Premium Members Peter Abraham Posted June 17, 2020 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 25 years ago today, Ted Churchill died. For those of us who knew him it was a painful day and time in our personal lives and in our careers. For those who knew of him back then, it was a shocker and made them want to know more. There will be links coming in here that will provide nuance and detail and some incredible clips and videos of him. As Garrett Brown has often said, " I invented the Steadicam. Ted invented the Steadicam Operator ". Hope you're resting in peace, Teddy. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members William Demeritt Posted June 17, 2020 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 I don't recall the exact context, but I recalled hearing a story about Ted Churchill that I try to carry in my professional life wherever and whenever possible. I'm probably horribly misquoting the exact words, but it was something like this, when asked how he was such a successful Steadicam operator: "I may not have been the best, but production was never waiting on me." I tried to apply that, along with a heaping helping of humor on every show to which I have the good fortune to contribute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted June 18, 2020 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 From this day 25 years ago, here are the tributes to Ted from the original Steadicam board on AOL. https://drive.google.com/file/d/16nqO_ukpSfbu-EN4v2ONu2JWnPhvrJwS/view?usp=sharing 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Abraham Posted June 18, 2020 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 3 hours ago, William Demeritt said: I don't recall the exact context, but I recalled hearing a story about Ted Churchill that I try to carry in my professional life wherever and whenever possible. I'm probably horribly misquoting the exact words, but it was something like this, when asked how he was such a successful Steadicam operator: "I may not have been the best, but production was never waiting on me." I tried to apply that, along with a heaping helping of humor on every show to which I have the good fortune to contribute. Hi Will, You may have heard it from me- I shared that quote at every workshop I taught. A pretty good mantra. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Abraham Posted June 18, 2020 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 Charles....well done, mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Stone Posted June 18, 2020 Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 Remarkable man that went way, way to soon. Thanks for posting up the link to the thread Charles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members TerryWest Posted June 18, 2020 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 Found these early Steadicam pictures. Seemed appropriate. I will always miss Ted. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members TerryWest Posted June 18, 2020 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 Oops! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members TerryWest Posted June 18, 2020 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 Found these also. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted June 18, 2020 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 Terry, what was the story with that rehouse in the last post? I get the battery mod but the sled and monitor rehouse...was that a Model 1 originally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members TerryWest Posted June 18, 2020 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 Yes they were for the model 1. These were taken before my time with Steadicam. That would put them about 45 years old. I’ve been doing a lot of digging old stuff from my files. These pictures, as well as the two Teddy rig pictures hung above my workbench for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members RonBaldwin Posted June 18, 2020 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 Sweet pics! I remember the “Teddy rig” pics, very cool! I think I had that same monitor (external b/w video camera viewfinder — like anything else existed back then!) as a backup for a while. The prototype looking model 2 pics reminds me of my 2 when I got it. It had a funny homemade looking monitor bracket that moved the monitor way in like the one pictured. The battery bracket looks like a DeRose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members TerryWest Posted June 18, 2020 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 Charles, check out the vintage test rigs picture that I posted in my Boring day in lockdown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Abraham Posted June 19, 2020 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted June 19, 2020 Sure looks like a hand-built prototype of the Model II. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members TerryWest Posted June 19, 2020 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 19, 2020 Garrett just guessed it as a Russian Model II. But I don’t think he is sure either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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