what...is happening here...

[Charles Papert]

I think the expression says it all?

 

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_kz39tjJgGU1qa3rtyo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1278565455&Signature=k56XNl3h77kZw%2BsC4g%2FwVuxzqQ0%3D

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

I think the expression says it all?

 

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_kz39tjJgGU1qa3rtyo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1278565455&Signature=k56XNl3h77kZw%2BsC4g%2FwVuxzqQ0%3D

 

 

So much fail in that photo

[Jens Piotrowski SOC]

I think the expression says it all?

 

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_kz39tjJgGU1qa3rtyo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1278565455&Signature=k56XNl3h77kZw%2BsC4g%2FwVuxzqQ0%3D

 

 

So much fail in that photo

 

 

Arri's new HD video assist, LOL :lol:

[Matteo Quagliano]

Hey... but it''s me!!! I need to explain

 

It was last shot of a long long day with Arri SR2 (I think), video tap burned, producer and director crying in a corner. Then I saw the assistant producer with a small camera filming the backstage and a great idea came to my mind. I rigged the camera direcrly into the Arri viewfinder and send the signal down to my monitor and to the TXRX for the video village. I still think I did a mistake because it was not my fault and this crazy set up ruin my operating. Anyway it was fun and we brought home the job. Didn't get hurray for that particular shot but a lot of gratitude for my attitude... :)

 

 

The expression was more of a 12 hours day shooting :)

 

What other things are failling Erik? Don't get it :)

[Lars Erik]

Kudos for trying to solve a difficult problem Matteo.

 

Good to see someone trying to make a shot happen, even though the elements are fighting against you.

 

LE

[JobScholtze]

Yes, much respect for saving the day. Good thinking. I am sure it didnt operate that nice, but i see so much dragons these days, this is just one of them lol.

[Lawrence Karman]

Looks like a smart answer to a bad problem. Why did it affect you operating? Just a little more weight. And if it was too much to balance on one side then just add counterbalance to the other.

[Russell McElhatton]

Excellent way to think on your feet however you are in violation of a Steadicam basic principal

"Never wear stripes under a Steadicam vest" it comes right after "Wear comfortable underwear".

[Charles Papert]

Matteo, how exactly did you rig a camcorder so snugly to a video tap mount...? where did the connecting pieces come from on set?

[Ken Nguyen]

Mateo,

Interesting set-up!

Just wonder why you placed the camcorder too high up!

As posted by Lawrence, how could it affect your operating?

Also, your wireless antenna should be positioned up instead of horizontal, so it can transmit better signal.

Cheers,

Ken Nguyen.

[Lawrence Karman]

Matteo, how exactly did you rig a camcorder so snugly to a video tap mount...? where did the connecting pieces come from on set?

 

From the picture it looks like an israeli arm is supporting the camcorder with some black tape around the eyepiece maybe?

[Matteo Quagliano]

Thanks fellow ops for the good words. I'm honored.

 

Perfect guess Lawrence. It's a magic arm that has got a photo screw at one end and a clamp at the other (I hope I remember right). So I screw in the arm on the bottom of little cam, then I close the clamp on the Arri handle, all junctions open. Then I position the arm to have it at its clostest position and then I tight all the junctions in the magic arm. it was very very snugged. Gaffa is just for the light not to pass. If I have to be honest it looks nicer then it's in reality. The image was almost impossible to judge but at least I can have top edges.

 

My operating was affected because of the incredible high and left weight, I managed to static balance the thing but no DB. Consider I have a tilt top stage on my sled and there you go with the weight beeing so far from my gimble. the shot in itself was affectd by this set up. if it was a normal walk and talk no prob. it was not. Start from a surgery room back to a hospital corridor with no one on the foreground (just 2 little persons far crossing the corridor) then quick pan (I won't call it whip pan :) ) to an empty waiting room with just a small tv very close to the ceiling. So after the quick pan an incredible slow walk to this small tv booming up while walking closer. obviousl the tv was off with a nice green to cover in post, that ending part required a lot of precision I couldn't give in that particular set up. No hurray but at least they manage to edit the scene. that's where my doubt come from, the shot was already quite difficult and precise the on the fly HD tap didn't help at all. Not to say that in the monitor I could barely see the top edges of the frame, it was bad, really bad, almost like operating blind.

 

I didn't have another place to put the camera, I tried to play around with it but that was the only one in which it could be snugged so strongly. The antenna is from the focus receiver, not video signal, don't know if it's right (no problem so far) but I'm used to have the txrx down under (also because it'w where I have 3 nice bnc video out)

 

p.s. I won't wear stripes anymore (even without the vest on) :) and I always wear confortable underwear (again without the vest on too) :)

thanks for the good point Russel. that shirt was a kind of goodluck thing, guess after that legoplaying I'm done with it and stripes

 

p.s. Charles I did a quick search and find out this... it's very very close to what we use..

http://www.aacmounts.com/images/2_switches_devices/2_MA-SC-BE_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

maqu

[Michael Tsimperopoulos SOC]

I am afraid that I've been there a few times too many...

 

Back in ’97, on a very remote location, I found myself waiting for my turn, since 5 am. After 14 hours of waiting, and as the light was going down fast, I was mercifully handed over the camera for the very last shot of the day. The catch was, that the 3-pin RS connector had just been sheared off from the SR-3’s body on the previous set-up. The DP asked “Do you think there is something you can do ?” and we frantically devised the abomination that you can see in the photo. We did the shot, and had something to laugh about on the way home, besides calculating overtime…

 

 

A few years later, I arrived on another remote (Murphy’s Law) location, walked by the camera-van and greeted the veteran 1st AC, who was seated on an apple box, enjoying a coffee and a cigarette. I asked him where his 2nd was, so I could get the camera and start building, and he replied that “there is no 2nd AC in this movie. We have the 16mm Aaton I told you about, and the entire camera package is extremely small and lightweight, and one man is deemed to be enough by the production. There is no video village, since the camera doesn’t even have a video tap”. I said “What ?” and then it dawned on him and uttered a faint “Oh shit…” I remember that, mounting a camcorder onto the Aaton’s eyepiece was particularly complicated, it was a day full of endless 3-4 minute shots, and the asynchronous flicker (24fps to 25fps camcorder) drove me insane… The funny side-note is that it was so time-consuming to align the camcorder properly, that when the DP expressed his desire to shoot a shot handheld, we replied “No you don’t !” and never took the camera off the sled for the day.

 

...to be continued...

[Michael Tsimperopoulos SOC]

...continued...

 

Finally, in 2003, on a Panavision show, in a remote (it’s getting tiring…I know) Greek island, a high-speed low-mode running shot came up. Our LW2 was fried, and I had to choose between a Platinum and a 2nd-unit Pan-Arri 3 without a video door. So we reverted to our old bag of tricks and we sailed through the shot with a goofy smile and my knees intact.

 

 

Michael