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Interview with Operator?


Jacob Williams

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Hi

I'm a student at Birmingham City University and am doing my dissertation about Steadicam and low-budget alternatives.

 

I wish to contact a Steadicam Operator who I can do a quick email/phone interview with as part of my research. I wish to know information about why the Steadicam costs so much, the future of the Steadicam (as cameras get smaller and lighter) and also an experts opinion on why the Steadicam is better than other alternatives.

 

If anyone here knows an operator who may be willing or is an operator themselves you contact me they can email me at Jacob.williams1@mail.bcu.ac.uk

 

Also if anyone has any responses to the questions, suggestions of alternatives I shouldlook into that would be great.

 

Thanks

 

:-)

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Jacob;

 

1) www.steadishots.org for interviews and info.

2) steadicam operators assocation, you can google it and see operators near you that you can visit/talk to.

3) take a workshop; you're doing a dissertation and haven't had one on? Go get more hands-on as you learn about it.

You're doing all this 'in-depth' work but are at arms-length to the actual device(s). Learn as we learned, then as you see the footage it created you can talk about it better with operators and appreciate it more as you see it. You'll also have more to discuss as you write and do your future work.

4) I think this is all called context.

 

Congrats on your learning but take it to the next step, great if you already have and I've missed the info. that you have.

 

Janice

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Buy Ron Baldwin a few beers, and you'll get all of the information you'll ever need to know.

Really though, there are tons of great resources all over the place. The forum is a big one. A lot of the big names in Steadicam post in here frequently. Garrett Brown, the inventer of the Steadicam, is usually pretty open to comunitcating with folks who want to learn about the steadicam.

I agree 100% with Janice too. Take a workshop. 'nuf said

If you can make it to the US any time soon, see if you can get a factory tour of PRO GPI. Go there once and you'll quickly see why rigs cost so much.

 

Hope this helps

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I think Robin is a good guy to talk to. Why rigs cost as much as they do is a good question to ask the manufacturers. A lot of equipment in film is expensive because of being small volume and high precision. A replacement crank wheel on an ARRIHEAD MK 2 will make your eyes water, and all it is is a hunk of machined metal. Some of it is just expensive because it can be. A seat offset on a Hybrid dolly will set you back approx 800$ . It's just a bar of steel with a hole in one end and a spigot on the other.

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