 333-0606 x 1179 mark@marshallelectronics.net

Hi all, Thought others might be interested in a simple mod I did to mount a spare Marshall V-LCD70XP-3GSDI 7" monitor I had lying around into the stock Archer monitor mount. You can probably pick these monitors up now for £500 or so second hand. The Marshall is only about 400 nits so it's really only for indoor stuff, but I have 8 weeks in studio coming up and this was a much neater solution than the stock 700 nits monitor with downconverters and a lousy image. Obviously it's nowhere close to the league of the UltraBrite and so on but frankly, whatever the nits rating, with the contrast and brightness up a little it is perfectly visible to me for interiors and it's a MUCH nicer, fully-featured monitor than the stock SD model. The Marshall monitors don't have mounting points on the side, but if you hunt down their part V-LCD70TMB-02 you can screw a little block onto each side which proves a 1/4 thread. You still end up with about a 10mm gap either side which I filled with some plastic spacers I had lying around from a plasma TV wall bracket kit. Then an inch long 1/4 bolt is the perfect length to go through each side of the bracket into the monitor. As the only available power for the monitor on the stock archer is through the multipin Lemo which I wasn't about to screw with (I just velcro-tied that whole loom underneath the base for when I need to swop the stock monitor on again - http://edmooredop.com/images/ArcherHD8.jpg), I added a D-tap socket to the V mount plate. For some reason Tiffen chose not to specify V-lock plates with that included but IDX supply them for free if you ask nicely and it's very simple to solder in. In the photo about it looks like the XLR4 connector sticks out loads - it actually doesn't go out any further than the width of the monitor bracket and I figured I'd rather have the right angle plug there than straight out. Power then comes off that plate and is neatly cable-tied under the base into the XLR4 on the monitor. (see http://edmooredop.com/images/ArcherHD7.jpg) For video you have to use the "HD video" lemo on the stage to get video down to the 3 BNCs just at the front of the monitor mount. You could probably make this cable yourself - I bought one from Optical Support for £125 or so. Tested these lines with HD-SDI and works perfectly. Got a Hoodman H700 shade which perfectly fits the monitor and trimmed it down a bit to suit. All in all cost me £125 for the cable and maybe £10 in bits and pieces. Now thinking of getting the Marshall V-LCD-HI which provides an onscreen digital level which they say is suitable for steadicam, but can't find any video or reviews of it so a little nervous as to whether the sensitivity can be tweaked to suit. Hope someone finds this useful! Ed

If I ever have to explain why it's an issue to operate with thick cables attached to the rig I tend to give the example of trying to do fine calligraphy whilst a hyperactive child randomly flicks at the other end of the pen...

The only time I ever maxed out my archer 1 with G-50 was Red with anamorphics and an MB-14 (don't ask).

Thanks Andrew. I'll report back.

Hey all, I've been modifying my archer 1 and replaced the stock SD monitor with a 7" HD-SDI marshall I had lying around. Interested in getting Marshall's relatively cheap on-screen digital level add on but it requires a later version of the firmware. Can't seem to find any mention of Marshall firmware being available to download online - has anyone managed to update the firmware on a Marshall before? Thinking it might be a factory job (which is stupid). Cheers, E.

Hey all, just to say I've had Pete's Hocus Focus Professional prototype out on three jobs now and it's performed very well. Happy to answer any questions about the system in "real life".

Apologies if this has been posted already but if not thought you guys would get a kick out of this 3 minute montage of (mostly) steadicam shots: http://devour.com/video/keep-on-walking/ Couldn't name all the films to my eternal shame! Ed

Selling a Marshall 7" V-LCD70XP-3GSDI monitor. 16:9 ratio screen HD-SDI input and loop Composite & component inputs All the usual frameguide, marker options V-lock battery plate Manufacturer's specs are here: http://www.marshallmonitors.com/products/monitors/V-LCD70XP-3GSDI/ Monitor's about a year old and in perfect working condition. Usual few light marks on screen which aren't noticeable when in use. Makes a great director's monitor; also a perfect size for an onboard (if you power via the XLR4 input, gets a tiny bit heavy with a whopping great V-lock on the back...) Paid £999 ($1,630) new. Looking for £750 ($1,220) ONO. Based in UK, happy to ship. Drop me a line to ed@edmooredop.com or 07980 524136

