The Legacy of Steadicam

[Janice Arthur]

Hi all;

As the new year is almost upon us and we, probably, look back on a year or a time frame and I wonder what you think is the historical importance of Steadicam to the Media Industry?

I look at the now forty years since its inception and want us, the users of it to document our thoughts.  

This may be a valueable educational and cathartic moment for us all to express our experiences and deep thoughts on the subject.

Look for the other topic of 'What Steadicam has meant to you." for your personal story if you want to share.

I am always impressed at the depth of  knowledge written here and maybe we should help write the history we're helping to create every single day of story telling on this, the hardest thing to master in the movie business.

The challenge of being impossibly hard, and personally so engaging a device I see as just one aspect of the storytelling we are charged with on every job or shot we undertake.

The culture of Steadicam could be a third topic here also, but for now maybe its the legacy.

I remember the device being thought of as an albatross that, defied understanding by most people in the earliest of days.  It was so seemingly complex that very few operators would take it on because it seemed so crazy that it couldn't possibly be a big tool in the industry.  

Slowly or fast depending on your POV, operators took Steadicam to heart and made it do what it should not have been able to do.  Every shot, of every operator who said, 'did you see what I did?' made all the rest of us in those pre-internet, phone calls talk about and then have to wait for the movie to come out strive even harder for more engaging work.

That is a brief thought bubble I've had, lets see where you all take this.

Regards,  

Janice