NEWS FOR OPERA TORS AND OWNERS olume 1, number 3 Dec. '88 Ancient History

"The Brown Stabilizer"

That's what I wanted to call it. It wasn't just ego (that came later!). I thought it needed a simple, honest, "70's" kind of natural name, a pure name, not a stupid, gimmicky name like "." It was Ed DiGiulio's suggestion, which I hated immediately. Of course, as he predicted, the word has now become simply a word, a noble word, meaning exactly what it says, and in fact , I am daily (well, yearly...), grateful that he prevailed and that we didn't call it the bloody Brown Stabilizer! In any event, I recently unearthed some early pictures, and have been inspired to relate the one-and-only true version of the birth of our noble gadget. So here it is: the truth du McConkey on Thailand jour, supplanting any and all spurious History continued on page 8

For three months in the Spring of McCONKEY: The first day it 1988, Larry McConkey worked on was 1200 in the sun, and the humidity Brian De Palma's new feature, made it feel like it was virtually "Casualties ofWar." Thefilm is raining all the time. I had a long coming out in early 1989. tracking down a dirt street in the Vietnamese village set. Now, I tend to be very careful not to wear myself LEITER: Was it any fun? out during a shoot, and I get as much McCONKEY: Yes. I had never rest as possible between takes and as been to Southeast Asia before, and much help from the crew as I can, but Thailand is now one of my favorite even so, after four or five takes I was places in the world. I love the people actually thinking in panic, "How can I and the country, and that has a lot to get out of this place and back on a do with my impressions of the job plane for home?!" Everyone under­ itself. It is the only country outside stood what I was going through , the United States that I have felt truly because they had gone through it a welcome in as an American , and of week earlier. Brian told me to sit course, that made the experience more down until I was rested. So with the delightful. But the first few days of entire cast and crew waiting, I sat for work were brutal. The rest of the about ten minutes until I recovered. crew had a week or two to adjust to From then on I was very conscious of the climate before shooting, but I had the importance of staying out of the to work the day after I arrived. It was sun whenever possible, constantly hot, and it was humid. drinking water and the electrolyte LEITER: How hot was it? solution the nurse was offering, and

Thailand continued on page 4 1975: The first CP version! Page 2 THE BLUEDOTS MEET THE ANIMALS Fun, Fear, and Loathing in Rockport

THE FUN As usual, the Model II vests all things, which is certainly one element I wanted to write some verse for fell apart and had to be reinforced responsible for his enormous success. the last issue of THE STEADICAM with mountains of 's tape, a big Whether he'll quit Apple and become LETTER but, like most of us, had my plus in getting novices to purchase an operator is, of course, another extracurricular activities and "The rigs. Also as usual, instructors were matter. Vacation That Refused To Die III" housed in what only can be described abruptly terminated by the end of the as "substandard conditions" (looking THE FEAR AND THE LOATHING Writer's Strike. This, of course, is very much like Manzanar and What was it that inspired Mark hardly a complaint. For many years I christened "Motel Hell" by the O'Kane, driving with me after the have attempted to develop interests occupants themselves). Apparently Wrap Party (and still at night in which would hold me through the The Workshops won't pay for a sunglasses), to suddenly and inexpli­ cold winter months when agencies change of sheets. I can only say that cably lurch across the front seat and, prefer warmer coastal climes and TV my housing, advertised as having a in a deafening roar that almost drove movies actually begin to look attrac­ "harbor view" (meaning the top of the us both off the road, scream out the tive (even to watch). Finally when I mast of David Lyman's boat) was window, "WHY DON'T YOU GET have found these interests, there adequate - the rewards of being a A GOD-DAMNED JOB?!!" at a seems little time available for their "VIP". Always remember the three group of ambling, post-dinner still pursuit. greatest lies: "It's only a coldsore," photographers who, naturally assum­ Yet I thought a few words about "Audi, The Art of Engineering," and ing the outburst to have been gener­ the Maine Steadicam course in August "We never make any money on the ated by local wranglers of some type were due. To the instructors who so Steadicam class." of shellfish rather than their photo­ generously gave of their valuable time Yet spirits were high. We drilled graphic compatriots, were under­ and talent: Bob Ulland, Katrina the class each morning in strict standably taken aback. Resevic, Ralph Watson, Bob Stanley Marine fashion as they snapped to Now besides being a brilliant and Mark O'Kane--my sincerest attention and yelled, "Sir, Yes Sir!" designer, one of the wonderful things thanks. Never have I spent time with followed by "I can't hear you, about Mark is that he lives in the such a charming and dedicated group. Pussys!" followed by "SIR, YES moment. With speech patterns so fast Katrina gave a brilliant, flawless SIR!!" followed by 'Take Seats!" a listener always has trouble with his performance as the actress in every followed by "THANK YOU, SIR!!" first sentence, he's fiercely passionate single rehearsal and take of the final Certainly a shock to the rest of the about his interests and loyal to the test (she even refused lunch), Bob classes, it did get us ready to face end. So his dramatic, if somewhat Stanley was his usual patient, suppor­ another day, prepare us for a possible pedestrian outburst, was perhaps not tive and precise self (which is why he enemy assault, and become an without cause. It could well have goes to England with me every winter unparalleled hit at the Wrap Party. been prompted by the "Bluesdots's" to teach), Ralph shocked everyone The wonder of the week was (derived from their use of flashbulbs) with his tremendous artistic ability in heightened (for Mac owners Bob previous attempt to reserve two entire fabricating some of the most ruthless Ulland and myself at least) by the outdoor tables at Friday night's Wrap Party assaults of David Lyman, specter of John Sculley who was packed dinner; a potential altercation Bob Ulland showed us all how it taking a still photographic course on at which he was not present. Perhaps should be done, and Mark O'Kane (in sabbatical. We managed to get him it was the guy who came up to me his sunglasses) dared to face off with into the sling a few times (the second after the Wrap Party and said, "You're the local police department in the area time he had it on for an hour) and pretty funny." (in truth, an accurate of Steadicam Operators' Rights to the even take some shots of the event-­ comment) only to be followed by, Sidewalk. What a group -- I salute opportunity is not a lengthy caller. "You're a fuckin' asshole!" (debat­ you! John has a natural curiosity about able). Mark was present but, sadly, Page 3 didn't hear the remark, for surely the enthusiasm, and camaraderie, three Association Notes gentleman would have seen his own qualities quite foreign to their world. impending death instantly appear Now keep in mind that this comes before him wearing sunglasses. I from one who is more than capable of We are proud to welcome would have jumped him myself (a being a snob, one whose grandfather Alfred Chrosziel Film/Video classic to be sure) except that it would was a doctor and traveled the world at Technic, Optex, andPanavision have required a lengthy explanation to the turn of the century shooting glass to our group of corporate Sculley, with whom I was having a plates and could, had he been at The members. conversation at the time. Workshops, have boasted to his credit But I have a theory about it all: shots of cannibal feasts, William that the BMW-owning, designer pet­ Cody , and the famous still of Mark The elections are over, the results are pulling, haute cuisine-munching, Twain (with whom he was friends) in. Janice Arthur, Garrett Brown, Ted competition-stomping crowd of Wall leaning back in a trans-Atlantic Churchill, Jerry Holway, Larry Street has indeed begun entering the steamer deck chair. Yet for some McConkey, Jimmy Muro, Steve St. arts. With the newly-acquired auto­ reason, his grandson likes to spend John, and Bob Ulland have been focus, iris, zoom, backlight-compen­ time with grips, being out there elected to the board . Soon we will get sated, and motor-driven cameras, humping on location and sweating it together and chart a course for the being an artist can't really be all that out in screening rooms , a life of pain future. Some possible issues and hard, can it? Just take a class. Of and struggle-- a working man's ideas: Pushing for more Lightweight course, you'll never have to rely on it profession, yet one of pride, passion, Panaflexes, association sponsored for a living, never have to make it a creativity, and surprisingly, glamor. reduced advertising rates in major "God-damned job." Perhaps you can How strange. publications and journals, seminars just sit by the window in your home In the end however, one can for producers, subjects for the and take shots of the scenery when the hardly expect others to understand all newsletter, a phone number in Europe, light is just right, then, after years of this. To attempt and explanation and equipment resource lists. these right-brain experiences, finally would undoubtedly be folly. Perhaps A high priority for the Association is teach what you've learned to others. the best we can do is lean out of cars to boost our advertising, especially So they have arrived. and shout "Why don't you get a God­ outside of the USA. We need input Viewed from such a , damned job?!" as sincerely as we can from the "Non North American certainly Steadicam operators must be and hope someone, somewhere, Operators" on the most effective a rather appalling lot (even with only eventually grasps the concept. publications and directories in which one Aussi in the class). Certainly to advertise. Please advise us. Soon. we're louder. Yet what we may Ted Churchill By the way, we're up to 108 active appear to lack in civility, we certainly and 28 associate members, and 29 more than make up for in hard work, others are subscribing to the newslet­ ter.

