Financial/Business Questions about Steadicam Operating

[Brendan Riel]

Happy to say I have a used Ultra 2 vest and CP IIIA arm and sled on the way with a bartech analog system. Couldn't be more pleased with my startoff rig and am going to use it to eventually get a better sled in the coming years.

 

Your point about him being in the industry a few years is a good one. I can see how that'd help with all the connections. I'm going to start with interning which will hopefully lead to a job and then I'm going to go from there. I'm going to mix that with steadicam oping as well as working for a video production business myself and my friends started where we plan on working with ad and marketing agencies. Between those three it may be too much, but I'd rather have a plan for too much work than not enough. Going to LA next summer where I will be there for about a year and then will see where things will take me. I'm only 20- have a long ways ahead of me, a lot to learn. It's great to get advice from everyone.

[David Steel]

Hi Brendan, Its awesome to see how keen you are. So ill share my experience about industry with you as sometimes waiting and learning is not such a bad thing either.

 

I loved steadicam since i first tried a rig on 8years ago. But instead of leaving film school and jumping straight into the operating world i became a trainee and worked thro the ranks working on everything from small music clips to huge budget feature films. Currently i am a first AC but also do whatever steadicam work i can do on the side ( including practicing lots ).

The best thing about being an AC is that i have had the opertunity to work along side the best steadicam operators in the country. You get to learn off them and pick their brains about the differnt situations we get ourselves in everyday. And quite often they will spend some time with you after the shoot day and give you some training.

 

So what i am trying to say here is that you can also follow your dream, but also keep in mind that you may want to learn first as there is a huge amount to learn. There is nothing wrong with passion but also be humble.

 

Dave.