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Start and Stops


Felix Lang

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Hey :) ,

im just intrested where your weight sits at the start and at the stop of a move. On which foot?

And also when moving backwards, where is the weight at the start and on which foot at the stop?

And when you holding the frame in a locked position?

Im flying the rig on the left side!


Many thanks in advance
Felix

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Hi Felix,

 

Personally I like to start, stop, and hold lock-offs with all my weight on the foot that's on the same side as the sled - for me, my left foot. I feel more stable that way because my own center of gravity is close to the sled, and I will always endeavor to land in that position. When going backwards it's the same - start with the weight on my left foot. If I have to stop with my weight on my right foot, I always feel the common center of gravity between me and the rig pulling me forward. It's not impossible to hold, but feels different.

 

That said, you have to be able to do everything with your weight on your other foot, as you will inevitably end up in that position (actor could miss their mark and you will have to compensate, director tells you to stop in a slightly different spot each take, etc.).

 

Put your rig on and hold a lock off with your weight all on one foot, then the other, and you will feel and learn the difference.

 

Happy flying!

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Hey Felix. First I'd say don't stop with your body, stop with the sled. So if I want the rig to stop say 6 feet from where I'm starting, my body may go 7 feet or 5 feet from that mark but the last thing to stop moving is the sled, not me..... Though some times it's only a millisecond difference.

That being said, every shot is different so sometimes you literally stop everything all at once with one shoulder up against a wall or the rig stops at full stretch of your arm because of the way the room is laid out. Also making sure your putting all the power on the gimbal not the post will make those stops cleaner (sometimes during the moving part of the shot I find I end up gripping the post tighter but I always try and go loose before I start or stop).

And to your actual question, my arm goes off my right side and the rig sits on my left side so when I get to stop in the 'perfect position' I stop right (opposite) foot forward. Same position I would use to fight or shoot. To that end, I find I have greater latitude to move the rig in space without moving my body (it gives me the biggest pocket). But more broadly, I still think it's important to be able to stop in any position and with the rig in any position relative to your body as the 'sweet spot' isn't always available.

My 2 cents.

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coming out of a stance and into a move i send my shoulders in the direction of the move which moves my hips and thus the sled into the same direction. for the first half of the first step im essentially chasing the sled. i am can ramp into using my hands and pushing the sled when i want to, but i do try to get as much of my body to start and stop the sled as possible.

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My $0.02: Whichever way you operate -- goofy or regular -- you ultimately want to land/settle with most of your weight on your back foot. Since I am goofy, I try to keep almost all static weight on my back/right foot.

 

This is analogous to keeping the majority of weight on the back foot in martial arts. The reason being that the front/lead foot can very quickly be repositioned for a move (in the case of martial arts -- a strike or defensive move).

 

Add to this the fact that you ALWAYS want to start and end a move by pushing/pulling on the gimbal. As Mike stated above, this pre/post gimbal action can be mere milliseconds in duration. Or longer. Sometimes much longer. That's where you as an individual, and the actual shot you are shooting, will deviate from the median of whatever this hypothetical bell-curve of gimbal vs. operator movement is.

 

Hope this helps.

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