Jerry Holway, Editor

Contributing Editors Garrett Brown Ted Churchill Victor Sondor, Ad Dendum

Steadicam Letter is published quarterly in Philadelphia by the SteadicamOperator's Association Inc., 108 Church Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Phone: (215) CALL CAM. Fax: (215) 922-1753. Subscriptions: Free with member­ ship. For non-members, $32.00 per year USA, $42.00 foreign . Applepals John Sculley and Ted Churchill test the new Cinema Advertising: Classifieds: $10.00 per Products Executive Docking Stand 100 words for members, $20.00 for non-members. Space advertising rates on request. Page 4 LETTER: What camera did you use? McCONKEY: I used the Panavision Lightweight, with 'C' series anamorphic lenses . Most of my scenes had dialogue, so I had to have a quiet camera and that means either a Panaglide or the Lightweight. I really don't know how I'd survive without it. It's by far my favorite choice. LETTER: How was it working in the wide format ? McCONKEY: I've done quite a few anamor­ phic movies now. I approach it with a certain amount of caution, but I had a lot of fun with it, actually. I enjoy it more than spherical, particu­ larly after this experience. Thailand continued from page 1 'A' camera and with a little bit of Most of that has to do with the just moving more slowly. The camera rewiring, I was able to use that. It had challenges and possibilities of grips were great, both English and a little better resolution and brightness composition, especially with a moving Thai. As soon as I finished a shot than my own backup - an external shot. You can put somebody right someone grabbed the Steadicam from viewfinder made by Sony for ENG over at the edge of the frame and have me while someone else slapped a cameras - but still a poor substitute him walk all the way through it and bottle of cold water in my hands and for the original. I ripped out the then pivot around him, and that makes someone else guided me to a waiting electronics in the base of the Stead­ it quite a bit more exciting. On the umbrella and applebox until the next icam and sent it back to John Seitz other hand, it can be harder to hide the take. After the first week I began to along with the monitor. He was able tendency of the Steadicam to roll with adjust and it got much easier. Mon­ to repair it and get it back to me a few that huge, wide frame across the soon season hit a few weeks after that. weeks later, but in the meantime I theater. You have to pay more It would rain hard for an hour or two went through four of the Panaglide­ attention than normal to keeping the sometime in the middle of the day, but style monitors. One after the other camera level. also there was a lot of cloud cover, they blew up, shorted out. When my LETTER: Were the Steadicam and that knocked the sun down . It felt monitor came back, that was a sequences used throughout the movie, at least twenty degrees cooler, and it godsend. I went with it the rest of the or were they reserved for special was a manageable 100 degrees or so. job. So if you go to Thailand, bring moments? We all thought that was delightfully some backup for the monitor, or if McCONKEY: Some were real cool. necessary, another Steadicam. pivotal moments, others were a way to LETTER: How did the equip­ LETTER: Did anything else fail just keep the narrative going. It's a ment hold up? or present difficulties? Vietnam war story. A small squad McCONKEY: Video doesn't McCONKEY: The biggest goes out on a mission and atrocities seem to last in Thailand, any kind of problem was rust. You could sit your are committed. Sean Penn is respon­ video equipment. The Steadicam arm out in the morning, and you could sible for them. Michael 1. Fox, a guy monitor actually held up better than watch the rust form. By the end of the who's new to the country, is appalled anything else but it went down after day there was visible rust in a number and ultimately, wrestling with his about a month . The coatings on the of places. You had to hit it with WD­ conscience, decides to try make the monitor just came apart and deterio­ 40 or something to get the rust off and others accountable. I shot a number rated with all the humidity, and the keep more from forming. At one of scenes where the squad was tube shorted out. On my Steadicam, point there was a joint on the arm near marching over bridges, through the cables to the monitor have the vest that I forgot to lubricate for a villages, along mountain trails, connectors, so I am able to take off week or so. I pulled it out one day tracking shots that would change, for the monitor and put up a backup. In and it wouldn't move. It was rusted example, from two, then three soldiers this case we had a Panaglide style solid. It took me twenty minutes to in frame, and then down along the line monitor that was being used on the get it all free again. of men to someone else, and so forth ... Page 5

