Charles Papert

So glad to hear. I'd left him a message on the cel phone also but knew that the service was still out, so...

Perhaps someone should tell this to Robert Rodriguez.

You were reading my mind, Dave. I emailed Jerry yesterday and haven't heard back yet. I know he lives in Metairie, so I fear the worst for his house. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Cool, we finally get to see the Acme Gimbal! Looks very nice, Brant. Congratulations. One thing--you might want to check the spelling of your company name...!

There are a number of practitioners who swear by operating in low mode from above the gimbal (where the handgrip conveniently remains). I do it occasionally myself but in general I do it old-school below the gimbal, and as Brant points out a cut-down handgrip can be useful.

C'mon BJ, you just want the PRO arm because chicks dig it. BTW, you might do better with white lithium grease instead of butter when it's time to lube up the arm...

It's pretty tricky to analyze footage (unless it has obvious vibration in it) and make an evaluation about the quality of the stabilizer as it has so much to do with the operator. From looking at your pictures, you've done a great job building the rig so I think that unless you are experiencing any glaring issues, I'd recommend focusing your energy just on the operating for now and save the tinkering for down the road, if you can! Practicing may be boring but it's the only way to "quiet down" the shots so that they emulate what you are used to seeing in movies and on TV. Keep it up!

Matze: Congratulations on jumping right in to it--those are some pretty complex shots for your first project! As you transition from rig builder to operator, now you can forget all about the equipment and focus on the shots themselves. Think of every sequence as being made up of a series of still frames, and they should all be well composed (that's the hard part!). In the bathroom sequence for instance, the girl goes to the sink and you had a great opportunity to include her complete reflection in the mirror if you had panned right just a little bit. The best time to think about these sort of things is when you walk through the shot without the rig on in rehearsal (get yourself a little director's finder to assist with this). All of this will come in time, so keep practicing and studying your results and thinking "what could I have done to make this better/more interesting?"

Dave: Hmm, long time no talk. (!) I have sad news for you. I sent my Modulus in (to Maine, no more local service) to have a missing dial replaced--I forgot why but it's not as easy as just popping another one on. It took about 6 weeks to come back to me. As has been well documented here in previous posts, this is typical for Modulus repairs these days.

I'm not using my gear for the time being, so if you have an insurance rental or need additional gear etc., I'd love to help out. Caveats: must have own insurance to cover it, no international deals and serious requests only, please. PRO rig: D-Box 2 PRO post Steadyrig Battery Hanger base (like a PRO 2 crossed with a PRO Light, takes 1-3 Anton Bauers) PRO arm PRO vest Preston FIZ: MDR-2 3 motors Microforce FX unit (available for separate rental) (3) SL Cine Steadimags (fit 435, Arri 3, 2c) Hot Gears system: Arri or Panahead O'Connor 2575 head contact me at 323-350-8822 Charles Papert

Slight tangent on the Steadicam operator's own responsibility regarding lighting; some may disagree, but I feel it is absolutely up to the operator to patrol the set while it is being lit to be on the lookout for potential shadows, flares, gremlins in the frame etc. To sit around and yak on the phone up until everyone is called on set and then discover that you have been lit out of the shot or casting your shadow right on the actors (who will then be sent away during the relight) is obviously not efficient. On a low budget job where the DP may not be Steadicam-savvy, this is even more important. Years ago I helped out on a student film where the director wanted a complicated move in a nightclub. We worked out the shot and then the DP starting lighting. Each time he placed a light, I'd point out to him how it would either be in the shot or cause a shadow issue. After a while he gave up and asked me to light it for him, poor chap! It's definitely complicated lighting for Steadicam, although it doesn't always have to be entirely lit from above, often there are places to hide units around the set, but it does take the participation of all involved to ensure success. And sometimes it means coming up with ways to block or avoid lights with the move.

Nicely put, Chris. I too wonder about the nature of large monitors--I felt right at home moving up from the 3A to the PRO monitor (and from there to the TB6) but have been a little thrown off when playing around with the current spate of larger color LCD's. The addition of the color information shouldn't be the problem (after all, we do nothing but hiss and spit when our beloved ground glass eyepiece is replaced with a black and white CRT viewfinder on HD gigs), but then again our eyeballs have many more places to be than the monitor during Steadicam moves. I also agree that it may be a function of how many years one has spent staring at the smaller image, and those without such conditioning (and owning large plasmas, 30" Cinema Display monitors etc) might take to the big screen without question. There are a growing number of folk who find 24 fps acquired material to be unnaturally "stroby", and actually prefer 60 fps (i.e. NTSC television, also known as the "soap opera look") as a visual medium--a significant percentage of these are video gamers, who seem able to take in more information at a higher speed than I am capable of on the very odd occasion that I pick up the controls. Personally I think the ultimate display will be heads-up, projecting a virtual image (ambient-light-proof!) onto the space where the monitor used to be on the rig when desired, but allowing the operator to sneak all the geographic peeks required without restricting one's field of view or creating disorientation as the old systems did. The technology seems achingly close, but apparently resolution is still an issue.

