camera go boom

[JakePollock]

hey guys,

 

so just did my first steadicam gig, and after trying to pitch it on so many tape jobs, it turned out to be a 35mm gatorade-like drink commercial. ran all day in the hot, taiwanese sun (with absolutely no sleep the night before). everyone kept coming up to me and saying what a tough job i had, but i would just laugh and point to the dude in the eskimo suit... (oh, how long i've waited to use that line!)

 

...the funniest thing would probably have to be adding movie sweat to the eskimo dude, who must've lost a few pounds under the tropical sun.

 

...and of course the worst part would have to be the "camera fall down go boom" part during the first shot... i kept pleading with the production to give me a half speed rehearsal and in their infinite wisdom, they decided to ignore me and just start shooting the rehearsals at full speed.

 

-take one: two extras seperate for the actor to pass through and rejoin just in time to almost get beaned by the fat, white man running after the actor (fat white man= me).

 

-take two: extras seperate just fine, actor runs fast, so do i. but not as fast as the rig. i had the arm's drift adjusted for normal walking mode, so, when running at 90%, it didn't take much for it to drift out beyond my control. next thing i knew i pulled off a very exciting whip tilt from the actor to a splendid close up of concrete. thank god for the rubber 3x3 matte box and the excessiveness of arri-german metal. the steadicam fared well, i fared well, and so did most of the camera. with the exception of a bent plate at the prism split point of the swing-over viewfinder.

 

--just goes to show how easy it is to be as retarded as the a.d. and how that should never happen when you're flying any rig. what i should of done, of course, is let them roll film without asking me and let the eskimo run his fat ass off and just stand as still as an igloo till they gave me my half-speed rehearsal.

 

-by the way, after the ecu on concrete, the a.d. started singing the virtues of half-speed rehearsals (and walkthroughs without the rig). suprising how some people need the destruction of expensive machinery to finally learn their lessons. the d.p. and i just shook our heads and were happy that nobody got hurt.

 

on another note, i talked to the director later that day; turned out this was his first directing gig with the steadicam, but that he'd previously been on many taiwanese sets where they had used steadicam. anyways, he noted that all the prior operators he'd been around were not familiar enough with the rig to really use it properly. eventhough it was my first "gig in the rig," the director felt i had a real command of the rig...

 

...and i could only be that comfortable with the rig after getting such great advice and input from this forum. wish i'd been more mindful of all the horror stories and of course wish i wasn't here sharing a horror story of my own.

 

p.s. gotta love the tilt head on the ultra. constantly tweaked the tilt between takes and reset balance without anyone batting an eye. great stuff.

 

jake pollock

taipei, taiwan

[Marc Abernathy]

yes, sorry to hear your tale but glad to know nothing really got broke... such as your bones!

 

its very important to do rehearsals on a running shot with moving actors many times until you get it right... walk thew shot no rig, half speed/rig, finally full speed w rig... if thats one thing i have learned its that...

[Michael Stumpf]

-take two: extras seperate just fine, actor runs fast, so do i.  but not as fast as the rig.  i had the arm's drift adjusted for normal walking mode, so, when running at 90%, it didn't take much for it to drift out beyond my control. 

"drift out beyond your control"???

 

Umm, where were your hands?

 

No offense Jake, but this just sounds like an unfortunate accident from an inexperienced operator. The rig won't "drift" beyond your control no matter how you have the arm adjusted if you have a hold of the sled and gimbal and have more experience running. I don't (and don't think anybody else does either) make any different adjustments to my arm's pitch based on whether I'm walking, jogging, running, or moving sideways. Adjust the pitch (forward and backward and left to right) to where you are comfortable. I personally like neutral rig where it basically stays, and won't drift left, right, forward, or backward. But, I haven't ever heard of adjusting it based on whether you are walking or running. And personally, if I'm running, I usually push the rig OUT away from my body a bit further to make sure my running legs and knees don't hit the sled. You just have to "white knuckle" the rig and gimbal a bit in running situations.