in one unbroken shot we'd get a lot of first "look" at a woman in the back, overall rythym, and various specific exposition. I also shot some key then I would pan down to "look" at compositions. I also spot possible dramatic moments. There's an the child at her feet, then Laurie flares, shadows, and other problems abduction of a woman, which is would flick off the light and we would during these walkthroughs. It actually central to the film. The whole constitutes most of the details of the abduction scene is done as a single, "You'vegot tocomeup with shot. unbroken POY shot. On this film, the three of us LETTER: What sort of chal­ a kindot technique,akind ot would walk through first using our lenges did that present? convention, somesortottor­ hands until the and camera had McCONKEY: I don 't like what mallanguage thatyou use to preliminary marks and the shot made you normally think of as a POY with suggestwhatoureyes do." sense . Then we'd get our stand-ins a shaking hand-held camera which and start working with a viewfinder. calls attention to itself and you say, At that point whoever had the "Oh, it's moving around so badly, this move on. In other words, the camera strongest idea might take the view­ must be point of view...or else bad and the light were coordinated. It finder and say, "How about this?" technique." The Steadicam affords almost matched the way it would have Once Brian and Steve and I had you a way to get a look at the world worked if the light had been worked out the significant points of that's a little closer to the way we see hardmounted on the camera, but not the shot together, then I'd start it. Our eyes don't let anything jiggle quite. We started to examine the working on my own. or shake unless there is extraordinary subtleties. Do you tend to move your If anything didn't make sense to vibration. Our sensory system eyes first and then the flashlight? No. me, I'd ask for a change and almost manages to stabilize the image into a You tend to move the flashlight to always it would be accepted by Brian . simple, clear vision. where you want to look first, and your "What if I went a little to the right What's most difficult is to imitate eyes follow a split second later. We here?" "Fine." "Could we have a how your interest moves from one used little details like that to make this cross, I'm feeling like it's empty subject to another. Your eyes are thing work. here." "Yeah, let's get a cross." I had flicking with incredible speed back After about 20 rehearsals and more support than you can imagine , and forth through this whole tapestry takes, I had discovered that the least but if I ever made a wrong decision, of experience around you and putting possible and tilting was the something that wasn't consistent with together a kind of compilation picture best way to go. We finally ended up Brian's sense of aesthetics or appro­ of the world that makes sense. That's with one move that sinews its way priate for the narrative, I'd lose a little something we can't do easily in film. down the street like a snake. It's a credibility and he might not be so fast We've got a single frame, we've got very efficient move from one place to to listen to my next suggestion. So I to move it around in some way that another until finally, we reach the last had to be a little more careful than on links one idea to another, that suggests hooch where it turns into an objective most jobs to make the right sugges­ the way your mind does it. shot as the soldiers grab the girl. tions. You've got to come up with a LETTER: Who was involved in Then I started working on how to kind of technique, a kind of conven­ discovering the way the flashlight incorporate all this into one shot that tion, some sort of formal language worked, and other decisions? would flow from beginning to end. that you use to suggest what our eyes McCONKEY: That was mostly I've always believed that in this kind do. One thing that seems to work is my decision. Brian DePalma always of Steadicam work, once the camera locking on one part of the scene in the gave me all the support and help I starts to move, what you need to have frame and keeping it there through a could want. But in return he wanted a in mind is where it's ending, and your move, perhaps rotating around it, and great shot. How I did that was up to job is to make sure that every move just at the right moment letting it slide me, as the operator, and Steve Burum, helps to get you there in the most off and finding something else and the DP. Brian would layout a sketch direct and efficient way possible. hanging on that for awhile and then of what he wanted . Quite often that Anything that gets in the way of that letting that slide off. This scene was sketch would be very explicit in many goal is wrong. You should feel perfect for that kind of technique. ways: the composition, what was yourself being drawn along. It should Soldiers came into the village at important in the shot, how tight be one are, one move that has lots of night, searching from one hooch to something should be, how wide, and little nuances but moves inevitably to another until they find a woman to the speed of the move. He had a very that final ending frame. That's what's kidnap. We moved down the village good idea of how it should look on the difficult, to take all these little set and we'd slide off to the right of screen, but he didn't care how I ac­ compositions and moments and thread this little street into one hooch, look complished that physically with the them all through until they make one into it, back out, slide across the street Steadicam. That was my job. flowing shot. I often think about this to another one, back out and so on. Most of the time, I insist on ahead of time, and the suggestions I Laurie Shane, the gaffer, was holding rehearsing without the Steadicam for would make to Steve and Brian were a red spotlight, flicking it on and off as long as necessary until all those the kind that would allow me to string as if it were a flashlight that I was things that can be determined without everything together. I was fortunate holding. We had to agree on exactly it have been settled, that is, the basic in that Steve Burum is exceptionally what I was "looking" at. I'd would with actors and extras, the Thailand continued on page 6 I Page 6

Thailand continued from page 5 middle of tall weeds - a gap I couldn't sound out Steve and Brian as to sensitive to the same concerns. I see on the monitor. Invariably, I smaller touches. I'd usually do that could always count on him to see finished with the wrong composition. early on. When we were setting up where the shot was having problems We finally had to redo the shot and the shot with the viewfinder, I would and suggest a change to fix it. Once engineer a to end the sequence. ask if this should be a "startling" we started shooting, he would notice LETTER: Were you ever move or "ominous" - descriptive, every little deviation from the ideal, looking for or designing in possible emotional terms like those - I'd ask and he not only let me do another take cuts in the middle of the sequences? questions and ifI was right, I'd get a if I wanted one, he insisted on it. McCONKEY: No. Brian is very nod from Brian, but if I was wrong, Sometimes we'd go to 10, 20, or 30 clear about what he wants. He has he'd let me know that very clearly. I takes to get two that we all thought thought about the way he plans to cut quickly became attuned to what he were perfect. It would generally take each sequence, and if cuts are expected. half a day to do a serious three minute appropriate, they are already part of LETTER: Do you prefer shot like that. the plan. There were some long working on a film like this over a long LETTER: What was the most sequences that by design had no cuts period of time? difficult shot in the movie? for 3-4 minutes, and so, they simply McCONKEY: It is at times had to work from beginning to end. If really frustrating to come on a film in "...notjust thecontroland I really thought I couldn't do a shot, the middle of the schedule and just do precision whichwasde­ I'd certainly speak up. I didn't have a little bit, to just start to get into the manded,butalso Ihad to to do that on this film. But never did I flow and have an influence on things movetheSteadicamso that suggest (because it would have been and then leave. On the other hand, itmatchedthe way a crane inappropriate on this film) that we do it's also terribly frustrating to be on a something to make the shooting easier film for a long period of time and not oradollymightmove." or faster. That has nothing to do with be used much. That is probably the way Brian DePalma makes worse. McCONKEY: The mostfrustrat­ movies. The shots that he gave me on LETTER: How much were you ing shot for me was an ambitious the dolly and the Steadicam were used on this film? Were you used scene where the entire village is among the most challenging I have every day? burning to the ground and the Ameri ­ ever done. McCONKEY: Not every day, can soldiers are evacuating the LETTER: Did you have to match but maybe every other day . There villagers. There was a lot of pressure. your stuff with that of Doug Ryan's, were certain scenes that were planned, The special effects department was the A ? executed and accomplished as a trying to control the burning of this McCONKEY: The style of the Steadicam sequence, and the average huge set so that they could repeat it shooting was dictated by the camera­ length of the shot was about two and a several times. The scene was long, man, Steve Burum. His goal, he told half minutes. But every once in a we had hundreds of extras, and it took me outright, was to try to make a film while I'd pop in and get a shot that so much time to reset that the odds of where we used the Steadicam they just couldn't get with a dolly . our getting 2 perfect takes with the throughout the film, but no one could Here especially, the Steadicam had to right light, performances and earner­ tell. He wanted it to be interchange­ look like a dolly, because it was being awork began to look pretty slight. able with the rest of the camerawork, directly intercut with dolly shots, both This brings us to the importance of a with a couple of noticeable exceptions static and moving. I also did some good monitor. I was using one of the such as the POV work. We tried to do DP work , and second Panaglide style monitors. The end of shots that absolutely looked like a camera as well. So I was kept busy the shot required a with a dolly or a crane, except that if you throughout the film. lock-off on a very precise frame. The were to look at them carefully, where LETTER: How was the Stead­ way I generally do that sort of thing is did they put the track? And by that I icam used on this film that was to glance ahead to where I'm going to mean not just the control and preci­ different from other films you have land, and then I just throw my whole sion which was demanded, but also I worked on? body into it, pull the camera around, had to move the Steadicam so that it McCONKEY: I find that on a lot and try to stop the camera exactly matched the way a crane or a dolly of films the Steadicam is seen as a where it's supposed to be. Invariably might move. We didn 't do very way to do something more quickly or it's never quite right , so just at the last many radical Steadicam shots. As easily. Burum and DePalma use it moment, as the last bit of pan or is much as possible, all the moves were more organically. It is simply another slowing, I'll watch the monitor and unobtrusive. tool to be used where appropriate, and make an adjustment. But with the LETTER: Was there much it is given the same amount of time Panaglide monitor, the resolution is so discussion about the script on the set? and care as, if not more than, a more bad and it has so much blooming and McCONKEY: No, not out on the conventional piece of equipment. streaking problems that unless there set. It was expected that we had all They both are unwilling to give up the are very distinct shapes you can't see read the script, knew it well , and control or precision they are used to what is in the shot until the camera understood what importance each with a dolly, so they demand a lot comes to a complete stop. In this scene had to the overall film . That from a Steadicam Operator, but I got case, I was looking for a gap in the was expected. I would always try to the support I needed to do that. Also, Page 7

