The Oldest Arm in Use Today (as well as other fun stories about old gear)

[Peter Abraham]

My Model I Sled ( known as "Old Smokey" ) was number 022. My Model I arm was # 028. That arm was rebuilt by CP ( Robert Luna) soon after I got it, to make it adjustable. The doorway hinge broke on it, and then a cable snapped. I cannot say where it is right now. When I sent it to CP to be fixed, it was scanned into the FedEx Terminal at LAX. And disapeared. Stolen by an employee. Replaced with a IIIA Arm, thankfully.

 

My Model I vest had a CP plate on it, and I believe on the inside there was a serial # ID Tag but I cannot for my life remember what that number was- ironic, because from 1986 to 2003 I only wore that Model I vest. Other bits came and went but man, that old vest. Custom rebuild by myself, fit like a glove.

 

I owned the prototype Flyer arm that Garrett built.

 

Oh, and a real bit of ancient gear. I owned the original hard-wired follow focus system that CP built. It was designed to to from hand unit by cable to a box mounted on the back of the Vest. There, it interfaced with ANOTHER small box in a weird side-by-side dual box holder thingy. From there, the signal went by cable along the vest right shoulder- there were curved metal clips to hold the cable. Then, down the arm to the sled.

 

My working box was LC-0001 ( Lens Control ). The spare box, with knurled knob but no wiring guts was 0002. I still have that old empty box somewhere...

 

Oh. And I am proud to say that I owned BarTech FF unit # 0002. 0001 went to the fellow who did the field testing work for Jim. A LA based Op, I do not know the person's name. But I knew about the BFD a year before Jim took orders and by god, I put in a deposit.

 

No doubting what a game-changer THAT was gonna be !!! :D

[Alec Jarnagin SOC]

In 1994 I bought a used Model 2 sled (Serial #192) off of Derrick Whitehouse that had belonged to David Luckenbach. It came with a Black Spring Model 1 arm (Serial #G-20). It had silver bones but had the articulated elbow upgrade. The package also had an old Model 1 vest with it (Serial #39. White plastic and all). Not sure if the vest & arm had been David's as well, but I think not.

 

Within a few years, I rebuilt the vest (plastic by Peter Abraham) and Chuck Jackson (RIP) replaced the black springs to Gold Springs (and thus the maximum lift climbed from 51 pounds to approx. 63 pounds). My original intent had been to modify the sled to a single center post, but I ended up getting George Billinger's old 3a sled (can't recall the S/N) from Goerge Paddock (he had traded it in for a PRO). It was a fun sled, with a DB-1 (a real DB-1 not the first generation DB-2 that has seemed to confuse a few people lately) and DeRose center post and upper junction box. This began my relatioship with PRO and all these years later, it continues strong because in addition to great gear, they have unsurpassed customer service.

 

So where is the old gear now? The model 2 sled died and is living in a friend's basement somewhere (can't recall which friend). The modified 3a sled went to David Rosenfeld, who still operates it on occasion. I sold the arm, which was the gem of the package, to BJ McDonnell who started his Steadicam career with it. He later sold it to David Ellis, an operator in NYC. Dave has since sold it to someone, but I don't know who.....

 

Oh, and my trusty old Model 1 vest? Front spar cracked on a job (I figure it was from 1976 or so). I managed to get through the day with a Gaffer Tape tourniquet. CP (Cinema Products for the newbies out there) graciously sold me the replacement pieces from a Mater Vest without charging a fortune. Unfortunately, I was never as happy with the vest since that was when they were using a webbing design so the vest lost much rigidity and I eventually replaced it with the PRO vest (Serial # 272) which I still use today. As for that Model 1 vest? Still have it as a backup/teaching vest (put a new socket block on there once upon a time realizing that the old one was from the 1970s and that piece takes the load!).

 

Other trivia:

 

In addition to my primary sled, I own Bob Ulland's (RIP) PRO Lite (Serial #6).

Old friend and former student, Kurt Jones, bought PRO 1 Serial #1 off of Chris Haarhoff and used it until he retired from Steadicam (he is a DP now). Chris used the first PRO 2 on Birdman as has already been pointed out.

I now own Garrett's hand built prototype Flyer arm that Peter refers to (but I really should sell it; Brant and Tom you listening?!)

 

Erwin Landau knows way more about this stuff than any of us.....

[Beau Cuizon]

This has been an awesome thread -- with the stories and pictures and history, it's all been a fascinating read. I'm grateful to everyone who's contributed, and written down their stories about the secret lives of their steadicams. It's funny, steadicams always look impressive, but you couldn't ever really tell how much these rigs and their operators have gone through by just looking at them. It also seems like steadicams have nine lives (old smokey had maybe ten)..passed down from operator to operator. It reminds me very much of the days of the master and apprentice, craftspeople cultures of old. It sounds like you veterans have lived through some interesting times. It must have been a real kick to be there, as the art was evolving, and the technology was growing, and I'm always surprised that names and the tales that go with them are so vividly and fondly remembered. Well, most of the stories seem to be warm and fuzzy, anyways!

 

 

There's a incredible amount of history, experience and knowledge on display here, and I thank all of you for sharing your stories with the rest of us.