Which is a point well taken, because the supplied JVC battery only has a specified run time of 40 minutes (and it's not one of those "mini" ones either, the camera itself is notably power-hungry), so an Anton Bauer mount would be an excellent choice for this camera especially for those who already own the batteries, as many of us do.

And I will add this to Peter's fine points: Slow moves are where the distinctions between rigs really manifest. The precision (or lack thereof) in particular of the arm and gimbal will become immediately apparent when moving at a snail's pace--any signs of friction in the arm and stiction in the gimbal will cause you to "fight" the rig and result in wobbles, pogoing or small erratic motion in the frame. Ironically, the more advanced an operator one is, the more one is probably able to overcome these deficiencies--but it's the less-experienced operators who are more likely to be paired up with the lower-performing rig.

For those who are following the fast-paced world of small format video: I had a chance to test out the just-about-to-be-released JVC HD100 camera; this is the latest small-scale HD offering (technically, it's the Pro HDV format) and it features 720/24p and interchangeable lenses, along with available uncompressed analog component output. It's an impressive little package. I was asked by JVC to shoot some test footage with the JVC HD100 and the Mini35 adaptor, and a set of Cooke S4's. You can read an article about my findings here: To view the HDV test clips on your computer, I recommend a free app called VLC (www.videolan.org). We didn't fly the setup on a rig, but my observation is that it is pretty low-profile, fairly similar to a weight cage and weighing about the same as an SR3 with light zoom. It will likely be front-heavy unless you have the Anton Bauer setup like mine and can backload it a bit.

Yup, it's just another of those dastardly "practice makes perfect" Steadicam things. Do the "cross on the wall" exercise, and walk as slow as you possibly can--forwards and backwards--and repeat ad nauseum. There is always a great tendency to hustle around when practicing because it seems more fun and Steadicammy to go hurling through doors and whip the camera around, but the the more time you practice holds and slow moving stuff, the easier it is to do the faster stuff (because your body will have internalized the balance that is required).

All good--whatever works for someone is what they should use. I've never really used a Glidecam outside of a trade show floor, so I probably shouldn't have chimed in anyway. all the best, Chas

It's only because I'm too lazy to walk quickly, really. (thanks Alec!)

It's helpful to tuck one foot behind the other when walking backwards (for me the right foot goes behind the left) to keep in a straight line. The important thing is to focus on moving the rig at a constant speed independently of your feet. This becomes a function of your hands' positions--concentrate on having the gimbal hand (not the one on the post) driving the rig like it's on a conveyor belt.

The concern with a lightweight rig and a large diameter handgrip is that one may be tempted to use more force than is necessary to control it. An experienced operator will be able to resist such temptation, but for those new to the game a nice fat rubberized grip practically screams "grab me!". Consider the tiny "tongue" on the Steadicam JR gimbal--there's a reason you can only fit a finger and thumb in there, and that's to keep the operator influence down to the absolute minimum that is needed.

I think they meant "breastgazing operators". Or is that redundant.

http://www.bbc.org.uk/ohss/healt~41.htm ...wow!

Glad you enjoyed the workshop Afton (hope Rockport wasn't too muggy!) Paul is a great instructor, I used to have a lot of fun teaching with him up there ten years ago. For the record, it took me four years from workshop to buying my first rig, and yes, it was indeed interminable! Boston Camera had bought out the assets of a defunct rental house including their Model 1 (which I had learned on and had been renting up to that point) and didn't want to keep the rig in their rental inventory, so I picked it up.

If I understand it, the current version of the Gorelock is sized for the widest post and the rings come in different inner diameters. Thus for the 1.5" posts, you have a much wider Gorelock and rings than the original version. Yes?

Cillian: Big difference between a handheld stabilizer and a body-mounted one--not being able to absorb the weight on your torso can bring on the fatigue point much earlier. I can imagine your 14 takes with the GC 200 were not pleasant, as you said! The Aaton is a pretty light camera (although Eric, I'm not entirely sure if it is empirically lighter than an SR--consider an SR1 or 2 with eyepiece tap vs an XTRPROD--obviously the SR3 is heavier) and never much of a burden. We had a fair amount of accessories on it, and my Scrubs successor, the estimable Rich Davis who took over in Season 3, has been wearing a Kinoflo Kamio in the hallways. But it still is noticeably lighter than most 35mm rigs. That alone requires a certain amount of attention; I always felt that I had to be really careful going around corners to keep the horizons level, much more so than with a Lightweight II for instance. But it's a nice comfortable setup for day in, day out use.