Janice Arthur

Hi; I don't know much (like nothing) about this so if this is off the wall I'm prepared. Why not put the monitor where the batteries are and vice versa? I saw a newbie who set up the Steadicam "wrong"' do this and it was a new one on me. At the time it just seemed funny now maybe it works for a new idea? Janice

Hi all; The trees are green (in northern hemisphere); days a long (same). Have u balanced a checkbook; looked at tax; retirement or income amounts yet? I used to avoid this with every molecule because I knew my position stunk but even if I haven't prospered exactly as I wanted I force myself to do it. Even if it just makes my butt motivated to get out there and make calls its a tremendous thing to do. Look at everything and think about the slow down around the holidays too. You've got five months; do something. This is only a hint from someone who did things the hard way. Good luck Janice

Mike Sorry to hear that's bad. 1) who made the power cable for camera? 2) did u ask Tiffen any questions about the issue? 3) this should be simple, as u said, not sure why it's so bad Let us know Janice

Bo; I'm so happy to hear you haven't been scared off. Yes if it's possible go big but (as they say big is relative) a small market will not make business sense to buy too big. Secondly if u have a snowball's chance of coming up with 20-50k then work within what's possible. There is no right or wrong you have to figure out what works for u and if u make a few mistakes that's good too. Good luck Janice

I just had John and his office folks recell some batteries (and some others are on their way to him). Really good and quick too. Janice Thanks John

Hi all; Over the years I've been good and terrible at this. Have a pen and pad available wherever u are to make notes and give yourself an outlet for the emotions of what you're thinking and hearing There is no crime in saying "hey, let me take a minute and call u back in 5 min." You can take a breath and weigh your options then call them in under 5 min. Don't dilly dally it's got to be quick. What do u think? Janicr

Hi; I put a furniture pad under the stand and it makes the stand more stable but more importantly keeps the stuff that falls much cleaner and much easier to find. Keeping the arm out of the sand is my biggest worry. I've tried the screen idea and I never end up with enough for whatever I want to spend. Fifty feet isn't much and then 100 feet becomes a pain to transport. Beach walk and talks seem to go on forever. Now I'm stuck with chicken wire for 5 yrs til I walk on a beach again. Good luck but if you can walk close to the shoreline the sand is harder and easier to walk on maybe you won't need it? Janice

Patrick; Is steadicam going to be around long enough for you to pay off s zephyr? Yes Is gimbal device coming along? Yes. Will it find a niche and impact Steadicam highly debatable but each has a use and many more production people know about Steadicam and its specific values so it will have a value for probably a long time to come. Can u make a living at Steadicam? Yes, but it depends on where I live and how much u invest in gear. 80k in a town of under a million people is tough (those are not exact numbers but u get the idea). Can u pay off 15k and make a profit? Yes. Will u probably do reg operating and DP work and other stuff? Yes, because it's s different world and we all have time and pick up other jobs. Why not, if I can fit something in to my schedule and make some money then I'm for it. Common sense. Good luck and have a good summer. Janice

Bo; I'm clearly not trying to be mean here and I'm trying to point out what you and many others keep trying to go around. There is a price of admission to any job that has power, income and/or fame. Working at minimum wage takes no effort which is why the pay is low. You are lamenting the high cost of everything and we all did too. The effort to work your way up is part of earning your way in. To give up because it's too hard or you don't have the money is what EVERY job has. You want to be a banker? Will you put up with the years of work to get there? Over the decades a few ops had 80k dumped on them and almost without exception they fail in six months mostly because getting there was too easy. Now they tried to get work and it was "too hard" and zing they're gone from the business. If you're serious figure out how to do it. Did u get to be a grip on a show as your first job? No you worked at it. Good luck Janice

Bo; I'm not being sarcastic here. This is why it's so hard, if it was easy everyone would be here and then there would be way too many more ops. MBA degrees cost $100k and 3 yrs of hundreds of hours of work but when u get out you can get paid six figures. No one gets a degree cheap either. There are millions of other examples. Effort to get here is also why everyone guards their world (their clients etc.) so much. No one here got there easy either. Start with a flyer to practice w they're under 3k since u can't afford a zephyr. You keep looking beyond your means, figure out a lower number to start with. Janice

Victor Mesh seems like a good idea but in the end where is the sweat going to go? It's got to be absorbed somewhere and shirts work. Cotton may be messy but if you wear nylon it means your waist band and arms will soak it up you need sweat bands to soak up the water running down your arms. On normal hot days that was what I used. Also I've looked at cooling vests (google them) and wonder if they're a good idea on desert shoots where we sweat too much or its over the norm of temps. Paul taylor (veteran op) did a desert shoot and didn't realize how much he was loosing in water during the day and later that night it was apparent that he was suffering from heat distress. He survived but just barely. Sadly he didn't know how much fluid (and other essentials) he was loosing. Maybe the best bet it to just change your shirt a lot and drink way more than u think is right Janice I'm open to being wrong, let me know what others have figured out

