JasonMcKelvey Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Well, I've been reading this forum for several years now, and finally got to operate on a real shoot. I've chosen to used the term "real shoot" only when I knew it was going to broadcast (straight to video or training video would have been fine too) and not just the few minutes operating here and there I've had so far. It wasn't much, but I think starting small is just fine with me... don't want to bite off too much. I've learned enough from my operator friends to feel confident in simple short moves, so I aranged to rent a Hollywood Lite from a guy I met recently for $150 for the day. He has a full time job and does "steadicam" on the side. It's rated to hold up to 25 pounds so I was OK with my Panasonic SDX900 with Canon 9x5.2. We shot in 50mbs mode in 16x9. The subject matter was all architectual, walking down a curved walkway with columns on both sides, then some roundyrounds around several different columns pointing up at the top. I'll try to post some footage for criticing. I just wanted to encourage all the other guys hoping to get into the field. This was a very short shoot, only about 1 hour total at this location with maybe 15 to 20 minutes of flying so fatigue wasn't a factor, and very simple walks so safety wasn't a great factor. And, it only cost us $150. If my church (my job) gets hooked on the look, I'll let them send me to a workshop. Keep your eyes peeled guys for oportunities like this where you can use a light-weight rig and get some experience. Heck, for $150, even if it was just for practice we could have got it, and, we got to keep it over the weekend even. On a technical note, the Hollywood Lite rig was very difficult to operate. It had dynamic balance capability, but that was about it. The arm location is all wrong... hard to explain, but just weird. And there was no pitch ajustment on the socket block so it constanly was swinging out away from me and no amount of posture adjustment helped. I see why they went belly up. Anyway, I made it work and it will only make operating a better rig that much easier. To the vets, thanks for all the tips and information over the years. Reading this board over the years truely truely made this small step possible and fruitful. PS get in shape before you operate. Sincerely, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas M. Chopp Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 Same here, Jason. I kind of ended up diving in headfirst this past Saturday - shooting from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. It's a light rig (about 55 pounds), but still exhausting. You're right on about being in shape. ;-) I'm a boxer, so it's really helping me with my shoulders, that's for damn sure. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Nicholas M. Chopp Director of Photography - Hard News + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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