 

Rehearsals ARE necessary, but the reality is, doing this job, you won't GET them all the time. The sun going down will sometimes "86" that opportunity for you, among MANY other issues.

 

What you should of done was to be been honest. Told them this is your first gig and that you haven't run with a Steadicam before, even in practice. Then said, "for safety reason, I need a half speed rehearsal."

 

Glad to hear you and basically everything was okay, but next time, don't bite off more than you can chew, it might save your neck/back if it ever happens again.

[Brad Grimmett]

eventhough it was my first "gig in the rig," the director felt i had a real command of the rig...

You crashed and the director still said that! Well, you must have done well through the rest of the job! At least you got a couple of tough "firsts" out of the way! Congrats on your first job.

[Stephen Murphy]

If i have to do a full speed running shot, and if for whatever reason i cant ride hardmounted, then i will usually adjust the arm a little bit so that it has a tendency to seek a position very close to my body. This way if i feel the rig "getting away" from me when running at full speed i dont end up chasing the rig. I know of quite a few operators who use this trick, so maybe that is what Jake was trying to do.

[WillArnot]

  I don't (and don't think anybody else does either) make any different adjustments to my arm's pitch based on whether I'm walking, jogging, running, or moving sideways. 

  I personally like neutral rig where it basically stays, and won't drift left, right, forward, or backward.  But, I haven't ever heard of adjusting it based on whether you are walking or running.

  And personally, if I'm running, I usually push the rig OUT away from my body a bit further to make sure my running legs and knees don't hit the sled.  You just have to "white knuckle" the rig and gimbal a bit in running situations.

I beg to differ. Profusely.

 

Maybe teaching MO's have changed over the years. But when I took my workshop in '91 w/ Ted Churchill, Bob Crone, Jerry Hill and Brant Fagan there was quite a different set of theories proposed. Namely: that just as we trim the rig according to the shot, we also adjust how we control the rig with our bodies according to the shot. ie. if it's a simple walk and talk with little to no tilting involved it's advisable to have a longer post to 'slow down' the tilt axis and therefore 'stick' the head-room better. It also helps if you can spread out your monitor and battery to also control your pan inertia in the same manner.

Conversely, if you are dutching or whipping around alot like on a music video, you are going to want a shorter, more compact, more 'hot rod' (as Ted used to say) kind of sled set-up that is going to be alot more 'twitchy' and responsive.

 

Now. How that sled sits next to your body is also a critical factor in spinal comfort, and just as importantly, how we are able to finesse the sleds movement and proximity to our body. Here we are talking about front-to-back and side-side pitch adjustment of the arm. For simplicity's sake let's say it's a front-mounted vest. Therefore the two 1/4" aircraft bolts in the male part of the arm control side-side.

 

ALWAYS start with BOTH zeroed (screwed all the way in). Then find maximum lateral (spinal) comfort by dialing out one OR the other. Never both, unless you are trying to snap one of those bolts. You should count off exactly how many turns w/ the allen key get you to the 'spinal relief point'. Most people will probably find this to be 3-4 turns on the TOP bolt. ie pitch the arm to the right if the sled is on your left. This setting should never really change once you find it. EXPERIMENT...... EXCEPT when you go to Low-mode. Now the rig is a little further away to clear your legs, therfore warranting another ~full turn on the top bolt to pitch the arm further right to compensate the increased distance away from your body that the rig now sits . My settings are 3.5 turns in regular mode, and 4.5 in low mode, but that's my back.

 

Now front-to-back. This is achieved with the two thumb screws on the female socket block on the vest. Finding NEUTRAL as Michael says, is a good starting point, but there is sooo much more to consider. Neutral to what? While you stand in place in optimal static posture tweaking your arm? Are you walking up an incline? Going down a steep hillside? Up or down stairs? Fast? Slow? My posture certainly changes in these scenarios.