Hi all; I've had situations where the director doesn't want to take the time to go to tripod and says hey just leave rig on the stand (the fork) well it never works and u always get "tilt up" or "make it steadier". Crap I'm on the stupid fork!!!! So don't fall for this. Take a minute switch to the spud lower or raise your stand to the right height and this is a pleasure and it works well even if you're in high or low mode and by raising or switching stands you can get to the right height. Operating off the spud is a good for practicing swish pans etc. too. That's my tip. Janice. Have a fun summer and make some money!!

Hi all; I'm trying to find a flyer for a friend. If anyone has one let me know Janice

Bo; Buy what u can afford; do good work with what u have and keep getting better. Eventually if u want to go big time on big well known productions invest in more expensive gear as your life permits Don't stress about reputation everybody has good and bad jobs and good and bad days Five years from now no one is going to remember u did a bad job some time Be the guy crew members want to hang out with (i.e. Not a jerk) and you'll go forward. Janice

Hi all; This is fun to read please keep it to going I've had many shots over the years that made me crazy Thanks again. Love hearing what U have experienced Janice

Hi all; I've done a few shots where batteries just died and replacements were a long way away at the end of a long day. The shots were pretty wide and one was on a forklift in a warehouse. Maybe I was concentrating harder but they worked out just fine. Janice Have a good summer.

Bo sea fuss; We need a real name here Welcome to the forum but please change your name. Janice

Benjamin Additional personal insurance for potential bodily injury worries you have and/or loss of income insurance may alleviate your worries some and may also be the way our jobs are changing I don't know. Luckily these injuries and bad things are rare and since we can't reject their deal memo (as you said) this may be the only way to take the work. The guy who did take the job signed, did the work, and has spent the paycheck while you're worrying about it. I'm constantly faced w these deals when I rent a car, buy software on-line etc. it's click agree or you are stuck w no car or software so it comes up often in today's world I'm not sure how to suggest you proceed. Arbitration usually just keeps both sides from racking up lawyer bills and a long process. Lord knows I've been wrong in the past so maybe I missed something but I wish you good luck in your dilemma. Janice

Charles Never confuse me w the facts. You're right again, I thought he was some recent college graduate. Have a good year. Janice

I agree don't give this young man an audience. He may or may not be just guilty of making young man mistakes I haven't looked at video, no need. Maybe this guy will be lucky enough to survive to understand how to make a living. Janice

Hi all; As I think to the moments from workshops and teaching moments that came to me months later as almost echos I heard myself remembering Ted Churchill sayings pop into mind with no prompting. So as we go forward those echos are a good and sound way to think of things. What do u remember from workshops? As I remember specifics I'll pass them on but even now the memory of them makes me smile. (You bastard, I still miss u.) Janice

Hi all; One of those things that gets discussed among operators but not necessarily on the forum or in words always was how your thoughts and understanding change as you operate. Typically after a workshop and a few months practice an operator has this "eureka" moment and thinks they have it all figured out. Then a year in another epiphany happens and draws us in further; then the next big understanding happens about three years into wearing the vest. I'm not sure I can articulate the moments exactly after all this time but I do remember the understanding changing. What do u guys have to say about it and I'm sure that time frame has shortened now that we all know this stuff so differently. It would be fun to see if we can put this into words. Janice Have a good and peace filled year.

Ron; You're thinking like the Crew member who sees the inefficiency details not the Producer. The Producer has a line item on a spread sheet that says get an operator for $XXXX. and that everyone that matters will agree to. That's the job he/she sees before him/her. The idea of motivating the operator to be efficient or good or on-the-ball is now left to an AD, DP, Director, whomever. The Producer next hears only 'replace' or nothing but seldom, as we all know, does blame go where it should or is blame assessed correctly. The blame for overages can scatter in many directions and usually does. That's the funny part of any group business and because the Producers aren't (or weren't often on the set) so they don't even see the details first hand. That's my take on it. Janice

Hi all Accepting offers this thing has to leave my house. Janice Pictures available but it's brand new for anyone who hates a nasty vest.

Hi all; Its spring and I've rehabbed a vest recently. Since I've got out the stuff, anyone who needs new foam, new straps, etc let me know. I don't replace plastic but I can fix some aspects of damage. Let me know if I can help. Janice