Charles Papert

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..and then no-one (including me) noticed that I wrote "busy" instead of "bushy" in my post...

As I recall from GB's explanation, the hands-free Segway was owned by a European performance artist who had created a show with women in long skirts riding the things in complex manuevers (the skirts hiding the Segways)--easy to imagine how cool that must look! p.s. Mile O'Shea? is this that game where you try to turn one person's name into another by changing one letter at a time? No problem--next up would be Milo O'Shea, famed Irish actor with extraordinarily busy eyebrows...

Steering on this system was available via two foot pedals. The gent who brought this unit was extremely agile with it. To me, though, it's hard to see a Segway without being reminded of Gob from "Arrested Development".

I think we were all too busy stuffing our holes with canapes and cocktails to take pix of the Segway--it was fun to see Mike go sailing past at lightning speeds with the rig onboard! G50 arm was terrific, indeed.

Hi Mikko. Yes, lots of goodies at the show this year. The Smooth Shooter is quite nice, good looking piece of gear and works well for its purpose. Sachtler has a DV-oriented rig out that is quite high-end, actually will be priced well above the Flyer but I think will be able to handle heavier cameras in the production model. Haven't made it to Tiffen yet, will be today. The AR is out of the bag. A friend took this small clip of me putting it through its paces: http://www.dvinfo.net/media/nab2005/chuckcrane.wmv The HVX200 looks great. Attended an extended demo of it last night. Very promising stuff. I think the only initial drawback will be the cost of the P2 cards, but like the DVX100a, it jumps ahead of the competition by leaps and bounds. It's only a mockup right now though. The new JVC camera is up and running and also looks good, although limited in certain ways (does 720P in 24 and 30 to PRO HDV format) but has interchangeable lenses and a nice form factor.

There is such a book in the works from one of our distinguished operator/instructors. Also I hear rumors of a new instructional DVD at some point.

Usually those things are front-mounted.

The Flyer arm is a revolution--everything before it, including all of Tiffen's lower end arms including the SK and Provid, were just approximations of the "Steadicam" effect. The Flyer arm performs as well as the highest end arms available, and that alone is worth the additional $3000 you refer to. Remember that with a stabilizer, once you have assured that the rig is structurally sound and free of vibration, the gimbal and arm are the only two things that inform the actual photography--the rest is operator convenience/comfort/interface. Regarding the workshop, from my venerable perch of 20 years (less two months) since the one I took, plus having helped teach a number of them ten years ago; it will give you the tools you need to practice, rather than get into bad habits. Steadicam operating is far more than being able to walk a straight line, maintain a horizon, or configure the gear into low-mode--there's an endless stream of knowledge and tips about every other aspect of being a Steadicam operator that make it a priceless experience.

I don't know if I am in the minority, but I tend to swap out different length arm posts depending on the shot...I have four different lengths readily at hand from 6" to 18" (the fearsome "manmaker"), as well as two kinds of J/F bracket. With the PRO arm, the changeover is mere seconds. I'd hate to have to remove collars for this sort of operation (and incidentally, I like my armposts fully free to rotate; a lot of guys have this frictioned-off on their PRO arms)

Yeah, and you'll end up looking like BJ's avatar! damn!

There's a great trick for stand ups on the wheels that I use on the odd occasion, but it can make you look like a champ. Start with the actor in standing position and find the proper headroom. Slip the head into neutral gear, and orient the handwheel so that the pin is at the 12 o'clock position. Go back into your gear of choice. Then have the actor sit down, and tilt down to the proper frame, counting the number of rotations that the wheel goes through. Now, when the actor stands up in the shot, you simply spin the wheel that same number of rotations and land at the 12 o'clock position (your hand will easily "find" that). It's pretty foolproof, and even works if you have a simultaneous boom happening on the dolly.

Stephen: I think you'll find that the geared head is a lot like Steadicam, in that after a while the mechanics become second nature and your hands/brain "know" what to do. Practicing is great but performing actual shots on set requires one to get out of one's head about the whole thing...I used to use a laser pointer and trace squiggles and things around the place ad nauseum (try writing your name or whatever in large cursive letters on a board and tracing it with the pointer). The bit that is a little trickier to get down since it requires more personnel/hardware than most have access to is backpanning--countering on a dolly or "erasing" the arc of a crane arm is somewhat counter-intuitive; dialing away at the pan wheel just to keep the camera pointed in the same direction, then either cranking faster or slower to effectively pan left or right, and coordinating your efforts so that when the dolly/arm comes to a stop, as do you. My first paid job using the wheels was on a commercial with a short jib arm making full 90 degree swings...positively nerve-wracking at the time! You quickly get the hang of it, though. Howard's comment about the Pana/Arrihead differential is interesting, although I personally don't find it too disconcerting to bounce back and forth (remote heads usually offer stepless adjustment of gear ratio, which I like). I do agree wholeheartedly about preferring the wheels on a dolly though, especially for push-ins where there is a classic tendency on the fluid head for a little bump in tilt during starts and stops. Given a choice, I generally opt for the wheels 90% of the time on most shows. The one I'm on currently has been mandated as fluid-head only, and I do find myself missing them (the odd remote-head day gets me all misty!) Best of luck Stephen, just use every opportunity you can to noodle around on the things!