 

I know I can certainly move myself quicker and more effectively forward, especially if it needs to be fast, if I lean a little bit forward. BUT what happens if I've set up this 'Neutral' pitch and now I lean a little forward? Yes, the rig moves away from me. Wow. Now I have to take a few quick steps to get back under the rig, or pull it back in with my arms. We all should have been taught NEVER to run at FULL speed b/c you HAVE to have some juice left to get back under the rig, otherwise that baby's taking YOU for a ride as Jake unfortunately found out. Once in this very unfortunate predicament, it is also close to impossible to pull the rig back to you once it is that far ahead of you...the effect being you pull yourself over your feet and quicken the impending doom. Your only solution is a pair of ACME rocket skates to get your feet back under the rig.

 

Another point to add is that this initial lean of the body is the perfect way to smoothly start the rig moving in a particular direction. In this way we 'feather' the move rather than starting clunkily by taking a full step, and giving away the fact that we've started the move. I was taught to lean, get the sled moving, then catch up to it to make a smooth start. The opposite holds for stopping. Stop feet first then 'feather' the rig to a stop. Obviously how much the 'feather' is drawn out is critical to a good lock off since we don't want to have to hold still with the rig at arms length away. This would not be comfortable or Steadi.

 

So, to get back to the point. If I am going up a set of stairs I would much rather have the mass of the sled help pull me up the stairs rather than me having to push it up. I would therefore certainly pitch the arm forward by a thread or two's worth on the top thumb screw of the socket block. And if I am going down a steep incline I would pitch the arm back towards me to make sure that if I stumble, that rig isn't going to shoot out in front of me. Because the reality is that even tho my hands are always on the gimbal and post, once that rig is too far in front, your hands/arms aren't gonna be able to do squat. I'm sure Jake wasn't inventing some kind of no handed new move while he was busy trying to catch up to the rig. His hands were probably in a feverish death grip just where he had been taught to keep them.

 

These principles are therefore exactly the same if you are walking versus running. To make sure that rig doesn't get away from you, wouldn't it be wise to make sure it is leaning INTO your body, so that as soon as you straighten your body up it comes back to you?? I therefore ask again, Where is Neutral? Are you walking slowly? Up or down an incline? How about forward fast down a 30ft ramp onto a train platform, which flattens out, chasing someone trying to catch a train? I know someone who did that and upon hitting the flat part of the platform dove head-first into the concrete because he had not accounted for that change in the sled's inertial direction change & it 'got away' and dragged him with it.

 

I guess I am trying to understand how Michael has to PUSH the rig out while running. He must lean backwards then as he runs forward if he is neutrally balanced when standing still and straight. Or is that, 'pushed' out to the side since the sled is usually on one side or the other and not in front? And therefore wouldn't he have to adjust the side-side bolts like you do for low mode when the rig is further away from the body laterally??? Or else endure much awkwardness.

 

Maybe he has one of those windmill strides where the legs and knees kind of do a circular motion out to the side while running. My legs and knees go straight in front and behind which doesn't seem to interfere at all with the sled that is at my side.

 

And because I adjust the pitch of the arm according to what the shot requires I can keep the sled balanced exactly in the correct proximity to my body so that I certainly don't have to 'white knuckle' it... and I can always get back under it effectively.

 

Brrr, shiver.

 

Will

 

 

PS. if that EFP video with Ted and Jerry ever gets re-released, there is a great bit with Ted demonstrating running techniques in some woods. Great stuff.

[JakePollock]

guys,

 

thanks for all the support and advice. yes, it was my first day on a job, but i've been practicing regularly for almost 6 months: doing everything i can, including running. as far as my inexperience goes, i'd say i had more of an issue with handling the ad than with handling the rig. and i don't think that problem is exclusive to first-time ops. not that that constitutes a proper excuse or anything.