Brian devised several scenes which he wanted as one unbroken shot... that's Model III Monitor Mod really the heart of it for him. They involved such complex moves that it just couldn't be done without a After ruminating over Garrett's Steadicam. A couple of scenes went first article on S.P.S. (Steadicam up to four minutes in length and they Precess Syndome), I concluded that a were shot without any additional rack-mounted monitor hinged at the coverage. So when Brian gets to the center of gravity would be mighty editing room and he clips those shots useful. As I see it, the pivot of the in, they had better work or he will monitor is death on good trim, but the have some serious editing problems. need for clear eyeliune is strong. So a That's real gutsy directing and I compromise is made in the physics enjoyed it very much. demands of the beast. At this point, a One interesting aspect of this Model III owner has at his/her/its style of shooting is that the cast and disposal a number of modifications to I'm interested in seeing if this crew got a chance to work with a make both the entire camera platform idea pans out. If some bold soul does whole continuous piece of drama, rack side to side, and to move the it, talk back through the Letter. almost as if we were on the stage. We entire electronics package fore and ...For Model I and II owners, I've could all understand how it was aft. This missing piece is a perfectly got a docking bracket that can't be working from beginning to end. trimmed, yet still totally flexible beat. It's made out of drop-forged Everybody got a sense of the flow, monitor. steel, and so far the prototype is the importance of each part of the In fig. 1, we see a monitor as it amking me much happier than the scene. Video playback was very appears on a Model III. Its design is stock docking bracket from CPo important. Brian, Steve, and I would tremendously helpful in fore 'n aft Something about trusting $100,000 in watch the playback, generally from trimming, especially, but not always, goodies to easily fatigued aluminum my deck on the Steadicam, and we in conjunction with the battery pack. makes me nervous. Talk to McCon­ could judge how the shot was work­ Now to the drawbacks, and my idea key about broken docks ... ing, what parts were too slow, where for a solution. (is that a Scientific And lastly: I think the single there was a flaw in the operating, or Oscar I doth smell, or just burned topic, in-depth articles are a great whatever. I was rarely asked to move toast?) If the monitor were to be idea. The battery charger article is on until I felt it was as good as I could refitted as per my design in fig. 2, you hopefully the first of many. How get it. could 1) Tip up and down to suit about one on the ins and outs of eyeline, 2) Pivot side to side when international shipping with your gear. Casualties of War necessary, and 3) move the mass of What's a came? (Yeah, I know- it's a Producer Art Linson the monitor fore and aft with the gear steak). Director Brian De Palma rack. Co-producer/Production Manager Peter Abraham Fred Caruso Director of Photography Steve Bururn Gaffer Laurie Shane Second Unit Director Eric Schwab Jeff Jenson Special Effects Supervisor Kit West Camera Operator Doug Ryan Steadicam Operator Larry McConkey Focus PuJ]er Allan Blauvelt Danny Shernerdine Clapper/Loader Robert Bridges Key "Chunky" Huse Set Grip Tony Turner Gavin Home Chapman Crane Operator Ken Reed Studio Columbia Pictures

Submit winning caption for this photo and win a free "too big for the hat" Association patch. Example: " Steadicam Precision Drill Team rehearses for 1976 Rose Bowl Parade." Page 8

History continued from page 1 rebuilt as a parallelogram mini-crane, memoirs, dubious interviews, doubtful and my ACL acquired a fiber-optics brochures , and slick video-magazine viewfinder in order to secretly shoot a segments ... commercial for Connecticut Natural In 1929, Lee (Vacuum Tube) Gas. DeForest patented using a vacuum to It almost didn't get finished in silence a movie camera in a bell jar. time. My basement-type machinist, This item popped up 41 years later in when asked to drill the last few holes, my very first patent search and came out with a line which we still squashed my first "invention," a use: "I can't stay up, I have to vacuum-blimp for the Arriflex IIc. supervise men tomorrow!" Needless With hindsight, I should have perse­ to say, this guy never worked again in vered, since it would have weighed the "brown stabilizer" business... We about five pounds , and might even ended up at 3 a.m. in Bridgeport, Con­ today be better than lugging a BL-IV necticut in a vast old railway machine around , however. .. shop, with the owner himself trying to I rebounded to another problem ­ remember how to operate his locomo­ how to improve the look of my hand- tive lathe in order to make us the last

