Douglas John Kropla

I am confirmed. This should be fun. Hey Nelson what about that beer? The CSC is having a pub night here in Montreal. Non CSC members can come and booze it up also. February 12th at the Irish Embassy Pub on Mackay street downtown. The last one was a lot of fun, and there was dancing! Me and the missus can't resist a little Lindy hop when they play some good swing music.

AHHH, my old rig, sniff sniff. Blair is a great guy. Buy with confidence.

This is kind of off the topic of this thread but, wouldn't it be an easy thing for you guys and gals who have a few years in the business to have a private forum? And then for the rest of us until we reach a certain level, years of experience or show exceptional talent, get invited to be part of that forum? I ask this because that is how things like the ASC or the CSC work for membership. The ASC is by invite only whereas the CSC has a little different structure. Possible? I wouldn't take that personally. I am right now working towards full membership with the CSC and it is not easy. If this post is offending I truly do not intend it.

I don't have the years of experience that many of you have in this business. I just recently closed a health/pilates studio. As our lease was up we decided to close shop. We were threatened by our landlords who stated that we had agreed to stay and that our renewal was a done deal, a verbal agreement and that if we did not resign the lease agreement they would sew us for almost $300,000.00. We took our piece of paper to our lawyer who stated quote matter of fact that if we went to court we had a 50/50 chance of losing. We fortunately have a very good lawyer and we did not lose. As a matter of fact it never went to court. The lesson here is a piece of paper is only as good as the lawyer behind it. Just my own personal experience. Good luck Bryan.

Hey Mark, you gotta clear your cache I think? That is the new reel with the cuts and extra material. I left in the running shot through the woods as I feel it is a great running/sprint shot. Anyway, the link works for me, I clear my cache end of every session. Also there is no music, just beautiful shots:)

OK, so I have re edited my reel, no sound. And I have added in some other shots. What do you think? http://www.douglasjohnkropla.com/steadicam.html

Very helpful Mark, thank you. Sure about the music? I have heard not only from people here that producers/clients will and do turn the sound off when viewing reels. Now I am on the fence.

Hey Amando, I started with a FLYER LE but now I have what you would call a custom/homebuild. You can see pics of my rig on my site if you want. The Soccer game and the two young men walk and talk was shot with the latter. The full on sprint through the woods was with the FLYER LE. Just to add, I completely agree with you Robert about the music. Therefore I am taking all the music from all of my reels. I know about the attention span of any given producer or potential client, usually 30 seconds. Like a commercial, ya gotta grab'em quick. I am re-cutting right now. It can be a hard thing to edit your own work. I recently received a copy of a web commercial that I shot almost completely on stedicam. As soon as the D.O.P was comfortable with my operating ability we left the camera, a 5D, on the sled for 99% of the shoot. I am going to cut that in now. I also just finished a short that was shot on film and here again as soon as the D.O.P got comfy with me he really wanted to go steady with me:) I have not gotten that footage yet but the director said as soon as he is finished the cut I can have whatever I want, and I think I have a job when he goes to do his feature. Thanks again to any and all critiques. Please be honest and as objective as possible. I won't take offense.

Thanks Robert.

Maybe I put this in the wrong forum.

Close but no cigar, you are STILL making it to difficult. Why is everyone so damned concerned with finding the CG of the camera then placing it 1/2" behind the center of the center post? in the last 10 years that I have be using my "90 Degree Drop" method of dynamic balance i have NEVER ONCE "found the CG of a camera" before I built the rig much less used a freaking ruler.You are creating work that gains you NOTHING. Here's what you do: With nothing mounted to the camera stage, (no follow focus, no camera, no camera plate, no cables) Lay the rig on it's side and balance the batteries and monitor until the lower section is balanced so that it neither rolls to the monitor or the batteries. Build the camera to the rig with all the accessories that you are going to use find a rough side to side on on the built camera and mount the camera to the Camera Mounting plate Put said camera on the Upper camera platform (Stage) and mount the accessories that you normally fly off the stage (MDR, Preston interface) Set a 3 second drop time (which is a proper drop time for most work) Balance the stack side to side (using the stage adjustments) Balance the stack to hang level fore and aft with the camera mounting plate in the stage (you did zero the stage to it's center position before you started this, Right?) Spin the rig and Guess what? You are in dynamic balance. It took all of 60 seconds to do it. Want to double check your work? Bring the post up to level, pan it 90 degrees so that the batteries and monitor are level to the floor and drop, everything should stay in place, the post should not rotate as the gimbal rolls to level. oh and guess what again.... You will NEVER have to change your dynamic balance again, you can put any payload on the top, adjust for a 3 Second drop and the rig will STAY in dynamic balance FOREVER I dynamic balanced my XCS Ultimate when I bought and have never done it again. People who claim that this is rocket science are wrong I cannot begin to tell you the number of people I have taught this to in the last few years that have looked at me and said "Really? it's that simple" as their rig is sitting there spinning flat all day long. Hey, I have done this kind of balance trick from the beginning, didn't know that it was Eric's 90 degree method. Just seemed to make sense at the time and it really is a quick way of determining dynamic balance.

