Janice Arthur

Sandro; I hear your love of your country in you words. I hope change can be affected soon. As the Olympics near I hope that either change or a light can be shown on the bad situations and maybe that too will help. As I get older I have perspective that comes with age and I see how the world has improved and sank in many ways; maybe one of those 20-30 somethings in the crowds will become the catalyst for change. Tremendous good wishes. Janice

Jess; Good if it is I always thought it was just USA Boy that's terrific. Janice

Michael; Make really sure your insurance works out of country. I don't think WPDolle does and Kyle's info about crime is really relevant, its an easy place to loose your gear. Bad guys have been known to follow you from the airport to your hotel and just wait for you to leave to go to dinner etc. its crazy. Maybe an option is to take only accessories and rent within the country? Not ideal but maybe an option? Janice

Brett I bill equipment through company and hours through personal SS#. I can have withholding done through personal stuff and no withholding on equipment. You can also use social security withholding which is good at end of year too. Hours are accumulated through personal SS# too. More later. Janice

This is a side note as I figure out details. No one will not reply to questions via email which is maddening. I suspect it's a liability issue and I get it but boy they can't respond really? As public sentiment pushes for changes in the way business gets done in the new world I can see some changes needed. Janice

Jess; This rented/unaccompanied gear not covered is news to me. I haven't talked to Tanya in a long while so I don't know. Janice

Brooks; That's a great list, amazing and I have to say I've used virtually everything you listed at some point, even if I didn't have it personally. Ear protection you can hear through (noise canceling ones) was something I found really helpful because the op can hear cues and dialogue which was important. I will add that a reflective (traffic cop) type of vest is useful on busy street locations and when you want the crew to see you. I've been in black a lot and random situation happens where being too invisible is an issue. Right before you shoot you hang it on the stand or even put it over the vest on walk across street walk and talks. Lastly these tiny crews today have little support and that stupid vest keeps cars seeing you. Janice

Hi all; Here is what I carry, and when needed it expands or contracts as needed per job. 1) climbing chest harness that will fit over vest to allow for good hand holds for spotters or alone for handheld shooting 2) plastic cleats for wet grass or misc slippery surfaces. Golf spikes if needed but don't step on electric cables in metal spikes. 3) knee, elbow and other pads. (Make them dirty and worn looking and you'll look cooler.) 4) rain gear of course That's a basic list. Janice

Hi all; It bears talking about, we get a call to show up and do some work on a production, often times alone and we trust a shoot and at least more than one person will meet us. Not always. Your personal safety, man or woman, is something to consider before showing up and at the least telling others where you're going and with whom. I've been in a few situations over the years that could have gone very wrong. People are so anxious to make reels and shoot some of the micro-budget jobs that it's easy to forget that bad guys could be are on the other end. The gear gets smaller and crews and number of crew members needed makes the risk higher. One young lady I talked to this week had a "documentary" for a "producer" she had only talked to on the phone, with a "recommendation" from her school in a distant, remote area had her all excited to go do the job. I shuttered at how many levels of danger that seemed to me. She was smart but didn't see what I saw; I could only heavily suggest she take her filmmaking friend/crew with her. Social media, good and bad right. Good luck. Janice

Rich and Robert; Thanks a bunch. I recently found out a friend's policy apparently didn't cover "fraud" and I thought that crazy bad for him because it seemed like just a legit loss. Sadly he came out on the bad side without coverage when he needed it. I don't know details but as Robert said shop for what is good for your situation. I was surprised/shocked to hear about my friend and also the good tip from Robert which I didn't know about either. I've rented out some gear in the past and thought it was covered. Lately I've been deciding on whether I need equipment coverage on some pretty old but still useable gear. It really does make me nuts that policies are written so densely that we take the word of agents and if you don't specifically ask you'll never know and are at the 'mercy' of their info. Now fast forward to the need and an "I'm sorry." Is all you get. As an aside to the long term policy which costs a ton and I'm counting on it doing what I need in the future I'm strongly thinking of having a lawyer read it to prevent a problem at the most dire time when I need it. Janice

Andre Here's what I know. You get life insurance policy and you can access a large portion of it for long term care, but either way you have life insurance if you don't need the long term care. Traditional long term care only lasts for max of four years and is a fixed amount of value. In a world where accidents happen and medical science can keep us alive for a long time but at a huge cost it seems like a thing to have. The discussion of life insurance is obvious if you have family responsibilities but often written off till later thing and luckily not used often but pretty much essential. The trick is you can't wait til you're sick to get qualified, so that's a part of it too. Gerry Stricker at WP is the person I've been talking to, because I'm old enough to know that my chances of needing this coverage is about 75%. I've got my ear to the ground on this stuff because I am in the demographic to know i need things and I've had the time to have perspective on people who have needed it and didn't have it. Good luck. Janice

Mariano; These days no one is quite sure when someone posts if they have any experience with "the right gear" or not and God forbid we would tell someone who wants and may insist on a particular device. So along the way as we get to know more about the project and the person a discussion of the better gear comes up. So yes that's why I went for a possible alternate to Steadicam. I also have to say that in the almost weekly request from newbies we're all kind of brain dead at answering the same questions asked differently so as a way to get would be ops up to speed the best answer starts with take a workshop, buy the book and DVD and we're happy to help further. I find many ops are still happy to help with more info and that's perfect, when I'm tired others can answer. Akiko is a very nice person who has interest in steadicam and who knows may end up doing more work in the field. Janice

Ok, I've rethought this shoot and now I think even a simple easy rig is too much for this production bases on the tiny camera size and lack of budget; size of the shoot which is small; and desire to be invisible. Now I think a simple monopod, screwed into the camera and Akiko can carry camera much more stabilized than handheld and yet still rest it on her shoulder when needed then extend the monopod when needed for "tripod like" shots with the monopod resting on the ground. This is a $30.00 solution and can solve every issue as I see it. I think sometimes shoots are so small any gear is too much. Good luck. Janice

Jayme; All these home remedies take time to work like even airing out in the sun. Modern odor absorbers/fresheners/eliminators work much faster. Go to Home Depot and pick out some, it's worth the $10.00-30.00. (I love the home remedies that all involve vinegar, it doesn't work as well as they say.) Janice Love to help with workshop, contact me at any point.