 

as far as hand placement questions, i'll take the fifth. i might add that the shot involved a boom, a whip pan, and many other framing adjustments; if there was anyway to do it no-handed, i'd love to hear it... and as will said, they call it the "point of no return" for a reason. once the rig was out too far, i couldn't run fast enough to keep up with it, nor could i yank it back. maybe with more experience, i would've handled the situation differently. but than again, with more experience i would've been more adamant about walk throughs. the fact that the extras didn't even realize that i would be following after the main talent hints that there were greater safety issues than a newbie flying the rig.

 

once the fall was "out of the way" i approached the arm set-up in a whole new way. i gave it a full turn extra to keep it a little closer to my body. for walking with my back slightly leaned back, that would've been more tiring since i would have to constantly push the rig to the sweet spot. but for running at even 60%, i find i lean in a little more. having the arm re-adjusted for my body helped keep everything honkey dorey.

 

jake pollock

taipei, taiwan

[JakePollock]

by the way, i just got back from the camera rental house. the test footage on the mag will come back tomorrow. the mag popped open on impact so about 200' was fogged, but the rental house isn't worried. the main issue is the viewfinder which they feel confident they can fix locally. if so, damage should be very inexpensive (a relative issue in this biz).

 

talked to the d.p. and they were very happy at the t.c., so i'd have to say that for experiencing this kind of thing, i was very very lucky.

 

and for any new op's who might be reading this, please learn from my mistake. remember that many directors you will work with are also inexperienced at steadicam. they may be intimidated by you and your rig. don't push it and be an asshole, but don't be afraid to use that intimidation to your advantage. if you handle this kind of situation properly, they will most likely respect you even more.

 

jake pollock

taipei, taiwan

[Michael Stumpf]

My (Michael's) responses below are enclosed in **

 

 

 

I beg to differ.  Profusely.

 

Maybe teaching MO's have changed over the years.  But when I took my workshop in '91 w/ Ted Churchill, Bob Crone, Jerry Hill and Brant Fagan there was quite a different set of theories proposed.  Namely: that just as we trim the rig according to the shot, we also adjust how we control the rig with our bodies according to the shot.

 

 

**That's the key Will.  Triming for the shot that's tilting is different, and like you said here, "we also adjust how we control the rig with OUR BODIES."**

 

 

 

ie. if it's a simple walk and talk with little to no tilting involved it's advisable to have a longer post to 'slow down' the tilt axis and therefore 'stick' the head-room better.  It also helps if you can spread out your monitor and battery to also control your pan inertia in the same manner.

    Conversely, if you are dutching or whipping around alot like on a music video, you are going to want a shorter, more compact, more 'hot rod' (as Ted used to say) kind of sled set-up that is going to be alot more 'twitchy' and responsive.

 

 

**I'll use a car racing analogy to more clearly address what I was saying and meaning.  What you are stating above address the "performance" of the sled, not how the operator makes the sled perform.  Different cars, races, etc are set up (suspension, brakes, etc) based on the circumstance of the track (shot) but the driver still keeps his seat and pedals in the same position that he's comfortable with no matter what.

 

Performance isn't based on what you were "taught."  You can be taught by Michael Schumacher, but that doesn't mean you drive, in every way, exactly like him.  You'll find what's best for you and drive that way.

 

I believe more in consistency.  If you car constantly changing the pitch of the arm, it's like changing your seating position for everytime you drive.**

 

 

 

 

How that sled sits next to your body is also a critical factor in spinal comfort, and just as importantly, how we are able to finesse the sleds movement and proximity to our body. 

 

 

** Again, exactly my point Will.  If you car changing everything all the time, how can you be comfortable?  How can you get best aquainted with the rig?**

 

 

 

 

Here we are talking about front-to-back and side-side pitch adjustment of the arm.  For simplicity's sake let's say it's a front-mounted vest.  Therefore the two 1/4" aircraft bolts in the male part of the arm control side-side.

