Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted February 7, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Sitting here watching the superbowl, like ya do, and I've had a few glimpse's of the steadicam op... Anyone know what's going on on top of that camera? There is gear stacked as tall as the camera ON TOP of the camera! And all in the back. The only advantage I can think of is shoulder clearance with the stuff not mounted behind the camera. Though I suppose there might be piece of mind not having a microwave transmitter directly next to your head, also better signal I suppose... Just never seen a set up like that, even when watching other football games and superbowls. Props to the operator regardless, gotta be a tough show! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Bryan Fowler Posted February 7, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Sitting here watching the superbowl, like ya do, and I've had a few glimpse's of the steadicam op... Anyone know what's going on on top of that camera? There is gear stacked as tall as the camera ON TOP of the camera! And all in the back. The only advantage I can think of is shoulder clearance with the stuff not mounted behind the camera. Though I suppose there might be piece of mind not having a microwave transmitter directly next to your head, also better signal I suppose... Just never seen a set up like that, even when watching other football games and superbowls. Props to the operator regardless, gotta be a tough show! John Perry I think I saw a photo of that rig on his facebook. I'm pretty sure he's there. But we'll find out soon enough. [waves to John] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted February 7, 2011 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Looks to be just a transmitter and an idx batt on top of a camera I'm simply unfamiliar with. Saw some vibrations in the image a couple times when the op (how many were there I saw at least 2) was running. Bummer. Well done all ops! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Pedro Guimaraes SOC Posted February 7, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 yes, when he ran fast there was a significant jitter with every step...not sure what that was all about.....having done a few broadcast gigs I know how tough it can be to deal with unscripted action, non-stop operation and crowds... ....did you see the poor operator get swamped in the crowd frenzy in the victory celebration? I could just see the top of his antenna virating evertime his rig got bumped/smashed into by another photographer/crowd... his rig took a beating! Altough I hear that NFL films owns all the rigs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Scott Jason Gill Posted February 7, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 I saw at least two rigs when I was in the Stadium Saturday. Both looked to be EFPs. I asked around to say hello to the ops but they weren't around. The rig you mentioned did seem to be really stacked odd and I too thought maybe it was to stay slim. That vibration was rough. Sure would suck having to stay in the rig for those long stretches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alfeo Dixon SOC Posted February 7, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 The prototype Ultra 1 should be out there somewhere... That's the one I grew up on until I got my Ultra 2... and yes, it is now owned by NFL Films. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Abraham Posted February 7, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 When shooting the 1995 and 2000 Super Bowls, I got swamped too. You hold on tight and hope your tally isn't on when someone lunges against you !! That fast backing up shot as the Lombardi Trophy is carried on the field and up to the presentation stage? Fun. Narrow little chute to back up in. In 2000 it was so tight that the guy carrying it ( no clue who that was... ) almost bumped into my rig passing by me. Lovely work, much of it done at high speed. Peter Abraham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Osvaldo Silvera SOC Posted February 7, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 I believe it was a Link system, I use a similar one from time to time, in order to have return and tally, it's a few boxes, you can configure them and velcro or attach them on top or even under the j box if you have enough tape and long connector cables. I started on a dance show with the simple link system which only transmitted, no tally or return, then I worked on a larger scale show that had the full system. The camera on this one though looked like just a camera optics head and the wireless rig attached. He really got bumped around there in the end. But that happens in any live situation. Try telling a ton of crazy women not to cross the tape line on the floor when Ricky Martin walks by with the steadi, result, Not so steady..... I have a pick of the Link system on the rig, And the Dual side by side battery set up so we never shut the Link system down. ..."Link don't likey when it's shut down!