Jayme; 1) pull out vest pads and wash them in mind soap in cold water by hand. 2) air dry them in the sun. 2a) take the socket block off the vest and you can actually dunk it up and down in soapy water/rinse it and again sun dry it. 3) put the sled in the sun too and that will help a lot to get rid of smell over time. 4) case etc. the case will hold the smell a lot. 5) eventually if smell lingers I'd find a dry odor Absorber and put vest in a Rubbermaid container for a couple of days. 6) the smell will gradually disappear but it may take a while 7) the foam in the case will hold it longest and you may want to buy a new one if it does last. 8) there are fabrezze products and many others to choose from Let us know how it went

Akiko; It sounds like you have situation in hand and do a workshop when you can. For a >3lb camera I'm not sure I'd invest in a 1000/$ or pound easy rig either. Good luck on your shoot. Janicr

Hi all; Assuming this guy was a novice at Segway and operating together or even separately is the issue. He didn't have the mental "wiring" to understand how they worked best. Therefore he didn't have experience of having been in many different situations to 'know' how to deal with this. My point is we forget how much "brain wiring" we have for dealing with moving and framing and a Segway. Moment to moment choices for the newbie are harder and often the wrong choice or simply can't be made fast enough in a critical situation. Just as anyone who has done any activity a lot; they have a dexerity that most people don't and that's what we see when a bike racer even get on a bike or the bricklayer put up a wall. Right or wrong gear don't know but experience would have helped a lot. Janice

Akiko; Here's my take. Go easy rig and forget Steadicam 1) no time to learn, less time to get it and practice; what if your model shows up a week before you leave? 2) probably not much money (less than 3k is my guess.) 3) no assistant to get stand and batteries let alone pull focus 4) you're going to be on the "dumb side" of the camera with steadicam and can't see exposure etc or reach them easily. 5) you're going to have many locations and getting from A to B quickly is harder with no experience with a steadicam. 6) you can reach camera controls with easy rig but it will make shots somewhat smoother but take some of the weight too. 7) vest fitting is a harder discussion and may not be ideal on smaller vests 8) several other but that's a good start. Good luck. Janice

Hi all; 1) I'm sorry I made Elliot have to justify his questions, he's a great guy. 2) I saw a young man keep putting off what I thought was a current problem and unwise, imprudent, and a bad idea to put off. 3) I was trying to urge him to action, but he's a smart guy and can figure out what he needs to do. 4) All this was happening as a colleague has died last week about 40 years too early so yes I was trying to keep anything bad from happening to one of our folks. 5) so thanks everyone and the issue is done and it just proves we're all a nice group. Have a great year. Janice

Jakub; The factory training video that you uploaded doesn't show us your problem. Is this you in the video? We need to see what you are doing to evaluate what you're doing right and wrong and to give proper feedback. Good luck. Janice

Elliott Only a quick reread of original post sounded like the were still happening "After a very grueling shoot I started noticing chest pains/pangs for the next couple of days. It comes and goes every 10 minutes on average...a dull shooting pain in the middle of my chest from within. This of course could be unrelated to stea" So yes "crazy", was a measured response to continued chest pains as I read your post. Glad you're better. Let's see who has further advise for you. Good luck, as always. Janice

Elliot; I've done a quick read of your response. I'm done. Yes I'm motherly and I want you to be safe, beyond that I'm done. Good luck and yes I do know what you're asking. Janice Only peace and happiness.

Elliot; 1) no way anyone here would advise on 'chest pains'; that's a loaded question. 2) pilots hold a max 10 pound cam so 20lbs max what you were holding 3) we/you have no idea if you some hidden medical issue exists. 4) anecdotal some info says 20% of deaths occur in things like marathons and runs on people they didn't know had a concern. 5) if you're waiting days for a resolution and it hasn't happened yet you're crazy. Go to a professional right away. 6) pilot vest having a vest pad is irrelevant. Good luck go to a doctor asap, please. Janice

Elliot; There is no way we can know what's up with you. Someone could have had a bruised chest etc but that can't guarantee that's your situation. After you are checked out you can report what happened if it was a bruise but every situation is different Go see a professional right away!!! Janice

Sandro; 1) no one can conclusively say which vest is best or which has conclusive evidence for one vest or against another. 2) anecdotal evidence is just that, maybe some piece of this info rings true with you and how you operate. 3) I've seen so many variables with how operators work and deal with the day to day stresses to their bodies that I can't describe. I've seen so many "stresses" on what I see as energy wasting movements that I would never even consider that my head shakes at them; that said these ops do the work and make the productions happy so who am I to judge? 4) I don't know the answer and with the brilliance of the Internet, if you're astute , you'll analyze them and make choices with an ever increasing sharp eye. I know I see body stresses in a millisecond in ways I never saw in my youth. Janice