ALWAYS start with BOTH zeroed (screwed all the way in).  Then find maximum lateral (spinal) comfort by dialing out one OR the other.  Never both, unless you are trying to snap one of those bolts.  You should count off exactly how many turns w/ the allen key get you to the 'spinal relief point'.  Most people will probably find this to be 3-4 turns on the TOP bolt. ie pitch the arm to the right if the sled is on your left.  This setting should never really change once you find it.

 

 

**So then why do you feel you need to "ALWAYS" start with the them zeroed?  I tape my top screw on my DSD Vest so it always stays where I found is best for me.  No need to change it and therefore disrupt comfort or familiarity.**

 

 

 

 

EXPERIMENT......  EXCEPT when you go to Low-mode.  Now the rig is a little further away to clear your legs, therfore warranting another ~full turn on the top bolt to pitch the arm further right to compensate the increased distance away from your body that the rig now sits .  My settings are 3.5 turns in regular mode, and 4.5 in low mode, but that's my back.

 

Now front-to-back.  This is achieved with the two thumb screws on the female socket block on the vest.  Finding NEUTRAL as Michael says, is a good starting point, but there is sooo much more to consider.  Neutral to what?  While you stand in place in optimal static posture tweaking your arm?

 

 

**Neutral...when standing or walking.  The sled doesn't go forward, backward, left or right when I'm in the posture I operate with and stand with and therefore am most comfortable with.**

 

 

 

 

Are you walking up an incline?  Going down a steep hillside?  Up or down stairs? Fast?  Slow?  My posture certainly changes in these scenarios.

 

**Of course they do, and so does a race car drivers, but does he change his seating position, or the steering wheels distance away from him, or the distance the pedals are away from his feet?  No.  If you change the pitch of the arm for the incline, then what do you do when you hit level ground?  Keep in neutral and your body and arms do what they are suppose to do, move but the sled stays in the same position relative to where your body and arms what it to go.**

 

 

 

 

I know I can certainly move myself quicker and more effectively forward, especially if it needs to be fast, if I lean a little bit forward.  BUT what happens if I've set up this 'Neutral' pitch and now I lean a little forward?  Yes, the rig moves away from me.  Wow.  Now I have to take a few quick steps to get back under the rig, or pull it back in with my arms. 

 

 

**So you adjust you sled to come back to you?  Why?  Then what happens when the shot needs to slow down and come to a stop or walking speed?  Then you spend the rest of the time pushing the rig away from your body, fighting forces then.  I find it much easier to keep the rig neutral and therefore no unneeded changes need to be made no matter what the shot entails.**

 

 

 

 

We all should have been taught NEVER to run at FULL speed b/c you HAVE to have some juice left to get back under the rig, otherwise that baby's taking YOU for a ride as Jake unfortunately found out. 

 

 

**I fully agree.  Run as fast as you feel comfortable and in control.  If they are running faster, remind them you have 75 pounds additional weight on.  If the director needs more speed, you call for a golf cart or ATV.**

 

 

 

Once in this very unfortunate predicament, it is also close to impossible to pull the rig back to you once it is that far ahead of you...the effect being you pull yourself over your feet and quicken the impending doom.  Your only solution is a pair of ACME rocket skates to get your feet back under the rig.

 

 

**True, if you let the rig get that far out and are running at out of control speed.**

 

 

 

 

Another point to add is that this initial lean of the body is the perfect way to smoothly start the rig moving in a particular direction.  In this way we 'feather' the move rather than starting clunkily by taking a full step, and giving away the fact that we've started the move.  I was taught to lean, get the sled moving, then catch up to it to make a smooth start.  The opposite holds for stopping.  Stop feet first then 'feather' the rig to a stop.  Obviously how much the 'feather' is drawn out is critical to a good lock off since we don't want to have to hold still with the rig at arms length away.  This would not be comfortable or Steadi.

