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A little too close there pussycat


Lars Erik

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  • 3 weeks later...
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I hear you Tom. I was doing a picture that involved a lot of circus animals a few years ago. The attached photo was taken while I was doing a tracking shot on the side of a stationary train. I started the shot on a knee, and as the actor climbed up the ladder to get onto the train, I rose with him and started to back down the side of several of the train cars preceding him. On top of each train car were wagons with cages, and in each of the cages was an animal. The first three were filled with a tiger, a male lion, and two black leopards.

 

As I kneeled down on take one waiting for the slate to clear, I felt the camera move and my frame bounce. I instinctively looked up, anticipating that the boom pole had banged into my Canatrans. What I found instead was a bit of a surprise. There was a massive tiger paw batting the antenna of my transmitter back and forth, precariously close to my head. Of course the trainer was quick to jump in, but the tiger certainly could have had his way with me had he wished.

 

Our still photographer captured this image just as the tiger was reaching out to take a swipe at the transmitter. My favorite part of the photo (in retrospect) is looking at my dolly grip stoically watching the tigers paw getting close to me. It brings to mind one of my favorite film sayings that I managed to rip off from my friend, 1st AC Clyde Bryan. Show concern. Take no action.

post-866-0-46603500-1394931023_thumb.jpg

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I had a wonderfull conversation with Fabrizio (the operator) a few days ago... He said me that on set there were 4 assistants for the tiger... One of them was an anesthetist ready anytime if something went wrong! Btw the tiger has worked in several jobs. For sure it wasn't the first time that she seen a steadicam op. This was his reply to my sentence "my dog start to growl to me when I'm wearing the steadi in my backyard" XD

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Wow. I certainly can only speak for myself, but for me it is an honor that the more experienced ops on this site share their stories and pictures of past jobs. It helps me to learn an incredible amount. Just wanted to say thanks.

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