Great shot Charles.

Well since Bryan Fowler is just below me there asking for a critique I'm hoping I can get a critique or two for a reel I just cut. 1:30 there about, short and simple. This is not all the stuff I have shot just what I think should be in there. I just did a short on 16mm but don't have the footage yet. Anyway, thanks for any advice. Cheers. http://www.douglasjohnkropla.com/steadicam.html

Hey everybody, I just recently worked on a short as op. Thought I would share some pics. I am wearing my custom "Brant Fagan S.O.C" hat. It was only 3 days but the first was up in the mid 30's celsius. I love this job!

How's that saying go... "He who dares, wins" SAS moto. Is this the future? I admire the young man who shot this but if this is the way things are going I guess I'm done. These old bones break now and I don't bounce when I hit the ground like I use to.

Hey everybody, my post is simple, when I was a film student many many years ago before many people here were even operators, it was the early eighties, my teacher told me to watch the credits. The reason? Every person there had a hand in the making of that film. So now that I am an amateur at this thing called steadicam, although I have been paid, I watch to see who the op was that did that show. I am truly amazed and humbled at the talent that is here on this board that not only will give advice but will correspond with us new commers. I just finished watching "Flight of the Living Dead", Dan Coplan, you must have had a hoot working on that. Janice Arthur worked on one of my favorite movies "Ground Hog Day". This list goes on and on. It is truly an honor to be here as a member. I think that maybe some new members here do not realize or recognize these names because they roll by buried in the credits and it is only those of us that watch and look that know who these people are. So to any and all new members, watch the credits and be amazed at who you are now rubbing shoulders with, albeit in an virtual world. Just a Wednesday evening musing. I guess now I will be looking at 1st AC credits, can't operate without one.

I'd vote for Pedro. Does he blow glass good?

Love the look of film.

Thanks Osvaldo. Could I build a 6ft Triax jumper or is this cable prohibitively expensive? I will ask the director tomorrow about the zoom/focus. Still don't know what camera will be used.

Hey guys, it looks like I am shooting two concerts next month and will be tethered with triax cable. I don't know the cameras yet. My first question is are mobile backed cameras supplied power through the triax cable? My second question is how much do I tip my cable puller after the show:) Any advice on this kind of shooting would be greatly appreciated.

Hey Billy, thanks for the reply and offer. I did not in the end buy that mess o' parts as the deal felt a little odd. Felt like a scam. If it wasn't a scam I apologize to the seller.

Hey Tony, sounds like you and I have similar stories. I am a youngish 48 this year. Too old to start? Never! I love working with the young directors, actors, bands. Keeps me young. My gear accommodates a niche market, meaning the HDSLR market. Lots of little productions here in Montreal shooting on these things. These lighter loads means I can be in my gear for hours. Less wear and tear on these middle age joints. It sounds like the right rig (Zephyr or used FLYER) would be another tool in the tool box and would be a nice little addition to your portfolio/CV. Comes down to what you want and where you want to be in say 10 years. For me, will I ever fly a film cam on A list set? Not likely. But right now I'm having a lot of fun and making a living. Cheers. Doug "Not a Vet" Kropla.

Hey Mark, cool you getting a Zephyr. Extra wire drops at bottom and top? Yeah, whatever is available. It is amazing how quickly those things get filled and then you are using Y's everywhere. Another op here in Montreal, Amber Lomer, has a Zephyr. She loves it. Says the arm is real sweet! This thread has gotten off topic, a bit:)