NEWS FOR OPERATORS AND OWNERS ~ \ Pour En Finir Avec "L'effet Report from Steadicam" South Africa - - - -------- - -------------- ------ by Jean Marc Bringuier to the already abundant range of Chris faces many of the same devices aimed at gliding a camera in problems we all do, plus a few that The complete article originally space. are unique to his troubled land. appeared in Cahiers Du Cinema . The only va lid use offilm We've talked many times over the last In this excerpt , Jean Mar c has equipment, ho wever sophisticated or f ew years , including last spring when exci ting, is to help tell a story or instill [ was in South Africa. -Ed. given us a Gallic feast ofideas a visual atmosphere. It does requ ire _. _- . ~ ----- that are useful f or discussions with individuals to stru ggle with it. I'm not operators, novices, and producers. ju st hinting at the sweat dripping from Ch r is Haarhoff: I recently -Ed . the operator's face (nor at the produ c­ alam agated my Stead icam with a great tion manager's pallor. ..) for Cinem a rental house down here, the Movie Panaglide and Steadicam are will always be a team sport. It was Camera Company. They were unable tools a filmmaker may use to stabilize certainly not the dollies used by to resurect their own Steadicam, a some of his views of the world. They Hitchcock which created the well­ Mod el II, and so I joined forces with are expected to free the creators' known suspense, through some hidd en their ow n in house ope rator, Gi lbert minds of several old constraints of the secret of their technology, but indeed Reed , thus reinforcin g the we ll held traditional and subtle art of dealin g the inimitable style of this Aristoc rat Stead icarn notion that unity is with the logistics of moving a film of Vision. He knew how to float his strength. He and I canvass our ow n camera. Despite the look s of en­ relentless Eye, through the scen ery work independently and share work tranced zombies often displ ayed by and around his preys, blending actors, that comes directly to M.C.C. We their users, and va rious mythi cal tales film technicians and machines in a have the support of the company's spread by both devotees and detrac­ subtle and oppress ive harmony. All rent al establishment, and especially of tors, Stead icam and Panagl ide are not the rest is nothing but silly ironware. their workshop for all accessories. It's part of the supernatural. Wh en used correctly, they should merge smoothly Gallic View continued on page 2 Haarhoffcontinued on page 6 Page 2 Gallic View continued from pag e 1 "One SUddenly catches disc ussions aro und a table in low the illusion of being mode. I too k a childish delight in Tinsel Vir tuos ity capable of lasciviously hedge-hopping over dishes ancl doing everything by snorkeli ng above tablecloths. I These two floa ting instrument s oneself, while soaring in indulged in show y cl ips and rises of still seem to be a hot issue, particu­ the ca mera, or in sophisticated larly in France . Their mere presence a nirvana of smugness, translations of the lens around on a set sparks off, now and then, from which you feel you insignificant fo reground objects. Deep endless Gallic polemic s, and tears of might even look down dow n, I was after flashy effects. desp air can occasionally be shed as a on poor old Newton. " Everything seemed great compared to result of some of their uses. They the frus trations of the past: no more happen to be do uble-edged: when of mo nitor ing the sho t. Bu t it does kneel ing down, camera hand -held in a correctly mastered , they can deliver also entail, as a dreadful consolation , disastrously unergonomic posture, very delicate vis ual arabesques, with that novices quick ly reach a po int ea ten up by the impossibil ity of the grace of a feather. But they can where they can start turning junk into slidin g the lens sideways or bringing also abd uct the meaning of the shot, tinsel, with a vengeance. Thi s it to a decent low ang le shot. It was at inflate egos and lead the opera tor sprightly regression towards ga udi­ last possible to wolf down chunks of astray for many years. nes s swiftly sweeps away all previous visual opul ence while shooting from Eve ry serious ca mera operator subtleties. The disease (who se only life. I felt in a roving mood, like a will agree that fine- tuning his