NEW FOCUS CONTROL CENTER

[jorge agero]

FOCUS CONTROL CENTER-DESING BY JORGE AGERO

[jorge agero]

and more...

[jorge agero]

BDF-FOCUS CONTROL CENTER

[jorge agero]

BDF-FOCUS CONTROL CENTER

[jorge agero]

ONLY MONITOR 2,4GHZ

[MikePrevette]

A nifty zoom control wired into those cool blue knobies would be great.

 

cupholder maybe?

 

-mike

[RobVanGelder]

Hi Jorge,

 

a nice looking set, there.

 

I have the same monitor and transmitter system, only on a different frequency.

However, I would prefer to have my focus puller looking at me and the actor(s) instead of a screen.

The main reasons are that 1) these LCD screens are low performance in light conditions (outside) and 2) by the time you can see it out of focus on these screens it is REALLY out of focus.

 

That´s why I give my LCD to a director or assistant director or somone who thinks he need it, but not my Focus puller!

 

I do not mean to look down on this very nicely made handset, you have put a lot of work and good design in it, but in my experience (and I was a focuspuller for more than 8 years), a screen was merely distracting me from the action and I was sometimes too late to correct.

Be carefull how you use it.

 

Rob van Gelder

[guillermo nespolo]

NICE MADE BUT I AGREE WITH ROB ......ITS OK TO NOW WHERE U ARE FRAMING BUT NOT TO PULL THE FOCUS.....

ANY WAY NICE FINISH

 

 

PS LINDA TERMINACION CABRON ... :D

SALUDOS DESDE ARGENTINA ....Y QUE LA PASEN LINDO CON EL CASAMIENTO DEL PRINCIPE.......JODERRRRR

SALUDOS

[Gustavo Penna]

Jorge! que mas tio!

 

me encanta el terminado de tu bracket pero por experiencia propia a mi ya me paso que cuando el asistente se da cuenta de el movimiento que hago o el talento en este caso. Ya es muy tarde para corregir la cagada que quedo fuera de foco.

 

pero funciona muy bien para el director o el DP

 

 

Voy a estar filmando un largo de unos tedescos en italia en julio a lo mejor paso por espana.

 

Saludos !

 

Gustavo Penna

miami FL USA

[Larry McConkey]

I would urge you to consider that extra information for your focus pullers is not always a negative. I have worked with several AC's who like having a small TV receiver in order to understand the shot better, particularly when it is not possible for them to see the sled monitor. It can be very useful and sometimes absolutely necessary to the best timing of focus pulls, or in a more documentary situation, answering the more basic question of what they should be focusing on at any given moment. This is especially true when using a zoom lens which makes the operator?s framing choices more ambiguous ? is the closest actor being held in a big wide angle close-up, or is there just a piece of his shoulder on the side of the frame and it?s the background we want to see in focus?

 

Most AC's have a monitor on the dolly these days and have learned to incorporate it into their scan where appropriate. This is simply a way to provide a similar tool when working with a Steadicam. My Vidiflex video tap is the only one I have ever seen that will allow you to see focus, but that is only with a high resolution monitor, and a transmitted, small LCD image is as far from high resolution as you can get! The only way you might use it to actually focus from might be to rack wildly back and forth before a shot begins, otherwise it is not useful for that purpose.

 

I think there is nothing more challenging (or more exciting) for both Operator and Focus Puller than doing Steadicam work, and anything that makes either job easier or more satisfactory is worth exploring. I have a small Sony LCD TV with brackets to attach to my Scorpio handset ready to go in one of my set bags. It may only come out once every few weeks, but I want it handy in case it?s needed.

To a great extent, it?s what people get comfortable with more than anything else that determines a tool?s usefulness; anything you add to the mix takes time to incorporate into the workflow and you can certainly be distracted by a new element. As an example from the operating side of this phenomenon, it took some time for me to incorporate the remote stage of my Ultra to make in shot adjustments of the rig balance as it represented an additional job that I had to master, but after some experience with it I couldn't imagine working without it! Being able to multitask is an absolute given for Steadicam Operators, and it certainly applies to Steadicam Focus Pullers as well.

 

I also have a Cinetape available and Assistants are split about 50/50 on its usefulness; some feel naked without it and others only feel distracted. I like being able to give them the choice. I still don't really understand how good Focus Pullers do what they do; it often seems to me to be an impossible job, and one that they must do perfectly just to be satisfactory. Any support I can give to them in terms of equipment or the way I work I am anxious to explore. If they aren't feeling good, all my efforts are worthless - the shot won't be useable.

That is exactly how I ask Focus Pullers about a given take, especially a difficult one: "how did that FEEL?" It's too complex a job for either of us to reduce to simple analysis, it becomes more of a feeling, and that feeling usually is a good one when we both understood the rythym of a shot and reacted simultaneously to the actors in a shared expression of that idea, an idea that most often evolved over the course of many rehearsals and takes. The best expression of that idea is often the video assist image, either during the take or during a replay. That is another reason I think videotaping on the rig is so important, but often the little realtime TV receiver image is the fastest way to understand the frame, especially during rehearsals. Once shooting takes, it can be used for just the critical moments of timing to make a focus pull at exactly the right time. With enough rehearsals and takes, especially after reviewing the videotape, it becomes less necessary, just as marks and avoiding obstacles become less necessary for actors and Steadicam operators/dolly grips/focus pullers/boom operators... you have incorporated many cues into your unconscious mind and don't need to deal with them as obviously or as often.

 

These are still only the opinions of Operators, and the real answers must obviously come from the Focus Pullers. Are there any on the forum who would like to contribute to this discussion?

