Douglas John Kropla

I stand corrected. Thanks Brian. As for the shoot, cancelled, re-scheduled. Meaning probably didn't want to pay my day rate. Oh well, more work coming up anyway. I've seen a few of these videos now from all over. There is one from Hungary I think that uses the Queen song "Don't Stop Me Now". Cheers.

Thanks Mark. I didn't think so. As for the suggestion, yep that is the game plan. Gonna have a whole mess o' people trailing behind me. Should be fun. As it turns out this world wide phenomenon started here in Montreal back in 2009. The first kids to do it go to what is called UQAM, University of Quebec and Montreal. Their video now has over 7 million hits. I think the TODAY show video is actually more known but not as watched. Thanks again Mark. Hey did you ever sell your Flyer?

Well it looks like I am getting a lipdub video next week. If you haven't heard about these things go and google or go to you tube and check them out. Basically a one take video, usually steadicam. These things cover a lot of ground, down halls, sometimes in elevators. My question, is there a transmitter on the market that would have the power to push a signal no matter what the circumstance? The production asked me about mine and I said honestly I don't think what I have would provide a signal through a solid cinder block wall, or 10 of them! So, is there something out there? The shoot is this coming Monday. Thanks.

Hey Charles, just wanted to say good luck with your new/old career as a D.O.P.

WOW Blair, already into a bigger rig! What happened to the Flyer? I have to agree with Charles Papert on the rods idea. The thing from Steadyrig looks good though. Who or where did you get the EFP from?

Hey Tom, I thought you were working with a FLYER? Well buddy to quote the unforgettable words of Peter Quincy Taggert" Never give up, never surrender!" I love that movie. And to quote the unforgettable words of Eric Fletcher "NEVER let your gear limit your work." And to quote the unforgettable words of Ron Baldwin "NEVER let your body limit your drinking." Truly quotes to live by! Cheers.

Thanks Ron, I will look into that. Does the schematic i'm using pose any problems in regards to one batt backloading as Eric mentioned. Thanks for the advice and Tom I am sorry I hijacked your thread.

I found a 12/24 wiring diagram that works for 2 or 3 batteries. Tom do you want it? I spent the last day wiring up my sled and it works great. I got this from a fellow from OZ named Trevor. I am a little worried about the backfeed problem so I will attach the diagram here.

Thanks Jess and thanks Eric. It is the addition of the switch that is twisting my brain. Also to prevent one batt back loading into the other a schottky diode or a regular diode could be used correct? I have 3 pin lemo's on my topstage. I have 4 cables going up from the bottom, could I just run a common ground to my 12/24 lemo(pin 1) and two of the 12 volt lines (pins 2 and 3) as power? Then jump the ground over to the other lemo(aux power) with the last 12volt line? This would give me 12 volt for FF/AUX plus 12/24 power with the correct cable to whatever camera came my why, yes no? At the bottom I have two IDX plates with 4 pin xlr into the bottom stage. I take one batt positive line and branch it to pin 2 of the xlr and that goes up the pipe as the separate 12/24 volt line? With an inline fuse? Sorry Tom I hijacked your thread here.

you are a loser Eric -- it's NEVER let your body limit your drinking. Hi Tom -- It's so easy in the grand scheme of things to make a voltage selectable sled (what -- some wire and a switch?). Don't even think about not having that function. We old-timers went through that bs in the early days when steadicams were 12v only. Rigging extra batts and using converters bring the suck. Don't embrace the suck. rb Hey Ron, I am in the same boat with Tom, do you or anyone else have a wiring diagram for a simple 12/24 volt system? Should I ask Terry West maybe?

Hey Blair, some people like to tinker. Just like a person who works on their own car same thing. Although not too many cars these days allow for that kind of backyard tinkering. Pickup a book on electronics or just head over to homebuiltstabiliser.com and read through some of the forums. Building and machining a pro sled can be done, with time and attention to details. Piecing a rig together from pro components is not that hard since most of them adhere to an industry standard for many things, ie; electronics and standardized tubing dimensions for the post and other components. Although there are some differences between manufacturers it still is pretty easy, with the right knowledge going in. Read read read. When in doubt... read some more:) Just like getting under the hood of a car and ripping stuff apart, putting it back together hopefully in the right order, building a rig gives you a better understanding of what's going on in there and a better idea of how to fix something if it breaks, maybe. Not that you would do this onset. All in all piecing together a Franken Rig is like customizing a car, some do it some don't. Cheers.

For anyone else who may want this info, pin 1 is inline with the key. pin1 ground, pin2 +12v pin 3 not used or +12v for 12/24 volt system. Thanks to Terry West and to the Lemo catalog.

Hey does anyone know what industry standard is for wiring up a 3 pin LEMO. Basically the kind that you find on the FLYER LE. I am making some cables and I want to know if pin 1 is inline with the key and after that as you look at the front side what is pin 2 and what is pin 3. anyone?

