Premium Members Marc Alfonso Posted June 4, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 About 3 years ago I got to ski this rig for "The Big Year" some shots made it also into the Trailer This was the only time I have ever worn a camera, and I happened to work part time as a Ski Patrol Medic on the mountain that the show was filming at so I was approached to ski the rig. it was good times knowing that at over 25 Mph on an Icy run and chasing 2 stunt skiers that falling definitely was NOT an option :blink: Someone else was operating the camera remotely. Gladly everything turned out well... this is one day that i did not want to fall :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Nikolay Kerezov Posted June 4, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 INSANE!!! :o :o :o :o About 3 years ago I got to ski this rig for "The Big Year" some shots made it also into the Trailer This was the only time I have ever worn a camera, and I happened to work part time as a Ski Patrol Medic on the mountain that the show was filming at so I was approached to ski the rig. it was good times knowing that at over 25 Mph on an Icy run and chasing 2 stunt skiers that falling definitely was NOT an option :blink: Someone else was operating the camera remotely. Gladly everything turned out well... this is one day that i did not want to fall :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Janice Arthur Posted June 4, 2012 Moderators Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 Marc; Boy what guts you have. I'm not sure to congratulate you or not. An amazing accomplishment but not sure smart etc but who am I to judge? I would have said no at the first blush of this idea as I'm sure the rest of the crew did. I hope you got paid a lot, just for the risk. Janice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mariano Costa Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 I don`t know, but seeing more and more of these pictures with people operating off horses, skis, stepping from segways at high speed, operating on ladders, from cliffs and god-knows-elsewhere makes me shiver and quite frightened, okay, most of these guys do it freely, but I am thinking about those less courageous people or just beginners who are frightened to get a "sissy" reputation by saying "no". Recently I spoke with some friends about James Cameron`s risky way of doing things - on Terminator 2 he asked Jimmy Muro to operate on that freeway helicopter chase when the copter flys below the bridge, camera car in front - Jimmy simply said no and Cameron operated himself (this was not a Steadicam shot) - and I can only say that Jimmy must be one of the most courageous filmguys ever, first for saying no, second, to say no at such an early phase of his career, and third, to say no to James Cameron. And this should be common practice when your health/life is in danger. Sorry for being off topic - so, about the filmotechnic thing: there are some very interesting pictures, but as the AR somehow limited to special shots, I bet this thing will be extremely painful to your banking account... ;) And it reminds me a little bit of a very strange rig from the mid 90ies which never saw the light of day, a steadicam-like something with a wescam-like ball on top of the sled, remote controlled - the inventors even claimed that it`s the end of expensive, experienced steadi-ops, all that is needed is a goon for the rig and someone to control the camera... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Janice Arthur Posted June 14, 2012 Moderators Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 Mariano; Your concern is admirable but long ago I realized I couldn't influence many outside my sphere and then only those that I thought they might take input. So here's my take. Accidents happen and each has to measure their risk, the good news is most don't do it alone, someone else like trusted AC's and AD's have input. Clearly, we have not seen huge spikes in filmmaking accidents in the past 5-15 yrs even with crazy contraptions, so that's, I think, your answer. If there were big numbers of things happening we would have heard because even People magazine will report anything that happens film/Hollywood related. Secondly, Jimmy Muro was and is a very smart guy and even then knew how to deal with the world. He had his voice by then and Cameron was always known for some chances so no one on that set was naive. We've all had to say no at some point in our careers and if we felt it was unsafe we said no. If they replace you fine. Not the last movie ever made, and you did what you thought was right. I say you do some stuff with calculated risks that's exciting so that you have great stories to tell. Support for safe filmmaking is higher than ever and if you do something crazy hopefully you'll escape unharmed to learn not to do it again, that's why they make youth. Think about the stupid stuff you did as a teenager, yikes! Janice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jensen Posted August 19, 2012 Report Share Posted August 19, 2012 <We've all had to say no at some point in our careers and if we felt it was unsafe we said no. If they replace you fine. Not the last movie ever made, and you did what you thought was right. I say you do some stuff with calculated risks that's exciting so that you have great stories to tell. > But there are accidents. We don't hear much about them, maybe. Horrible crane accidents, cars, falls from scaffolding. Deaths and close calls with helicopter accidents. Why don't we hear more about them. What about the helicopter incident in Michigan when a