 

Larry

[David Allen Grove]

I like this design!

 

Lets not forget about Iris Control for HD.

 

A DP I've worked with on a number of HD shoots likes having a small handheld monitor and the seperate Iris control for mobility.

 

I put velcro on the monitor as well as the BFD with the same idea as the control center. Of course the DP always seperates the units but puts them together when he's not using them.

 

I think this is a very cool device. Now I have to go a buy a bigger monitor like the one shown! I have a little 3" monitor.

 

On a related note: The Steadicam Guild will be having a Steadicam Assistant workshop in the near future. So if you know anyone who is an assistant and would like to take a workshop specifically designed for Camera Assisting for Steadicam operators please contact the Steadicam guild at admin@steadicamguild.net

Goto the www.steadicamguild.net Web site for more information.

[geoff shotz]

larry- i absolutely second what you said. my focus pullers and i, are, in my mind, one. without him/her, why am i there. i try to make their life easier in any way, shape or form. every one of them has a different style, a different taste, a different set of tools they prefer. but all are there to the same end. all styles, all tools are viable options if they work to achieve the shot. i ask the same question after each take, "feel good to you?" and if they say no!, i will, many times, take the heat and request another one. i also try to communicate as much as possible during rehersals and even during the takes as to what's going on in the shot. sometimes though, that is just not possible. the variables are just too many at times. my favorite a.c.'s save me time and time again when i miss a mark, an actor goes astray, or....? and i attempt to do the same for them when the situation stacks against them. a handheld monitor is the smallest of considerations, of helps, but if it works, bring it on.

 

geoff

[WillArnot]

I second second Larry's post. I have been away a couple of days but wanted to reply to this but didn't have time when I read it.

 

If an AC is really going to try and pull focus off a little 3-4" monitor, well then they certainly need a little more time in the saddle to understand that this is not just a mechanical act that can be done off a screen or watching digits on a Panatape or Cinetape. It is so much more to do with anticipation, intuition, and above all experience. Just like flying a rig isn't just about being able to handle the physical aspect of wearing it & muscling it around. In Ted Churchill's words it is much more like a ballet.

 

Timing is Everything! I learned this so well as a dolly grip for many years. If my timing was off then it was a train wreck. The operator is now back-panning unexpectedly, or having to spin the wheel to catch up, and the focus puller is sweating it trying to see where this new timing is going to effect their marks. It is absolutely a team effort. We have to communicate & help each other out w/ as much information as possible. It should be up to the AC if they think something will help them anticipate the timing of a rack better, or know whether to be on the foreground or background depending on the weight of the stack in frame.

 

So yes, anything we can incorporate that helps us anticipate a move or understand how the shot is composed due to some adjustment in either speed or distance is bound to help. AC's have a thankless job in this regard. As Larry pointed out they have to be doing their job perfectly just to be on par. And how many times do they end up behind you & the rig in a hallway, or boxed out by the boom operator who is fighting for the same real estate?

 

Andrea Dorman pulled for Larry for a number of years, and when she pulled for me she had a cool trick she would do, just for those times when she was utterly blocked from sight. She would get specific frame size references. ie (assuming head room is always correct) she would look at where the frame cut across the chest ( close-up 4ft), belt buckle (medium 6ft), thighs no knees (cowboy 8ft) etc and get distances for each of those sizes. So when she was blocked for a few seconds she wasn't absolutely blind b/c she had that frame size on the monitor as a last ditch back-up, and she could adjust somewhat accurately if she saw that basic framing change before she could get back in a good position.

 

Will

[RobVanGelder]

As I was the first one to warn that a monitor-focus set like this could distract from the actual scene, I also want to say that I agree with the things Larry and others have said: there is definately use for such a monitor, for certain shots that have to be well timed.

That´s why I said in my last line: "Be carefull how you use it."

 

Luckely, Will provided several important reasons why a monitor should be an aid but not much more:

 

" It is so much more to do with anticipation, intuition, and above all experience."

 

"The operator is now back-panning unexpectedly, or having to spin the wheel to catch up, and the focus puller is sweating it trying to see where this new timing is going to effect their marks."

 

"and when she pulled for me she had a cool trick she would do, just for those times when she was utterly blocked from sight. She would get specific frame size references. ie (assuming head room is always correct) she would look at where the frame cut across the chest ( close-up 4ft), belt buckle (medium 6ft), thighs no knees (cowboy 8ft) etc and get distances for each of those sizes."

 

This is what focus pulling is about, the constant adaptation to the actual scene, the ballet of actors and operator. That´s why the monitor in my opinion should only be used for quick reference and frame check, but I know how easily( from experience) the eye will get GLUED to the screen, thus forgetting what´s really happening.

 

Rob van Gelder

[Larry McConkey]

That´s why the monitor in my opinion should only be used for quick reference and frame check, but I know how easily( from experience) the eye will get GLUED to the screen, thus forgetting what´s really happening

.

 

That sounds like advice I often give to new Steadicam operators: "the last thing you should be paying attention to is the monitor, especially during the first rehearsals and takes." It should be regarded as evidence after the fact that everything you are doing is working out as you planned it. Keeping your eye glued to the screen will result in a lot of little corrections. It's nearly impossible to get timing right and avoid obstacles. After a few repititions you can maintain good "situational awareness" even while apparently staring at the screen by using your peripheral vision. I absolutely believe that most of us would often improve our takes on very complicated moves if the monitor were turned off, forcing us to concentrate on what's really happening. But judicious use of the monitor does improve your overall results when used properly. You just have to learn how to incorporate it into the workflow.

 

Larry