 

 

**All true, but I don't lean to get the sled going, I "feather" it out a bit on the arm then get moving.  This way, I don't have to contort my body in any funny way to get started and then back it up for regular operating mode.  The reverse is true with stopping,  with the rig a couple extra inches out in front of me, you can come to a stop and then "feather" the rig back into you as you come to a stop.  All the while standing as straight and comfortable as possible.  Adjust your "pitch" on your arm means you have to fight the forces one way or the other.  You are either unnecessarily pushing the rig away from your body, or pulling it to you.  If it's neutral you don't have to do that with any undue force.**

 

 

 

 

 

So, to get back to the point.  If I am going up a set of stairs I would much rather have the mass of the sled help pull me up the stairs rather than me having to push it up.  I would therefore certainly pitch the arm forward by a thread or two's worth on the top thumb screw of the socket block. 

 

 

**Not I.  If you ever hit the step wrong and your body leans a bit more forward, having the rig "pull you up" the steps will turn out to be "having the rig pull you to the ground" that much easier.  What do you do when your going backward down the steps?  Do you adjust so the arm/sled pushes you back?  This would only help in the crash should you trip a bit and just start to lean back.  I find keeping the rig neutral and it's not going to "assist" in making you crash one way or the other, if that unfortunate circumstance should just begin to arrise.**

 

 

 

 

And if I am going down a steep incline I would pitch the arm back towards me to make sure that if I stumble, that rig isn't going to shoot out in front of me. 

 

 

**See and this seems counter-intuitive to me.  When you are going down a steep incline, you naturally want to lean back a bit "slow down" the momentum and not allow yourself to fall forward.  If you fall going down a steep incline, if you are properly aligned, you should do ONE thing and one thing only...fall to your ASS!  If you've every rock climbed and you are going down a steep hill and you start to slip, what do you do?  Lean forward?  Heck no, you fall and hit your butt and then slide, hopefully to a stop.

Having extra force PUSHING you back is not what I would want.  I would want my body to do the adjusting and if necessary push the sled away from my body a bit with my arms and the steadicam arm.  If I drop to my ass, I can still keep the sled from coming back to me with any unneeded force and hopefully therefore keep in from hitting the ground.**

 

 

 

 

Because the reality is that even tho my hands are always on the gimbal and post, once that rig is too far in front, your hands/arms aren't gonna be able to do squat.  I'm sure Jake wasn't inventing some kind of no handed new move while he was busy trying to catch up to the rig.  His hands were probably in a feverish death grip just where he had been taught to keep them.

 

 

**And if so, that's where the inexperience came in.  Once the rig started to get out in front of him, just a hair bit, he should of slowed down just a hair so he was in more control and at the same time, pull the rig back to your body.  If it ruins the shot, it ruins the shot, but you don't hit the deck!  Obviously no one PLANS to take a fall, that's why they are accidents, but no matter how much practice you had driving around the back streets when you get your permit, you don't go racing full out on the first day you get your driver's license either.**

 

 

 

 

These principles are therefore exactly the same if you are walking versus running.  To make sure that rig doesn't get away from you, wouldn't it be wise to make sure it is leaning INTO your body, so that as soon as you straighten your body up it comes back to you?? 

 

**No, not necessarily, and not for everyone.  This "might" help in those situations, but in inherently induces other issues...(ie:  having to push the rig out when you are slowing, then walking, changing the dynamics of what you are familiar with, etc etc)

 

 

 

 

I therefore ask again, Where is Neutral? 

 

 

**In the middle, between all the gears.  Seriously, 90% of Steadicam is done at walking or slower speeds.  Having a rig that's neither pushing towards you, pulling away from you, leaning away from you, or leaning into you, for me seems like the most logical point to be.  This way your body is in it's most comfortable position 90% of the time, and you use your arms, legs, and torso, to do what YOU need it to do, WHEN you need to do it to control the rig...not the rig doing something and then REQUIRING you to do the opposite to control it.**

 

 

 

 

Are you walking slowly?  Up or down an incline?  How about forward fast down a 30ft ramp onto a train platform, which flattens out, chasing someone trying to catch a train?  I know someone who did that  and upon hitting the flat part of the platform dove head-first into the concrete because he had not accounted for that change in the sled's inertial direction change & it 'got away' and dragged him with it. 