Bungee cord suspension system for pain aficionados

the operator's right shoulder. By now it employed a Kenyon gyro stabilizer and battery in place of the t-bar and weights, so you can imagine how excessive was its stability, and how impressive was the impact of seeing an operator looming around a corner carrying the Lusitania suspended from "that" muscle, fiber-optic bundle pressed against one eye, head tilted upward in a vain attempt to body­ english some tilt into the shot, groaning weakly , vertebrae shifting " like tiddly-winks... "The Pole Rig" appeared in the spring of 1972 It was beginning to sink in that this device might not be what the held shooting. I had mounted a few dinky parts. motion-picture industry was waiting camera on a long pole rig slung below It worked, better than the earlier for. I loved the results and knew that a helicopter for shooting into the ones, and the camera stayed level as I was the only one in the world who windows of moving Subarus. It was one boomed up and down, but could make such shots, yet it was also surprisingly stable, except in pan (the carrying it was a big strain on the old clear that none but crazed obsessives axis around the pole). I was intrigued hand. We hired the biggest, strongest would endure using this contraption. and built a long "t-bar" rig of plumb­ cameramen in the land and sent them We were shooting amazing commer­ ing pipe, which was stable in all all home in a pillowcase after a day cials, with clients and crew signing directions as one ran around the with the "Pole Rig"! So I built a body agreements-of-secrecy. I had fabu­ countryside. It was clumsy and rolled support which floated the whole lous demo reels in 16mm and both a lot, but the footage looked surpris­ contraption on the end of a nine-foot Panavision and Cinema Products were ingly good. I suppose if I had been bunji cord running through yacht interested, but both said they wanted satisfied with this gadget (which gets pulleys, and which provided my first to see a demo in 35mm (Oyl) re-invented from time to time in this taste for vanquishing Hooke's law, as All the spare dough from my business, e.g. "shaki-cam" and "pogo to the "rate" of suspension systems. commercial-production company cam"), the project would have The contraption was as slick, in ended up in little machine shops. and ultimately fizzled, but I couldn't quite this regard, as our present-day arm, did they ever see me coming! For leave it alone. In the spring of 1973 but applied all of its massive torque to example, in an attempt to make the the "pole" as it was still known, was the what doctors call "that" muscle in camera pan and tilt independently. I Page 9

had strayed into the scary world of protection for when falling down!", "grade-14" worm gears, cut and fitted "Try using more than one person!" to impossible tolerances, in order to (never pursued this until 1988! i), avoid backlash when my web of Berg 'Try: flexing parallelograms (?), air belts was cranked from the handle . bubbles floating in egg-shaped The last of this series of finer and containers of oil" (I have no idea what finer worm gears cost five thousand 1 had in mind here!), "...howabout dollars to fit, and was the knock-out electronic leveling servos, laser punch for the "pole". Despite having referencing, hydraulic pistons, radar a patent application ready to file, 1 reflectors, etc. (??) Quite a grab bag! abandoned the whole notion. The How did I ever miss atomic fusion principles were sound, but it was too leveling? big, too heavy, too complex - a Although I personally gained turkey . about 20 pounds via room service, I I was desperate now to find a did finally emerge with "The Inven­ commercially viable answer and tion." I had a model of the ann, made recover my investment. I have told with parts from a couple of parallelo­ interviewers that in the spring of 1973 gram desk lamps, and a sketch of the I twice checked into motels for week­ absolute minimum configuration for long marathons of thinking-with-no­ mounting the camera, battery , distractions (except frequent room­ magazine and motor. I believed it service) , and this much is true, would work well for fast moving however the story about scaring the shots, but doubted it would maids by running up and down the ever give the dolly much competition corridors with borrowed mop handles Fall 1973: First sketch with arm for precision (remember, I was is exaggerated . Mild amusement was suspension used to versions with the inertia of the the general reaction. But they did sit Chrysler Building). At worst, I around and talk about it; "The boy thought it could be simpler, smaller better watch that trim - it'll precess Range of lens heights: "knees to and lighter and therefore had a chance if he even tries a whip pan!" above head, minimum: waist to head". to be sold, so I decided to build one But which actual mechanism, which final version. combination of devices would be American Optical Corporation good enough, yet light enough to add gave me a good fiber-optic view­ on to the weight of 35mm cameras? It finder, and Dick Defrenes fitted it to was a chess problem. 1 had to work my Africa-Corps Arri-IIA. A retired my way through a lot of craziness and machinist named Jack Hauser separate the blue-sky notions from the constructed the prototype and we had good ideas. 1 have sketches and notes the thing ready to test within about on motel stationary that read: "Try two months. connecting pan and tilt to your head" History continued on page 13 (what?), "try spar extending down from camera except will hit ground on low shots and weight will be too far Dead end fiberglass spring version forward" (no kidding!), "foam

Eventually I got it. The hardest part was giving up features -like the ' .-:­ camera 's ability to boom from floor to i" ceiling (I still think about how to get the present Steadicam to go from high to low mode while shooting). The re­ quirements for a successful device were clear - lists I made at the time indicate it needed: "remote reflex viewing, isolated suspension (from vertical, horizontal and angular {1' motions) , minimum extra weight, ,:.. close operation to the body, "float­ .. with human servo-mech damping, 300 degree pan, 100 degree tilt, and zoom Early obession with flying the new Panaflex led to some odd designs, some to 150mm." with displaced magazines, some with no magazines at all! I Page 10

lmmediately I realized that "balance­ wise" we were dealing with the Muro Flies in Jamaican Jungle Skycam concept. The test shot started off wide and slowly tracked into a in front of the hut. Okay but I'm sure every one of you is the most energetic and helpful person boring. Carl started calling for the familiar with "s tanding by" to the on the set. His entire wardrobe step-on-and-off version. point of stir craziness. We're living in consisted of four pairs of tattered Trau removed the seat and a world where a distant location shorts and some docksiders. Crescent footrest, added a small platform for means no escape for the "standing by" wrench and walkie in hand, he ran one me to stand on and a butt rest for Steadicam guy. Stir crazy is putting it hell of a department, and he had safety and comfort. I was going to lightly. Entire species have become gained the respect of the entire crew. have to operate one handed, one on extinct between some Steadicam Heavy rains had turned the the rig, the other holding on. The setups. Such was the case on location hillside to mud. Trau ran a very speed of the shot demanded that no in Jamaica for the film "Finding heavy cable down into the valley to safety rope be slipped on and off. Maubee ', starring Denzel Washington ease the pain of humping heavy We started high above the road, and Robert Townsend. After a week equipment down the slope on our three tiers of scaffolding up, locked in the jungle we (the crew) began to backs. I had given up harrassing the off. As the jeep approached, the realize that Jamaica sounded nice on director and was trying hard to make camera trucks right, and I step on to the phone, but what was this fish head the contraption. I took a pretty severe doing on my plate? risk and operated this opening as a The director, Carl, seemed a two-handed deal. Strict communi ca­ deranged lunatic. He idolized Human Cable Rig tion with the grips was essential. Hitchcock, a bottle of rum, and the 7 ton st.eel cable Begin the move only on my cue, after most difficult camera angles imagin­ my right hand drops from the arm and able. The DP was no better, sticking grabs on to the main support ... for 12K's six feet from the actors and dear life. We'd let the sucker go, about two tons of glass in front of the hidden in a pan, just as Denzel would lens. This was his idea of a gift to the leap from the vehicle. This part was guys who had to look (or tried to easily scored with a 20mm lens. The look) through the lens. Somehow, but.t. support.-tt=~ aerial track could have been a little however , I grew to love both these tighter, but it was a one take,buming guys. We had a wonderful crew , with set deal, and wider was safer, plus it a lot of local industry people from brought a new perspective to the shot. Kingston. I could the hut sooner in the