Thanks for the info Mitch--I was wondering how they managed to maintain the same depth of field as previous seasons!

Be prepared for a thorough frisking--after all, that would be the doorstep of the White House! Chad, out of curiousity, are you finding the marathon hallway shots a lot easier this year since "West Wing" went 16mm? Any other notes on the format change (including A Cam observations)?

As it turns out, that package is already in the mix, Eric...

I don't believe I've ever heard someone who is working as a Steadicam operator and who took a workshop early on say "wish I hadn't bothered with a workshop--that was a waste of money!" Quite the contrary. The only thing that I would recommend is finding a way to get some time in the system before you take the workshop, at least get to play around for a bit to get the very basics down; this way you are likely to be able to absorb more of the finer points i.e. have to learn to walk before you can run--literally!

Pictures of the setup, taken hurriedly at lunch at work (so I haven't done a nice clean-up on them, please forgive:) http://homepage.mac.com/chupap/Film/PhotoAlbum68.html If desired, I can offer an upgrade to the PRO bayonet mount for quick-changing posts (Superpost, etc.) for $700 additional.

Kareem: Looking good--sent you an email.

If you happen to be in L.A., you can pick up the stand from American directly for 40%, a great deal. One caveat I will make about the stand; the black powder-coating doesn't hold up nearly as well as chroming (which is why c-stands are still chromed, and every damn day you have to ask the grips to drape them with duv or tape to help with reflections...). Try to avoid putting any camera tape on the stand as it will quickly pull off the paint, and the stand will start to rust. Assistants seem to love to store focus wheel tape strips on the risers or legs when you turn your back. If you are a bit more vertically challenged than our good pal Mr. Arnot (who I believe is something like 11'423"), you may be able to get away with the shorter single riser version. Might be a bit cheaper, but more importantly it saves considerable weight. As a point of reference, I'm 2'.0003" (OK, OK, I'm 5'7") and I find the top height of the single riser is almost always perfect for high mode. The only feature I'd like to see improved is the casters--they lock, which is crucial, but the wheels are pretty small and tough to roll over cable. I've long meant to have a triangle base built with pneumatics but haven't gotten around to it. I use a custom "front box" that attaches to the bottom of the stand and stores the most-needed goodies (Preston, batteries, posts, tools) so I can get to them without having to trot back to a cart.

Still available. Asking price now $5500.

I should point out that I'm not an emoticon user--those little yellow guys make me want to throw the computer out the window--but IF I was, I would have slapped a few at the end of that last post--i.e. "just taking the piss, no harm no foul" etc. carry on, chaps.

Finally got around to seeing this fine film. Many kudos to Steve Campanelli for lots of great work as usual. And how nice was it to hear Steve and AC Bill Coe given a shout-out by Clint at the Oscars? One shot blew me away because of its sheer audacity, I'm assuming it was a Tom Stern call: about 10 minutes into the film, Steve does a crane step-off outside the gym and walks inside. The transition from exterior to interior is achieved with what looks like a good 5-stop iris pull, with none of the usual tricks to hide it; it's just a straight driving shot that opens up like a camcorder on auto iris. And wouldn't you know it, it works fine--it just takes a lot of balls to pull something like that off, I think.

Xl1s in full-on studio mode with Mini35, Cooke S4, 4x5 Chrosziel mattebox, follow focus, onboard monitor, Anton Bauer mod to Mini35 and handheld rig could clock in somewhere around 20-22 lbs. Not sure what kind of shooting would call for that setup with an onboard shotgun mike, but anything is possible. In Steadicam mode, assuming one has replaced the studio follow focus with a wireless system, removed the handheld shoulder mount, onboard monitor etc. and is using the rig's battery to power everything, you would be down around 15 lbs. I generally liken it to an SR3 if one is making a film camera weight comparison. p.s. Eric, Woodland Hills called, they'd like "your" LW back...!

<<anyway I won't be posting under my covert name as I agree it is childish!>> I believe you just did. There's nothing wrong with wanting everyone to chill out, however, I don't think just coming on the board and announcing that will have much effect. This forum has a tradition of real-name users to keep things upfront and honest, to avoid anonymous flame wars; waltzing in with an olive branch wearing a hooded cloak is a noble but misplaced gesture. Show a little backbone--anyone who would think less of you for suggesting peace is not someone you should care about offending. Personally, I find the proceedings here somewhat amusing. The civility and nobility of the Knights of the Green Screen long ago gave way to the Dark Ages, at least as far as this forum is concerned (there are still a few secret ceremonies held in musty cellars from time to time). I mourned the loss then; now, I simply stop by less and less as do many other once-regulars. Still, who isn't morbidly fascinated by a multi-car pileup like this one?