manual known therap y seems to be years of dolly going on a spree, after having adaption to the trad itional camera hard tra ining) strikes especi ally hard slipped aw ay from its tracks. I even supports, fluid or gear heads, is but a in the ra nks of those who have poor had bouts of egocentric fever, so minu te part of his task. As a demand­ graphic culture and litt le love of the much so I bega n to believe naively ing front-row spectator, he is con­ Seventh Art. Its most insidi ous that I would always make do on my ce rned, above all, abo ut making his symptom seems to lie in the anaesthe­ own, witho ut the help of any grip. visu al and audi tive attention even sia of any visua l coherence . One acuter and more resp onsiv e to every sudden ly catches the illusion of bein g Complacencies nuance of Comedy. The virtuosity of capable of lasciviously doing every­ the class ical ope rator can only take thin g by oneself, while soaring in a Steadicam may appear as the root in a field of rigor. nirv ana of sm ugness, from which yo u ultimate high-tech cult-gizmo, but it Using a carried-and-stabilized feel you might even look down on hasn't re- invented the Motion Pictures. system such as Steadicam implies a poor old Newton. A seq uence-shot certainly won't thorough and frus trati ng re-Iearning of I persona lly remember my captiva te anyo ne, unless a de licate gest ures, shooting postures and way s ecs tasy when I started filming balance is struck betwee n co mpositio n Page 3 Jean Marc working on the feature "King David. " and traveling effec ts. On top of all cians alike , while fondly watching seems to be a deep-rooted habit, this, a subtl e cha ining up of highli ght s perform ance, sound and light...this judging by their transparent integra­ and rests in performance and camera indeed is the nam e of the game, and it tion in the vis ual fabri c of films . The work has alw ays been a mu st, not to has to be so forever, if one is after USA is bubbling with training mention the ferocious hunting down qu ality in the thomy field of se­ worksho ps. Veterans gather with of boring sections. Nothing new und er qu ence- shots. No techn ology can by­ novi ces to pass on their craftsmanship the sun, really, as no solid cam er a pass it, whatever far- out medium you (and assorted jokes), in a magnificent­ crews using traditional means would come up with , be it radio-controlled looneys-on-their-funny-flying­ contradict, when they are entangled in Sherpa, Louma, or even Sputnik. machines so rt of atmosphere. As I intricate choreographies, desperately attended -three times as a trainee and exchanging glances as they try to "The USA is bubbling twice as assistant/instructor- I can shape up their ballet. with training bear witness to this coc ktail of fun and The arti stic qu ality of the workshops. Veterans hard work. You rub shoulders with the photography of a movie, together with gather with novices to world's best operators, and occ asion­ the cameraman's adrenaline levels, pass on their ally outstrip them ... at frisbee. I'm suffe rs much from a camera that tend s craftsmanship (and tryin g neith er to ev angelize my constantly to ferret about in all axes, co mpatriots, with a ca ndid pro­ when not motiv ated by the plot. These assorted jokes), in a Ame rica n pitch (es pecially in these convulsions are by no means the magnificent-Iooneys­ days of heavy invasion of our symptom eith er of a genetic taint of on-tnelr-tunny-ttyinq­ cathodic-ray tubes), nor to advocate the shooting device, or of a Parkin­ machines sort of ruin ous pilgrimages in quest of the sonian deran gement that inevitabl y atmosphere. " onl y othe rworldly detergent that can afflic ts all Stead icam operators. It's a make yo ur Steadicam shots whiter, known clini cal fac t, though, that a few but it has to be admitted that the graft of the latter spend considerable time An American Graft hasn't taken deeply in the c inemato­ selling aerobics demos to direct ors. graph ic culture of my Cartesian sweet There certainl y are better ways of Ital y, which hasn't remotely hom e. hoisting the co lors of one's spec ialty reached our volume of movi e produ c­ 1L so happens that, six years ago, I than prancing and sprinting one's way tion, boasts nearl y 40 Steadicam units paid this lack of interest by a forc ed to a dubious ce lebrity.