sunbathing look like a constru ctive "Traugaveme thesnarl job . It was Paul Birkett, the A camera of the decade. The operator, who sugge sted the Stead­ directorreplied, "Treu's icam. I rejoiced. I knew if we did a gotone." I thought, step-off at the end of the cable run, "Whatamiserablecon­ we 'd have the Steadicam shot of the traption thismustbe." year on our hands. "Last year it was Bobby's season opener to Vice. This year you and I will step into the Trau, the , had the honorable annals of history, Carly, sternest, most serious face. He hardly baby!" Needless to say, I was brown ever smiled. While scouting a valley nosing. where "Ubu's hut" would be built , For safety's sake , we first Carl mentioned that there was always experimented with the hard-mounted Trau 's cable shot... if we have time. I version. At the ends of a four foot immediately blurted out about piece of pipe were two sets of pulley s background, and for a fleeting Garrett 's cablecam. Which, I said, to ride on the cable . The vertical moment it would work as a vista was available to me. member was a piece of two inch pipe, before it rapidly closed in on Denzel Trau gave me the snarl of the and below that was a short cross piece as he frantically questioned bystand­ decade. The director replied, "Trau's to sit on, and below that, a foot rest. ers in front of the hut. got one." I thought, "What a miser­ The U-bolt version of the hardmount Even though I communicated via able contraption this must be." was bolted to the two inch pipe. Drop wireless mike strapped to the vest, Four weeks later, we got to the speed was controlled by a tether. This cueing the speed of the move was location. Trau 's severe countenance is the best way to execute a shot like tricky. By the time the guys on the remained, but he had proved himself this, hardmounted and strapped in. tether responded to me, it was already Page 11 Quirk found in GUTT Betacam defies trim

Although a problem was noted as we went to press with the Grand Unified Theory of Trim, version 1.0, we felt in the interests of science, clarity and brevity, that we ought to publish what was known at the time. For lack of a better name (uncharm or oddspin just doesn't do it for me), we 'll call the anomaly "The Betacam Effect". It has nothing to do with camera weight per se, but with the distribution of weight in the Betacam, LW Panaflex with anamor­ phic C series lenses, or Panavision's Optimax 3-D system. This effect may also be felt in any long/heavy camera or those silly guns in Aliens II. too late. Speed changes had to be fire was doused . Then once the When the rig is adjusted for sweet called in ahead of time. At the security of a good take was in the can, trim according to the rules of the bottom, someone I trusted cued me to we could live a little bit on the edge. GUTT, and when one sets the proper step off. At this point, the speed was Increase the speed. More flames. The bottom heaviness by the "three second so great I couldn't glance away from third and final take was by far the drop from 90° to vertical rule of the monitor, or I'd lose the talent from most compelling and dramatic. An thumb" (phew!), the rig is extremely the frame . early step-off (near disaster) allowed sensitive in side to side trimming. If There was a tree that passed in another split second for Mr. Washing­ one then tries to drop the camera from the foreground that let me know the ton to run towards the camera, passing 90° to vertical side to side, the darn in a closer shot, before being pursued thing just barely makes it to vertical... "Carlisa nutforcrazyshots, into the bushes. The spontaneity of it's almost neutrally balanced side to and toomanyideashad this type of moment can't be set up side. This difference in side to side beenblownoffduetobUdg­ intentionally, but it's what one vs. fore and aft sensitivity may also be remembers best about the whole present with all cameras , but not etaryrestrictions andlocal shoot. really detectable until one works with problems. He wasn'tgoing the Betacam . toletthisbabygo." JimmyMuro When I work with the Betacam, I set the bottom-heaviness with a one moment was near to jump off. After and a half to two second drop fore and the step off, it remained a one handed aft. This allows reasonable control deal. The camera pursued Denzel in a with side to side balance , and not too dead run just after he runs by. The Embroidered Logo much pendular action or difficulty in shot ends as we pass some bushes tilting. covering the lens, and it match-cuts to Patches Now Available Why this anomaly exists con­ another setup that begins in the same in Black and Silver (and founds me. Can anyone out there bushes. maybe Green) shed some light on this phenomenon? Towards the end of the third day, Help! it was clear we weren 't going to score this setup, but Carl convinced Jerry Holway production to return the next morning. ~ We'd then bail for the next location ~ (in theory, anyway). Carl is a nut for crazy shots, and too many ideas had been blown off due to budgetary restrictions and local problems. He wasn't going to let this baby go. To order your patch, specify quanity The next morning, huts burning, and size. Medium fits on a hat. Large • Sal811 _ Service _ Rental everybody was careful not to screw up doesn't. Call Diane Bowersock for New & Used Systems. Parts.Access. their parts in this nightmare . The first prices and ordering informaion. WHIT~HOUSE AUDIO VISUAL 115" Wes' Pica Boulevard take was the safety take. Good. The (215) CALL-CAM. TN1 Los Anga/es. CA 90064 (213) 479-8313 Page 12