[Brant S. Fagan SOC]

My first Rig was a bone stock Model 2 serial # 214, I think, which I purchased from Kevin Jones (RIP) out of Detroit back in '91 from a classified ad in American Cinematographer, remember buying gear from printed materials? That sled was cut up more times and evolved into a very slick setup that served me well. My Vest was #235, and back them CP called it 'The Suit,' and the center spar of that vest remains part of my current vest. Proudly, the plastic parts today are the same pieces fashioned and assembled by Peter Abraham over 23 years ago! Still working and fits like skin. My Arm is #214 which originated as a red spring 39 pound arm back in the day. Upgraded by Chuck Jackson (RIP) right away to 63 pound capacity and still traveling with me every trip. It has been there and saved the day when I had two spring failures, one with a loaded up Moviecam Compact shooting 35mm anamorphic in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Think 10 miles from the US/Canadian border!. Once the spring fractured and trashed the cable, a piece of spring flew out of the bones and lodged itself in the frozen ground about 6 inches from Kris Kristofferson's heel. While everyone had a bout of cardiac arrest, I calmly docked the rig, which never hit the ground, and strolled to my truck, pulled out #214 (now a 3A spec) and finished the day. The other failure was an overnight episodic shoot at Princeton University, also in the bitter cold, which caught the attention of Campus Security, who thought a firearm had been discharged! Always glad to know she's in the bag, tucked into the truck, and ready to make it happen.

 

I still carry a DB1 that I purchased from Bob Ulland (RIP) right out of his trunk; he showed up at a Workshop I was teaching at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, and called me over as he opened the trunk casually and asked if I needed some Steadicam parts. A whole bunch of cool stuff was carefully arranged like gems on a jeweler's cloth. I grabbed that DB1 and use it to this day. I also have some Ted Churchill stuff that still earns it's keep and always gets the ACs fired up when they hear where it came from. Those parts were made with care and insight when doing it yourself was part of the art. Think before the Internet, people. Can you imagine how much more of a challenge it was to construct a system without being able to do research and find parts without a laptop computer or even a smart phone?

 

Just think what would have been possible in the early days if only....

[John Buzz Moyer]

Master Arm 195122, circa 1994. Used it in the rain all day today. Robert has had it a few times over the years, but currently fresh as the day it was made.

[Tom Wills]

Not an arm, since my Pro Titan's about 2 months old at this point, but I do own a little piece of history. Got this gimbal on a sled that was an upgraded PRO 1, that had been rebuilt and upgraded quite a few times. It looked a bit odd to me (namely that it has no markings on it - I was a bit worried about whether or not it was a PRO gimbal after all!), so I asked Jack about it. Apparently, I stumbled upon owning one of the original PRO Gimbal prototypes!

 

I've since mounted it up on one of the new quick-clamp handles, but I still have the original clamp, also anodized in that cool gold/gray anodize. Put in a new set of bearings late last year, and it's still carrying around my hodgepodge of a sled, with whatever I've been able to throw at it, smooth as the day it was built! Though there is a suspicious looking weld on the handle, which appears to have happened before the anodize. What I'd give to know that story!

 

Fantastic to hear the stories of the old rigs here. Truly a testament to the engineering prowess of these companies.

[Tommy Stork]

This is an old sled of mine in mothballs (note where GPI was doing business from at this time)

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[Mariano Costa]

 

Also...question for you, since you're in thread, and you seem to know a bunch about PRO gear..., and if you don't mind my asking...I understand the PRO design philosophies are a little different from the CP/Tiffen philosophies...in regards to the arms, mechanically speaking, what are the differences, and why did they deviate from what some may consider a highly successful methodology in arm design (in the 3/3a, Master/Ultra type)?

 

I apologize if that's a noob question, but I'm new to most of this stuff, and I'm just trying to learn as much as I can!

Funny that nobody answered this so far. The main and biggest difference between the "classic" design and PRO's is that the latter ones rely on compression spring mechanics while almost all other arms on the market have expansion spring setup. The only other arm I know with compressed springs are those from Baer Bel (Germany), but only the Pro arm allows to change springs on the fly and in minutes. You can even leave out two of the four springcanisters in order to expand the range of weight capacity.

 

And regarding your question on the "aliens" prop Steadicams: if I'm correct they damaged both of them. The vest for Vasquez had been shortened for her and the other one was damaged, probably even in that scene you mentioned. But John Ward got compensated for it. Nice trivia: he couldn't operate himself on aliens because he was booked on another movie with marines in it... "Full Metal Jacket" ;-)

Edited December 7, 2014 by Mariano Costa

[Tommy Stork]

Here are some other pics. I guess Dave was 002. This Bob DeRose base isn't that old as far as these go but still fun to see his name on something!

 

 

 

[Mariano Costa]

A general question to all, seeing these names of former owners on the equipments, didn't anyone of you guys ever think about getting your own name engraved onto it??

[Jens Piotrowski SOC]

They still own the parts, the pics are from PRO

[Tommy Stork]

A general question to all, seeing these names of former owners on the equipments, didn't anyone of you guys ever think about getting your own name engraved onto it??

 

 

Become a sustaining member and I'll tell you

[Beau Cuizon]

Yay! I'm a sustaining member now, just like Tommy suggested. This thread alone has been worth the fifty clams...for me, anyways!

[Tommy Stork]

Right On, Beau! Your operating will now be at least, at a bare minimum, .0125% better than it was before. Just from the sheer positivity of joining the crew!

[Mariano Costa]

Become a sustaining member and I'll tell you

:-P

 

That's unfair!!

Edited December 8, 2014 by Mariano Costa