I'm mostly DPing these days so looking to find a loving home for my trusty Steadicam Archer. This is a fantastically versatile rig that offers a big step up from the Flyer and Zephyr. It will handle (reasonable) RED and Alexa builds with ease, and you're getting a G-50 arm which is an utter joy to operate. Bought this about four years ago and to be honest used it only sporadically so it's in very presentable condition and ready to go. Items included: Tiffen Steadicam Archer sled in original hard flightcase G-50 arm in soft case LX vest in soft case Docking bracket American heavy duty stand Allen drivers for arm and socket block Lemo > XLR4 power cable Gimbal J handle for low mode V-lock power plate on sled (with additional paralleled lemo on reverse so you can add a second plate to battery balance bars for extra weight at base of post if you wanted) Only snags: the frameline generator in the monitor died a while back and I never used it anyway so it's just bypassed in the back of the monitor. Very easy to get a new board from Tiffen and replace if you wanted it. Also the hanging cable on the arm has come off at one end so needs a new fixing. This would be a great alternative to a new Flyer or Zephyr for someone new to Steadicam - skip the smaller rigs and get straight to work with something that can take a MUCH wider range of cameras. Just add some V-lock batteries and go. Paid £12,000 ($19,500) new. Looking for £8,500 ($13,850) ONO. (Also selling - posts to come soon - Walter Klassen Hard Mount; Marshall 7" HD-SDI monitor (v-lock); Blackmagic HDMI>SDI converter.) Located in UK, happy to ship worldwide. Kitten not included. Contact me at ed@edmooredop.com or +44 7980 524136 to talk it over.

Charles - saw the pictures from this shoot and thought you were doing a great job. I can't help but think with all the other pro gear being used it would have been a fraction of the budget to be using RED bodies instead and lose all the moire and DR issues, but there's no denying this camera is flavour of the month and you have to know to work from it. My own experience (as a DOP) has been buying a 5D for stills and swearing never to use it for video; and three days later pulling it out on a car launch film for Honda and shooting the whole thing on it instead of the "grown up" camera. I've since done a couple of music videos, bunch of corporates and I have five days of drama on it next week. Producers calling me about bookings are now almost all asking about the 5D and whether it's suitable for their project. Personally I feel the benefits of this camera for a given image quality are size and cost, so for me as soon as they've been built out with massive and pricey amounts of Zacuto gear, manual lenses, Prestons etc they rapidly start to make little sense. The joy of using the 5D on the Honda gig was being able to get really nice car interiors without needing a buck or other "camera-friendly" pre production vehicle to work with. That said, if the use of the camera isn't an option, the Zacuto stuff + Preston etc method is probably the only way to keep sane... Interested to hear your experience with rating the camera which has been very similar to mine; I got burned a couple of times lighting paler skin tones to a stop open from key - literally burned; overexposed skin tones on this camera, by as little as 1/3 stop, look hideous to me, immediately taking on all that nasty plasticky effect. I've been tending to underexpose with the 5D by 2/3 to a full stop from where I would usually, to good effect. I've found the LCD on the back of the camera can hideously betray you in this respect as well, even with the brightness set manually to the best of your ability. Shame because whilst clearly it's not going to win any prizes it would be useful if the one guide built into the actual camera was moderately accurate! Ed

I shouldn't be surprised any more by the lengths you guys are willing to go to in sharing your expertise, but this thread - regardless of what anyone thinks about the task in question - has been extraordinary. Cookies all round.

Great pic, Mike! One for the mantelpiece? :)

Just got undercut for a day on a short film which is mostly being crewed by NTFS people - someone's doing the steadicam work, including all travel expenses, for £150. ($244) I hope if they're reading this, they realise that they're ultimately just shooting themselves and the rest of us in the foot. Not cool.