WOW, great to see this happen. I seem to recall one of the ops here in Montreal had her FLYER lifted a few months ago. Hey would it be of any use to build or have built a small internal GPS device to track rigs? Can it be done? What would the cost be? Come to think of it this maybe happening right now with some ops who have a few 100g's into their rigs;) Good idea, yes/no?

Hey Blair, can you take a pic for me maybe I can help? I had to do a few things to that sled when I got it ie; tighten or loosen a bolt or screw here and there.

Doug, you couldn't be more right!!! You just drove that nail all the way with one hit.... If a producer wants a "throw away shot," that may or may not lay on the editors hard drive floor... then they will seek out a less than $1000/day operator. But if they want to maximize their investment and make ever shot count, meaning the reason that shot didn't make the cut was due to the director not wanting to use it to tell his story... then they will spent the cash and they have it... believe me they do. Subpar operator + think it will be a cool shot directors = $100/day + This isn't what I wanted results Every shot counts + skilled op = above $1500/day + director that gets what he wanted In terms of your gear... 100 day payoff is a good starting place. Basically 1% of your total investment per day. Simple math brother Hey Alfeo thanks, brother from another mother. I just had someone ask me to work for two days FOR FREE, geez louise, what a business!!! That sheep ranch is looking better and better:)

Hey Nick, as one of those new guys I can only say that I have turned down jobs that I felt I was not qualified to do. I also am trying to find my place in this industry with out running the rates down. But if someone could maybe give a guideline as to what a new guy like me should charge? I can't go out and ask for the same rate as an op with 200g's into his rig, that would be ridiculous and embarrasing. So how does one decide what he is worth in this market? As for sticking together... I love the idea. Just a note to say that here in Montreal there is a guy who has a fairly pro level rig, no bells or whistles ie; remote FF remote video and such, I have met and worked with him, nice guy, but he works for FREE! I even went so far as to hook him up with a paying gig I had to pass on because my Flyer was not up to it, and he turned it down because he was working for free on another shoot! An $1800 gig! So I know that when I bid on a job at say $600.00 to $1000.00 a day and I don't get it, I know probably where the client has gone. As I said, nice guy but... So to sum up, how to fix a rate for a certain level of OP? Otherwise I guess I have to move to Montana, with Rob V and raise sheep:)

A few things. 22 AWG wire is rated at 7 amps in clear air. That means NOT next to another wire, which is something that we all ignore. if we actually paid attention to that it would mean a current capacity of only 4.6 amps and that will power a film camera, well not a 435 but the rest of them. It will NOT safely power a F900, Viper, Genesis or F23 since they are all 9+ amp cameras. 20 AWG is rated at 11 amps in clear air or 6.6 amps in a cable pair/bundle. Still Not enough to power a HD camera. XCS uses 14AWG Wire in their post which will carry 32 amps free air or 19.2 amps in a cable pair/bundle. Tiffen is also using 14awg in the U2. MK-V uses 22awg by the way and they have some other serious power issues due to voltage drop. Voltage drop goes up with length of the cable run. That cable run is the length of the post cable plus the camera power cable. in a Pro with the standard post that's around 65" but voltage drop is round trip so it's a ~11ft run. For the sake of argument let's use the maximum current capacity of each wire size to figure out voltage drop. For the 22awg wire you are looking at a 4% or 1 Volt Drop. the 20awg wire will see a 3.5% or .8volt drop. Lets look at 2 XCS center post's the Fixed and the expandable. The fixed post has a 6' round trip and the expandable has a 12' round trip. the Fixed Voltage drop is 2.75% or .3 volts. the expandable has a 5.5% or .6 volt drop The U2 is going to have a 6.64% or .797 volts. MK-V has an internal cable run of 9 feet on the four section post with it's 22awg wiring suffers a whopping 11.5% or 1.4 volt drop. What does this mean? Since HD cameras are the the worst case scenario for voltage with their 11 volt shutdown, it means MK-V will shut down first even though the battery is showing 12.4 volts, Followed by the Pro at 12 volts the U2 at 11.8 and the XCS at 11.3 Kinda explains why I switched to an XCS Ultimate earlier this year. Thank you Eric, this info is very very helpful. At least I got the wire gauge right for my own frankenstein monster. I just got the exclusive rights to sell Lisagav here in Canada!!!