helicopter on a big, big show snagged a power line. The crew survived - barely. We don't hear about these things, or share information about them. I remember being asked to do risky shots. On a show in Vegas I was asked to do a shot in which a swat team van busts through a window and stops just short of the camera that I was asked to hold. The stunt director, one of the best, demo'd the shot, said the shot would be safe and they could stop on a dime. We were one day from going home, I was looking forwards to seeing my family back in LA. I didn't do the shot, and the van driver overshot the stop mark, I would have been crushed between the front bumper and a cinder block wall. Instead of driving back to LA, I would have been shipped back. When we're asked to do something risky there is often the sense that it's our professional responsibility to take risk. A good number friends of mine - have had close calls or been badly injured on jobs. Today there are many great remote heads that can be used for these risky applications. I personally believe that the argument that an operator filming in the circle of risk can get a better shot no longer makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Janice Arthur Posted August 19, 2012 Moderators Report Share Posted August 19, 2012 Peter; 1) You and I have both made great points. 2) When I started veterans described, with great pride, the risk and the pleasure of doing shots that were dangerous with a measured amount of danger. These shots were in the history of film and it was so cool. Its hard to say NO NO but then filmmaking history says YES, YES. I so much wanted to have my work in that pile too, that I couldn't contain my energy to help and do that work. That's where I got my zeal. Its hard to deny that kind of desire; to be part of the history of the civilization. That's where lots of us have come from. 3) Clearly, danger comes up fast and in unspecting ways on various shots. We've all had them. A seemingly harmless shot has lots of peril if you play it all the way to the bad end. It's how we see that end, and mediate that end that matters. (I had a 2nd Ad who was supposed to pull me out of danger if a car barreled too close to our camera on a movie of the week. That was 20 years ago, what the heck was I thinking?) 4) My contention is to evalute that risk but also to not be "afraid of your own shadow". I heard all those veterans stories and vowed not to ever make "that stupid mistake" but I found I was also missing out on some doable shots. Heck the first job/shot I ever did I should have been killed on but I got talked into a stupid risk on a student film with friends. So just for all the newbies listening, its a fine line between danger and safety and each shot is different and you'll start to listen to your circle of friends who have more experience than you as to which shot have acceptable danger and which are too much. I've often relyed on gaffers and ADs who know more than me to have one voice and say no. 5) So yes you are perfectly right lots of remote heads etc will/should remove us from risk but lots more small shoots are out there than the big shoots with resources to afford those things. 6) No, not all accidents are publicized, I thought more would be with the internet. It is our job to talk about them. In perfect world everyone reads these posts twice and sees where we agree and how to judge. Janice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jensen Posted August 19, 2012 Report Share Posted August 19, 2012 Janice, Great thoughts. Yes, there is often a fine line between what is dangerous and what is not. And you are so right that there is nothing as exciting as doing a shot that is on the cutting edge. I think I confused the point, or I'm confused or something. Operating Steadicam was no more hazardous for me - when I was doing it - than conventional operating. If I ran with the Steadicam I knew that would increase the possibility of falling, but when I did go down I fell forward and it was pretty harmless. The dangerous stuff might be filming around unpredictable things that can go very bad if you are wearing a Steadicam on a vest if you are on the ground with wild animals, vehicle stunts and people shooting with things like bows and arrows. You wrote: <<6) No, not all accidents are publicized, I thought more would be with the internet. It is our job to talk about them.>> Yes, you are so right. I think it would be great if we could share our experiences if they can provide reference points to each other about making the right decisions about doing a shot. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Janice Arthur Posted August 20, 2012 Moderators Report Share Posted August 20, 2012 Peter; We're so close here on agreeing on everything. The difference with Steadicam is that we roam around as a variable on the set. The danger variables of where and when the stunt or activity goes is in so quantium number variable with the camera roaming around too. Certainly the camera on a tripod was a known quantity. We can be anywhere in that smoke. One long ago movie story that never showed up in the headlines was Taps apparently Garrett got lost in the mix of tanks and smoke and chaos. I only read the one line description of the danger years after in ASC as an 'aha' moment of boy didn't we all get out of that one. Again, its the dangers that you don't expect, like your story, that are often times the most dangerous. I know of 10 more that I heard about over the years that made me wiser. Janice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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