concerned about rotational realities and forces in our universe) must also TheJBracket have an effect beyond dynamically balanced rigs and fancy modifications. Yesterday I spent a few hours withdrew, but soon they were explor­ The purpose of our Association is with Garrett Brown discussing all the ing and interacting with other rats. In to get more jobs for our members and Association chores I needed to time, they got better and better at to make the jobs go better and easier. address. One was to write an editor's solving problems. Brain sections Through the database, we can connect column . I'm still working on the showed that the number of new operators, producers, assistants, gear, others. But first we talked about an synapses grew by 2,000 per neuron, or and backup support. We can take a idea of his for an invention, and we by as much as a trillion new connec­ lot of real or imagined hassles out of drifted off to wonder what life might tions in the entire brain. The old rats using the Steadicam. Our columns have been like in the past. Had we even lost weight and gave up smok­ on operating and advertising will been there, would we have been able ing. I sensed this experiment was make it easier for all of us to survive . to discover, like Copemicus, that the important for Steadicam operators, but In the next few months we'll earth revolved around the sun, or the phone was ringing. place more advertising in a wide could we have invented the toilet? At Jimmy Muro called to discuss variety of publications and perhaps set any point in history, could any group how to shorten and focus his draft of up a European phone number and of fairly intelligent folks who shared the human cablecam article (in this base camp. We need help from the ideas have come up with the technical issue). We decided that the exact members to accomplish this and other and philosophical innovations technical information (i.e. how to do goals. One possible service will be to necessary for the development of it) was of much less importance than buy advertising space wholesale in a mankind? Or was it only luck and how he and the others on the set were publication and resell the space, at a flashes of lonely insight that has able to get together and solve the great discount, to our members. changed the way we live and think problem . The solution wasn't Diane Bowersock, our secretary, is about the world? And what, if automatic, it didn 't just happen making it much easier and faster to anything, does the Steadicam Opera­ because the technology was there. administer the database, and that gives tors Association have to do with all The conditions on the set and the rela­ me and Garrett more time to promote this? I'll try to explain . tionships between Jimmy and the our craft. After my conversation with grips and others allowed them to It's my belief that this interaction Garrett , I fought the traffic jams, extend the repetoire of Steadicarn of concepts, stories, and techniques walked my dog, did the dishes, and shooting. Although no one was going will make us better and more success­ settled in for a quiet evening. But I to be in that exact situation again, we ful operators. At the very least, if had to return a call to Liz Ziegler. We felt that outlining some of the pitfalls human beings have brains with talked for awhile of other matters, and and concerns would be of great value. capabilities equal to those of rats, then we eventually got around to dis­ Progress was being made on putting there is hope for the industry. While cussing Seitz's new side-to-side plate. the December issue of the newsletter we leam the physics of trim, produc­ Liz, a serious machinist, wondered if together. ers and can be suc­ it had a little bit of play in the lead And then it sort of carne together. cessfully approached about our craft. screw. She felt some play was Operating a Steadicam is complex; We can change the way people think, helpful, because if a correction is it's part physical , technical, and as Ted Churchill so eloquently put it, made in one direction, one can feel in conceptual, but above all, it's a about "our god-damned job." the screw which way to tum it the business. What we can do for a next time to get the desired result. If picture still is new and largely Jerry Holway there is no play in the lead screw, one unknown to most of the film world. has to remember both what was done The "Steadicam Mystique" can work before and which rotational direction for us or against us. Almost every produced what result. It's a nifty day, there are questions, insights, tips, insight, perhaps one that could come and stories that come my way. It's only from a machinist. I immediately part of my job to make sure that the pulled out my rig. There was some flashes of our individual insight don't Deadline for Next Issue play in the screw and Liz's idea, of get lost, and mistakes in our thinking course, worked like a charm. I and practice get corrected. Without Please submit your articles and figured I'd get the idea into The Letter the right bracket or mod, we can 't photos by February 20, 1989. The somehow. even approach a shot. Garrett's and maximum size for photos is 8 inches Then I happened to watch a Arnold DiGuilio's articles on trim in wide by I I inches tall. segment of the PBS series , "The the last two issues shook us free of Mind." In an experiment, some aging previous dogma. Through the news­ rats who had spent their lives isolated letter, we can learn to improve our in featureless cages were suddenly technical understanding and our thrust into a complex physical and technique. But our Copernican-esque social environment. At first the rats Association (he was and we are Page 13

History continued from page 9 It seemed quite promising, Ad Dendum although it needed a bit of practice(!) I set out to make a final demo and had Now that you 've had time to a job lined up on which to try it - an digest my first column and your Arnold Palmer sweater commercial, to holiday dinners, here's some addi­ be shot on a golf course in Latrobe Pa. tional food for thought. One of my At the last minute, Palmer's manager agency's accounts- Wendy's Old notified us that he wouldn 't let Arnie Fashioned Hamburgers in central sign any kind of agreement-of­ Florida- utilizes a very good and secrecy, so we used a tripod for the simple system for establishing their shoot, and crept out onto the course advertising budget. It's one that you, again at twilight to shoot the last few as a fledgling advertiser, might do shots for the demo. I had a suspicion well to emulate. that the footage might be great, but Wendy's takes a fixed percentage my Lab account with Deluxe General of their sales and earmarks it, on an in New York was stopped two days ongoing basis, for advertising space/ later because of unpaid bills. I had an 1974: Garrett's final prototype with time and production. Why don't you appointment with DiGiulio , a plane arm and fiberoptic viewfinder do the same? It's a great way to ticket bought on credit, and no dough answer that very perplexing question, to process the film. I went to L.A. "How much should I spend on anyway, in the hope that Deluxe in advertising?" Hollywood had not yet been notified I Fast food companies traditionally was a deadbeat. I walked in to the lab Classifieds spend between two and five percent of only to find that they would not sales on advertising. Simply substi­ release either the negative or the print. tiue your income for sales and ­ Available: PAG fastchargers, for My clothes were threadbare, I hadn't because you are no doubt dealing with one, two or four Steadicam batteries. eaten for a week... (HOLD iT! - there considerably less than eight figures-­ Call Derrick at Whitehouse AV. is serious doubt about this part . lean toward the high end of the scale (213) 479-8313. Maybe my lab account wasn't closed. and got for five percent. Maybe I made this up in some Let's say you earned $75,000 last For sale: Steadicam Vest: Model I interview, but so what? It doesn't year. Your 1989 advertising budget with new padding and new velcro. matter - it's still plenty exciting!) should be about $3750 to $4000. Call Brad Olander. (619) 483-1348. Anyway , I don't want to cast doubts Now that you've determined your on any other parts of the story, so I'll budget, the next step in implementing Wanted: Used , Models I, check it out and report back. OK? To an effective advertising campaign is to II, or III's. For cash, trade, or con• be continued... decide which medium best reaches signment. Call Derrick at Whitehouse your prospective employers . It is Garrett Brown AV. (213) 479-8313. magazines, direct mail, or trade newspapers? Pick one ond concen­ ~ For sale: One historically significant ~ trate on it. A little bit of money will CP fastcharger, Model NCQC-12. go a longer way if it's targeted and Seitz maintained!! $2000. "repeated." You might do well to Call Ted Churchill, (212) 691-0536. concentrate your dollars during No Bluedots, please. specific times of the year as well, i.e., those months when film production is at its highest. So the key to advertising plan­ ning is "targeting." Pinpoint your prospects, concentrate on one ad­ verttising medium, and, as much as possible, spend your dollars during

v ' .' the months when you are traditionally \\i' \ 1' \ the busiest. 'r I ,,7" ~ My editor has just informed me t . \1 that r .: ;:! I'm out of space, so until next time, have a happy and prosperous Another mysterious drawing from New Year. And a well-planned 1972. Could this be a spring advertising campaign just might help. loaded hat for floating a camera on your head? Victor Sander Paleoscene "Pole Rig" Hominid unearthed in Pennsylvania bog Page 14

