Guest (O_o) Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 For those of you who own your own rigs, how did you go about purchasing one? Did you take out loans? Were you just blessed financially? Or did you have to do some shady deals? :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Eric Fletcher S.O.C. Posted October 27, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 For those of you who own your own rigs, how did you go about purchasing one? Did you take out loans? Were you just blessed financially? Or did you have to do some shady deals? :unsure: First you sign your post's with your name around here. Second, you work your tail off to buy a rig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest (O_o) Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Did I just overstep my bounds? Was that post meant to sound so aggresive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Afton Grant Posted October 27, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Did I just overstep my bounds? Was that post meant to sound so aggresive? Eric's reply can probably loosely be interpreted as saying, take some time to read the rest of the forum. Firstly to get an idea of the way we all interact, and more importantly, to find answers to questions that may have already been asked. There's an incredible amount of information that has been exchanged over the years. Best, Afton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest (O_o) Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Did I just overstep my bounds? Was that post meant to sound so aggresive? Sounds good. The forum is quite large. If somone could direct me to where I can find the information I am looking for as I am knew, I would greatly appreciate it. Efletcher, I am sorry that my first interaction with you came off as it did. I'm pretty sure you are a cool guy. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattmarek Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 i had to go the shady route. sold crack to minors in the projects and also did some purse snatching from helpless old ladies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Burton Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 i had to go the shady route. sold crack to minors in the projects and also did some purse snatching from helpless old ladies. Tell me about it! Them old ladies are tougher than they look :o Hi (O_o) ? It might help the forum if you told us a bit about yourself, try telling us about your experience and situation. This will help in guiding you to the most relevant information.\ _cheers Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Bryan Fowler Posted October 27, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Hi "Parenthesis Big O Underscore Little O Parenthesis" I second what the others say. More specifically, in my situation. It took me 5 years of working at it to get my rig. Although I had wanted one since '89. I talked to as many Ops as I could, both here in the US and in Australia (where I lived for a bit) just asking them about the profession, about the mentality of operating, and what it took mentally, physically, and interpersonally. Then I spent a few months just researching what a Steadicam, and parts of the Steadicam did, as well as pricing for the different parts. Finally, I found someone that would let me rent their rig from them after a day of one on one training. I had his rig for a week of shooting. 6 Months later, after renting it from him a few more times, my wife and I spent 60% of our savings, borrowed the other 40%, and purchased the rig from him, at a decent price. I knew it was a decent price because I had been doing a lot of research for the past few months/years. Then, I went to a workshop. It's worth the money, hands down. Today I'm writing a huge check to the bank to pay off the rest of the loan, then anything I make from now of will be to upgrade the rig to help me operate better. Take your time, work hard, read a lot, respect others, ask questions, save money. Oh, don't forget you are a camera operator before you are a steadicam operator. It will be harder to keep a job if you can't frame a shot. That's my newbie advice. Bryan Fowler Chattanooga, TN Oh yeah, start a new account with your name, that will help. Then read as much of this forum as you can handle, take a day break, then read more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest (O_o) Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 My name is Garrett Warner Rose. I am a Film & Television student at the Savannah College of Art & Design. My interest in operating started two years ago after seeing several people at my school operate. I have only recently gotten the opportunity to explore my interest as I am currently enrolled in a class that allows me the opportunity to familuize myself with the steadicam. In fact, I suit up in five hours. I joined this forum to further explore my interest and to meet others who share the same interests and operate. For those of you wo own rigs, I inquired about how you went about owning your rig because I understand that buying a rig is not like going to the store and buying bananas. I am in film school now, it WILL be YEARS of paying of student loans before I can even think about owning my rig. I just wanted to get insight into how some of you did it. I appreciate those of you who responded positvely. Thanks Bryan Fowler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Frederic Chamberland Posted October 27, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Hi Brian, welcome to this forum, Here is my story made very short: At the age of 22 (34 now), I took all my money earned as a cashier at Costco and camera trainee in the film business, and took the Malibu Workshop in LA. Took me 3000$ to fly over there and attend the 5 day workshop. A fortune for me at the time but I really wanted to know if that was an option for a future career. I was enlighted by great operators and Garrett Brown himself. I came back from there knowing all my efforts would go into steadicam. 8 years later, I had made myself a spot as a Camera assistant and took my savings and went to get a loan at the bank . I decided to buy new but simple and reliable(for instance, I started with a Bartech remote instead of a Scorpio or Preston). One thing I realized real soon was the amount of input from this forum was not only precious, but completly essential. From tips on what shoes to look for on different pavement to the latest equipment field testing. (For operators reading this, I have had a Canatrans video sender in the field for the last month and will post my review by the end of my shooting...) 3 years after my purchase i am a happy operator with good equipment and a loan half paid. I still have to do some camera assistant jobs combine to operating for now to reach the end of the month, but it should be my last year of "double occupancy" if I work hard enough this next year to pay off that loan. Every operator here has a different story to tell, but I am sure we all know very well the reason we went for this crazy job. I can be positive on one point : No one here hates his job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest (O_o) Posted October 28, 2005 Report Share Posted October 28, 2005 Good story. I hear you 100%. Hard work and determination separates those with passion and those with a fleeting interest. I feel I have already started walking down that road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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