 

**So how would pitching the arm in one direction or the other change that?  No matter what, the INERTIAL direction WILL change when you hit that platform.  More than likely it wasn't that rig that pulled him over, but just the change in general that he either a)  was not ready for or B)  did not expect to happen WHEN it happened or c) he didn't adjust correctly.

This also happens when going down stairs and you think there is another step and really there isn't.  You could be expecting another step and when it doesn't come you didn't adjust for it, therefore tripping you up.  Not the rig's fault.**

 

 

 

 

I guess I am trying to understand how Michael has to PUSH the rig out while running.  He must lean backwards then as he runs forward if he is neutrally balanced when standing  still and straight.  Or is that, 'pushed' out to the side since the sled is usually on one side or the other and not in front? 

 

** A bit of both.  When I run, I try to stay as straight up as possible.  Remember that sprinter a few years back, the guy that wore the gold shoes (I think his name was Michael Johnson).  Remember how fast he was, he won the gold at the 1996 Olympics I believe?  He ran straight up!

When running, I don't really "push" that was wrongly used on my part, but "hold" the sled not only in front of me a bit more, but away from my body a bit more too.  This way, with a neutral balanced sled, it's easier for me to not only move it left, right, forward or back as needed, but gives my legs a bit more room to move without worry of kneeing the battery cage.**

 

 

 

 

And therefore wouldn't he have to adjust the side-side bolts like you do for low mode when the rig is further away from the body laterally???  Or else endure much awkwardness.

 

**How is that enduring awkwardness?  If you constantly make changes to how the sled "rides" on your body, you constantly have to make changes to your body to get it to "ride" where you want it.  That seems much more awkward.  It's quite easy to just move the arm out a bit and then let it "float" there, without ANY unneeded force moving it away in one direction or the other.**

 

 

 

 

Maybe he has one of those windmill strides where the legs and knees kind of do a circular motion out to the side while running.  My legs and knees go straight in front and behind which doesn't seem to interfere at all with the sled that is at my side.

 

And because I adjust the pitch of the arm according to what the shot requires

 

 

**And what if the shot "requires" many things?  Up a flight of stairs, down an incline, running on flat ground, then backing up on rough terrain?  Do you suggest you stop at each change and tell the director to make a cut so you can "adjust" your arm's pitch?  Not wanting to sound sarcastic, but that's in a sense what you are saying should be done in order for you to "keep the sled balanced exactly in correct proximity to my body"  so you don't have to "white knuckle it" at all.

I didn't suggest "white knuckling" it, but doing so "a bit more" than usual.  Will, I haven't seen you operate in person, but I can say with confidence, when you are running with your rig, you hold on (white knuckle) it a bit more then, than you do when walking.**

 

 

 

I can keep the sled balanced exactly in the correct proximity to my body so that I certainly don't have to 'white knuckle' it... and I can always get back under it effectively.

 

Brrr, shiver.

 

Will

 

 

PS. if that EFP video with Ted and Jerry ever gets re-released, there is a great bit with Ted demonstrating running techniques in some woods.  Great stuff.

 

 

** I guess it's a case of "to each their own" but to me, constantly adjusting the way the sled sits and therefore contantly having to endure the impending additional force one way or the other, seem unnecessary and counterintuitive.  But hey, it seems to work for you.  I've seen your work, and it's very good, so who am I to suggest differently to you.  But if I'm giving advice to an inexperienced operator, I'd tell him/her to keep things as simple as possible and as consistent as possible, and learn to let your body control the sled, not the other way around.

 

Sincerely, Michael**

See my responses enclosed in **

 

Michael