Buddycamversion 2.0, they took two weeks with the doors closed to do this. ~uick way to meet friends I felt John had been honest with me and me him, regarding the requirements from us as users of equipment and him as supplier manufacturer, and modifier. I was on the understanding that certain parts would be available to me later than I had hoped in regards to a film I was about to work on. This film would run ten weeks and I was encouraged to believe that two weeks into I would have the required parts. Here's a slightly different version of the Handlebar Rig, or "Buddycam" This letter is being written with which was developed at the Master's and highlighted in the last issue of two weeks of principal shooting left to the letter. be completed. During this time I have seen nothing of these parts, nor any Take some 3/4" Speed Rail and Rail. If you want to make your own, communication as to why they cut two 20 inch pieces and one 34 the pipe and fittings cost about haven't been available to me. The inch piece and connect them using $35.00. The 750 pipe hanger is response from my phone calls was two Modified Cross fittings to form around $50.00 new, but the electri­ that it always looks like something an open ended box. (The length of the cians almost always have a few lying will be ready next week! pipes is relatively unimportant; I used about. Setup time is about two The reason behind the letter is whatever was lying around). Then minutes. obvious. I would like it to be known take a "750" pipe hanger and tighten it You can use this gag with just to other Steadicam owners that yes, it to the center of the long piece of pipe one other person to hold up the left is happening to us over here. with the 5/8" stud pointing straight side, but it works much better when down. Take the long post out of your two people carry the rig and you Regards , Ian L. lones, J-bracket and then slip the J-bracket simply operate. It also gives the grips Bentleigh, Australia over the bottom of the 5/8" stud so a chance "to be part of the Steadicam that the short post points straight up. shot" - something that they mayor Lock the J-bracket at about a 45° may not appreciate. However, I tried November 14,1988 angle to the left of the stud and this out with my next door neighbor pointing towards the open end of the and he figured it out in thirty seconds, Here's a useful addition to the school rig. The Steadicam gimbal then slips so in a pinch you could just grab a figures discussed in the first issue. It over the short post of the J-bracket (as couple of extras. It works in High requires an assistant and some music. in "low-high mode"), and you're Mode or Low Mode, shoots forward Your assistant controls the music, ready to run, fast. or back and you may just set the Land while you are performing a long and The nice thing about this version Speed Record for "Quatra or Hexa­ difficult shot. Whenever the music is that it's made with materials that pedal Steadicam" with it. stops you must immediately remove are commonly available on most film both hands from the Steadicam. This sets. You can use any diameter Speed Rick Raphael tells you a great deal about trim and posture. The best shots for this are the ones with lots of side changes but not much Letters to the editor in the way of vertical movement or fast pans. The choices of music are open to more personal interpretation, 11th October, 1988 "Rambo" style film, so for me there but extra care should be taken when To the Steadicam Association: are plenty of Steadicam shots and I'm using angry spouses, up and coming very pleased with the fight sequences operators, or the "Mississippi A note to the association, I have we have shot so far. Halfstep ." recently acquired a MKIII with all the While in Philadelphia, when tricks, follow focus, etc, and I am Seitz was doing mods on the rig, the Best wishes, presently using it on a New World discussion turned to Seitz's supply Picture called "The Punisher." problem being that they took too long lohnBeck Everything is going okay with the rig, for modifications etc. John explained very pleased with the mods which to me that they were busy and needed have been done on it. The picture is a time to become restocked. I heard ~ cu t along dotted line or copy and return to The Letter Page 15 Planning the Ultimate 5 -----®

Some of you have been hanker­ want it ~(------~) forget it ing, wondering, dreaming of the A. Sled, physical: ultimate Steadicam: what could it look 1. Integral side-to-side plate for camera trim 0 o o o o like? Would it have an on-b oard computer to figure out dynamic trim? 2. Integral fore/aft plate for electronics and 0 o o o o Motorized side-to-side plates for co­ battery balance axial magazine weight shifts? Heated lumbar pads? Here's our chance to 3. Telescoping center post 0 o o o o tell CP what we, the peopl e most likely to buy and use the next genera­ 4. Built in adju stable sunshade for monitor 0 o o o o tion machine, really want. Which of the current Model III 5. Adju stable bubble just below monitor 0 o o o o features are essential, which are not? screen What gadgets/add-ons and mods should be part of the standard design? 6. Monitor pivot at monitor e.g . 0 o o o o Indicate your preferences on the followin g survey. 7. Multi-postion mon itor (Churchill's 0 o o o o A check in the far left box means "drop arm") that the Model IV must have this. A check in the second box means you're 8. Vernier adjustment on electronic bubble 0 o o o o strongly in favor of the modification; level adjustor a check in the middle means it might be nice as an option, the next box 9. Better rain and moisture protection 0 o o o o means you're not crazy about it, and a check in the far right box means you B. Electrical/Electronic: just don't want it and don't want to pay 1. Better RFI shielding 0 o o o o for it either. We'll tabulate the results and 2. More accessible fuses 0 o o o o send them to CP as well as publ ish them in the next issue of The Letter. 3. More commonly available fuses 0 o o o o Some of the items may need a little explanation. 4. Wiring to junction box inside post 0 o o o o # A 7: Ted Churchill' s drop arm pivots up and down from the center 5. Larger junction box with space for post and rotates upside down for low­ a. Slot s for motor amp on a circuit 0 o o o o mode. It also telescopes to allow board much greater positional control. b. Seitz-type amp to motor connec- 0 o o o o #B Sa: "Slots" here and else­ tors where refer to spaces for optional c. An extra 4 pin XLR connector 0 o o o o slide in circuit board s, similar to those found on computers. Dummy board s 6. Larger monitor screen 0 o o o o for connections could be utilized where nececessary or when opera tors draw eyelines or beginning/end frame ously by the gimbal. The unit doesn't already have "outboard" devices, such markers directly on the scree n. flop about when changing magazines, as Seitz's motor amp. #C 2: A set of easily attached checking the gate, setting the bubble #B 10, 11, and 12: There seems and remov ed bungee cord s can be level, etc., nor is an assistant required to be some interest in creating more used with the arm to increase or to hold the sled still when attaching graphics capability for the Steadicam. decrease the lifting power of the the camera, motors, and other Masks and extra framelines could be springs (depending on the points of accessories. Integral are two big used to hold spaces for elements to be attachment on the arm ), thus allowing hooks to keep your arm and vest out added later, such as tag lines in the arm to lift very heavy cameras of the dirt , a bracket for allen commercials, or to indicate headroom (BL IV's) or make the adju stable wrench es, and a 5/8" stud (which is as well as frame lines, multi-form at springs work better when using very smooth and non-binding) on which to shooting, etc. A lightpen or similar light film or video cameras. balance your rig. It also has adjust­ drawing device could be used to line #F 1: With Holway's docking able legs for non-level terrain, weighs up points on the screen in ultra-low stand, the Steadicam stands on a small about four pounds, and collapses to fit light or other critical situations, or to platform instead of hanging precari­ inside the sled case . Page 16

B. