Most dangerous steadicam shot you have done ?

[Janice Arthur]

Hi all;

 

I was wondering what crazy situations operators have found themselves?

 

With all these reality shows there have got to be some stories

 

Maybe we can all learn from the situations and have a laugh?

 

I found myself on a TV movie standing out in a big open area w 20 other people as a thunderstorm approached very fast.

 

I was the only one holding/wearing metal. Very scary but of course no one would stop til they got the shots

 

Janice

 

[Jess Haas SOC]

This was a fun one:

http://jesshaas.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/4307_724811894139_14832338_42470426_7831912_n.jpg

 

Going high speed hardmounted to an ATV on the windy dirt roads of a rock quary was probably the most dangerous part but the time they set off one of the mortars early and we were next to it and when the AD was trying to rush things and wanted us to go before I had a chance to talk to pyro definitely added to the fun. Turns out if I had listened to the AD we would have been about a foot away from one of those when it went off....

[Afton Grant]

For the newcomers out there, don't EVER let an AD or anyone on set rush you into a situation where you feel uncomfortable. There are safe ways to do any shot, and if there isn't a safe way then the shot should not be done. No single shot is worth even the risk of injury or worse.

 

I busted up my foot earlier this year in a motorcycle accident. Was out of work for two months. Wasn't a major injury in terms of motorcycle accidents, but we estimated the cost of me being out of work for that time anywhere between $20-30K - from lost work, to medical bills, to lack of productivity with the house. Something small can have a big effect.

 

On union productions, it's much less of a problem. Not that it doesn't exist, but you often have the support of the rest of the crew and other departments when it comes to safety. I know a lot of people out there aren't working at that level, and I can remember being asked earlier in my career to do some pretty silly things. I think I've always had a pretty good head about me when it came to the safety of myself or my gear....although then there was that motorcycle accident..... On set, anyway, I've always confidently said no when it came to danger, and then quickly offered alternative, safe ways to do things.

[RonBaldwin]

Janice has a pretty scary story of an atv accident form years ago.

 

Afton is right -- never be bullied into a questionable situation (too close to a car wreck, guns, fire, a ledge, herd of bison or a gang of angry ax wielding orthodox...uh, never mind) it's all about going home at the end of the day and being vertical when you are an old fart like me.

 

One of my scariest moments in the rig was pretty early in my career -- I was doing a corporate video about fire safety (yeah, right). We shot at a fireman training facility but the "controlled" fire was anything but. Lost eyebrows and melted a shoe. Scary siht. FX guys never really know what is going to happen...it's all ballpark to them. Ask a lot of questions and watch your back (because the guy who is supposed to be watching your back is now running for cover).

[Ken Nguyen]

Here is mine.

I was on a crane for a crane-step-down shot.

As the crane booming down, 5.6 earthquake hit.

The crane swing left and right then left then right.

I was real scary.

I was lucky. no one was panic.

The crane operator bravely braced the crane for the period of a year. No it was only about 2min!

 

 

Fly safe!

 

Ken Nguyen.

[Bryant Swanstrom]

One production, paying a good rate had been vague as to the shots I would be doing leading up to the day I was on for. The day before, I he the call sheet and they are doing a car chase for 3/4 of the day. So I called everyone up trying to figure out if I was doing car to car stuff. All I got was the shot list wasn't locked down and we don't know. I tell them well I can get the proper equipment for car to car but it will cost blah blah blah and I refuse to do it without this equipment. They said no, I said ok. I show up in the morning and the first thing they said... Can you sit in the back of this pickup going 35-45mph hah.

[chris fawcett]

A 10 minute Don Juan shot preceding an Amazonian native down a jungle trail crossing 3 pirana-infested creeks as he grew increasingly pessimistic about shooting something for his dinner.

 

FMS, that was fun.

[Kevin Andrews SOC]

For a tv show, asked to hang off the running boards of a jeep wrangler driving down a public road, hold on with one hand and operate with the other to shoot the driver(actor) with a 50mm. They promised it would be a quick shot, and I wouldn't have to hold it for long. Needless to say, I offered numerous alternate solutions and explained why this wouldn't work for "their needs".

[Morgan Gustafsson]

My scariest moment was on stage, in a theatre with live orchestra in a trench between the audience and the stage. My focus was entirely on the actors and my monitor...when a suddenly feel that i´m standing with my toes on stage and my heel in the air above the trench.

One small step backward and that night had ended in pain. Lesson learned the hardway, always check your surroundings!

[Frederic Chamberland]

Pretty early in my career too (wonder why?):

Music video shooting a tiger in a residential house (...) I'm at the bottom of the stairs and the tiger is upstairs coming down those stairs... Animal wrangler pushes the tiger one step down because the tiger would not move. One thing the wrangler had not checked is that the wall along the stairs is all mirrors, and the tiger , of course, saw "another" tiger in the mirror .... OMG. He panicked and jumped back roaring like crazy, stumped on the railing, it broke; tiger ran downstairs (towards me of course) and just laid on the floor (it was scared by the "other" tiger) . Production broke for lunch because the animal was so scared, it would not move at all from it's spot, they had to bring the cage INSIDE the house to finally put the tiger back in the cage...poor thing.

I have never been so scared in my entire film career. I promised the wrangler I would never work with him for the rest of my life. Crazy thing is we had a set photographer and I still have the shot just before the tiger "flipped" : priceless...

[Ryan Brooks]

This is a great thread. Learning tons and enjoying the stories. But, Frederic, that story with the pic is epic. Thanks everyone for sharing.

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Baldwin was a guest on set one day, need I say more?

 

I think I win.....

[RonBaldwin]

Eric, don't whine just because you had issues with the livestock I brougbt with me and found the flan slippery, yet strangely erotic.

[Sanjay Sami]

Baldwin was a guest on set one day, need I say more?

 

I think I win.....

 

Eric wins ... hands down !

[Igor Votintsev]

It is very difficult to supervise contents of explosions. Sometimes the stones, one or more come across...

...However, the guy ahead of me had more problems, than I