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Michael Fuchs Posted February 7, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Seems to be the same guy who's done ESPN's monday night games for some time now (and i think thurs nights too)--its interesting how he almost never touches the zoom at all--leaving it superwide always, whereas other ops who do football tend to vary the lens length from time to time. I do love feeling that 4.5mm (2/3inch) view however, so I'm down with it. Always been interested in who this guy is--a name anyone? I'm pretty sure Tore Livia was doing some smooth moves during pregame concerts and maybe halftime. Always great looking work. And yea--vibration. When you're running that fast isn't it tough to get rid of the vibration with the eng setups?--especially if you are dealing with beat-up sony plates. Its amazing how much steadi eng work I see on TV that has a good deal of vibration when the op is moving at very normal speeds. Gotta throw tape or something in those sony plate grooves!! Love that chrosziel plate when i can get it :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Rob Vuona SOC Posted February 7, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Link system Tore was doing half time show I think Jeff Zachary and James Lytel during game play Not sure who was doing 3-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members John Perry SOC Posted February 8, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 Sitting here watching the superbowl, like ya do, and I've had a few glimpse's of the steadicam op... Anyone know what's going on on top of that camera? There is gear stacked as tall as the camera ON TOP of the camera! And all in the back. The only advantage I can think of is shoulder clearance with the stuff not mounted behind the camera. Though I suppose there might be piece of mind not having a microwave transmitter directly next to your head, also better signal I suppose... Just never seen a set up like that, even when watching other football games and superbowls. Props to the operator regardless, gotta be a tough show! Okay...here it is from top to bottom: Omni Antenna IDX battery GigawaveHD transmitter Audio encoder Sony P1 imager with Fuji 4.5 wide angle Shure 416 shotgun mic Flux Capacitor Master top stage Stanton Zoom/Focus Marshall 7" HDSDI monitor Master Sled & Arm Ansso 190 lithium battery It's stacked high because the RF company providing the camera did not have the bracket to mount the transmitters on the back, which is what I prefer. Apparently the brackets were delayed in shipping because of the storm so me and Phil had to go high. Phil Jacqes worked the end zones and yes he has some vibration on his top stage that you saw when he ran. I used to have the same problem with mine until I had all the bearings and track replaced in the top stage. It was rock solid when I got it back from Tiffen. I'm sure stacking high added to the vibration. Phil does most of the regular season and Monday night games ....great operator and nice guy. I was the one you saw getting beat up at the end of the game during the free-for-all. 500 photogs rushing onto the field all trying to get the same shot...I might as well have been a handheld op at that point. I didn't see Jeff Zachary there, but Tore Livia did halftime and James Lytle was on the red carpet for NFL Network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted February 8, 2011 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 Well done John, and all around to everyone! That's a bummer about Phil's vibration, I only noticed it when he was moving fast at least. I hope he can get that taken care of, but I wonder too if it was enhanced by the high mounting of some of that gear. Otherwise everything was great that I saw. I too saw you get bumped around, I can imagine the situation as I've been in similar, but much much smaller ones. Hope I never understand it fully! I think if you adjusted the placement of the flux capacitor you might get better balance, allowing for easier acceleration to 88mph. Brian |-)~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Afton Grant Posted February 8, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 That's a bummer about Phil's vibration, I only noticed it when he was moving fast at least. I hope he can get that taken care of, but I wonder too if it was enhanced by the high mounting of some of that gear. Otherwise everything was great that I saw. Yeah, bummer. If only there was a way to replace that insecure old top stage with a nice solid donkey box or something........................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Scott Jason Gill Posted February 8, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 John, That looks like the same camera set-up but I never saw your sled out there on Saturday. I figured the vibration may have come from the link up high. I've had Link antennas induce vibration just from not seating very tight. I can imagine it getting magnified up that high. Nice work out there, sorry I missed you guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Leible SOC Posted February 8, 2011 Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 Hey great Job by Phil Jaques! Awesome work and a lot of tally lights! He was everywhere on that field! Really impressive hustle as well! Not easy working your way around all those players coming in and out of the sidelines! Especially at the end when Phil was out there surrounded by all the media! Phil has changed the way we look at football games now, and the Steadicam definitely complements the show tremendously! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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