I guess as canuck I would move to Alberta and raise MC beef, or ostrich, I hear it tastes like chicken:) I know I'm a buzz kill. Maybe I'm totally wrong about this. I know there will always be people who know and want quality and pay accordingly but they will be fewer and fewer. Maybe everything we know is wrong and one day smoking will be found out to be good for us, I love the movie "Sleeper" by Woody Allen. Tom's friend knows first hand what is happening. But let's not argue and fight about it, let us embrace the future my brothers from other mothers, let us join together and create a global organization the likes of which has not been seen since.... well I don't when but it will be huge none the less, I'm talking Johnny the WAD huge... And we shall call it....? I don't know, IATSE?;)

My two cents... There has been and always will be someone who will do it cheaper. That goes for any industry. This next comment will upset a few people but here goes... I think the days of asking for a lot of money for almost any skilled job are very quickly coming to an end and that includes this profession. Just find someone who use to work at Haines or any other textile plant in the US. All those jobs are now being done by slave labour in China, Vietnam, Taiwan etc. As long as the big players ie; Tiffen, Glidecam and the rest continue to make low end high quality gear and the cameras keep getting smaller, cheaper and higher quality this trend will continue. I truly feel sorry for you guys who have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in gear. I think you will see your pie cut smaller and smaller and though you have years in and a list of credits a mile long it all eventually comes down to money. With the globalization of companies, unions don't have the power they once had. I see this happening in more than just this profession. These are just my outsider observations of an industry that I have just stuck my toe in to test the waters. It would be great to think that things will go back to the way they were, pre-digital era, but you can't put the genie back in the bottle, so to speak. I think the term I should use is paradigm shift. Think about it for a second, almost anything you buy now is throw away quality, unless you are spending a lot of cash and want quality, but for most of us it is throw away, whether it's a TV a toaster or a vacuum. Film production is going through the same process of "it's good enough". Why shoot film when the REDONE is good enough. Why shoot REDONE when the 5D is good enough. So, what to do? Move to Montana and raise sheep, maybe? Sticking together is a great sentiment and if you are lucky enough to be part of a group of ops that are doing that, great, I applaud you. Good work, keep it up. But for the people out there who are not part of that group, well, are you going to tell them don't take that job... what's that... you have to pay rent buy food... well too bad, don't do it, starve, live on the street. like I said just my two cents. It's not a matter of IF, it's a matter of WHEN.

Thanks Eric. So it is up to the operator to work that deal out ahead of time, if the producer is willing. I just realized this is not the right forum for this question and I apologize for that. I should've put it in the legal/business section.

I don't know if this has been answered already. I did try a search and found nothing so here it is. My question is why does there seem to be a lack of credit given to this profession mostly on TV shows but sometimes in feature films also? Is it just assumed the A or B camera op will somewhere sometime take that credit? I watch a lot of TV, I like to watch the new shows, Castle, Greys and such but the Steadicam ops name does not appear, usually. Eric Fletcher S.O.C I know works in this market Charles Papert S.O.C also. Can you guys explain this lack of recognition? By the way Charles since I found out you did some of the Buffy episodes I went and looked there as well, no credit. What gives?

Given your obvious passion for filmmaking, I would strongly suggest that you go to the SOA workshop in Pennsylvania. It's close to a week long, steeped in Steadicam history, great instructors & operators will be there both scheduled and drop in, big rigs. They spent a day having students use alternate Steadicam applications: steadivehicles from ATVs to trucks to Segways as well as crane walkoffs. There's more but given you are a Canadian, travel shouldn't bother you. I believe they offer 2 sessions a year. Worth the money. I would hazard a guess that Mr. Abraham will be there as well. Cheers. I would love to attend the SOA workshops in the US. Two things prevent this at this time, Money! And I am one of those rare people that for years enjoyed care free travel to visit our eccentric yet lovable neighbors to the south. Hell my grandfather is from Chicago. And then one day some damn fool, sorry fools had the idea of flying planes into buildings. And now my carefree travel days are on hold until I get me a passport, never needed one before. That is why I was wondering about the SOA coming back to Montreal. Also, and this is a minor thing, I am quite busy shooting. Lots of little micro budget indies on these 5D's.

I used Maya. I was so frustrated when I got home, it helped me to rebuild the situation in 3D so I could figure out what I could have done to make it better. To Douglas, thanks for the DVD referral. Also, I did voice my concerns to the director and his response was, "We don't have time to change anything, so just figure out a way to make it work." Five minutes later, we were rolling. Wow, well then you did what you were suppose to do and to the best of your ability. I agree with Brian. As for what you could've done, well, next time:) Definitely get the DVD and the handbook and the EFP DVD... There is so much information in the handbook, it's a great read. I'm still waiting for a workshop to come back to Montreal.

Hey Jonathan, I have a dvd that interviews the best cinematographers in the business. Cinematographers Style is the dvd. One interview in particular, or two actually talk about the importance of the word no. They say the word no is more important than the word yes. The cinematographers I speak of are Gordon Willis and Vitorio Storraro, hope I spelt those right. I think this may have been one of those times when you as the op should have brought all your concerns up with the director or D.O.P and discussed with them the problems as you saw them. And if at that time they still wanted a bad shot then maybe you say no. Its a great dvd and I recommend it to anyone starting out. I can't tell you how many times i've watched it. My two cents, for what it's worth. Just wanted to add that not every situation is the same and discussion usually will lead to a better shot in the end. That is after all what everyone wants.