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music video


brooksrobinson

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Hey gang - I've been done with steadicam officially for over 6 months now and I'm very happy with my decision to walk away when I did. My back is in a much happier place, and I've been very fortunate to have kept extremely busy since making the transition to doing conventional operating full-time. The best part of my new role is finally getting the opportunity to work alongside steadicam operators that I've known forever, but never worked with (George Billinger, Victor Macias, Simon Jayes, Chris Cuevas). I've learned a lot from them, and only wish I'd had the chance to do it sooner while I was still carrying the rig, so I could swipe some of their tricks!

 

I had the opportunity to direct an extremely low budget music video for Sean Danielsen of the band Smile Empty Soul in the small gap between projects. I really admire fellow steadicammer BJ McDonnell for his directing efforts on the three Slayer videos (soon to be a 4th), and I wanted to do something interesting while dipping my toes in the water of directing. The pre-production phase was an absolute nightmare because there wasn't money in the budget to hire a producer. Booking locations, lining up a crew/insurance/craft service/smoke machine/retractable syringe and all the other little things one never thinks of (how many butt cans will I need?) really took a toll, but the day on set was an absolute joy. We somehow managed to get footage on the cards of my Red Dragon, and the finished piece turned out great.

 

I was planning on doing the operating myself until my DP started talking about steadicam. I was assuming the entire show would be handheld with the exception of two technocrane shots (thanks to Christian at TCC for the help with the 17' Moviebird), but Ric Griffith came out to save the day. He ended up operating the entire video, and it was very liberating to be able to sit back and watch the actors instead of deal with having a camera on my shoulder while trying to judge their performance. Ric did an amazing job (we didn't end up doing much steadicam) and it was great to watch someone else interpret what I'd had in my head when I was writing the treatment.

 

Anyway, I finished coloring the video on Friday, and I wanted to put the finished product out there if anyone was interested in seeing it. Here is a link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2HELbLB4lo, as well as a link to a behind the scenes video if you want to see Ric do his thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF7wRO0byyE.

 

All the best, and thanks to this great community for all of the support - both during my steadicam career and after.

 

Brooks Robinson

brooksontheroad@pacbell.net

 

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Thanks Rich! Seeing this through from writing and tweaking the treatment to sitting in with the colorist as he put the final touches on the edited piece was a real education. I'm not sure if I'll get another opportunity to do something like this, but doing this project was great, despite hardships and setbacks along the way. The best part of it was realizing how many cool people I knew - from a director I last worked with 15 years ago helping me with insurance, to 25 people showing up to help me at 6:30am on a Sunday, with most of them starting a new 5 month job the following day, to a free smoke machine and iron lung, and deals on everything from tables and chairs to cube trucks - people were cool and went out of their way to help me see this through. I've always tried to help people that asked for it, never expecting it to one day come full circle, and for me to be the recipient. I guess the point I'm making is - if you really want to do something - go out and do it. There are people to support you along the way. Make it happen. This could just as easily be about steadicam, or anything else. Follow your dreams and hit it hard - good things will happen!

 

Brooks

 

PS Thanks for checking out the video!!!

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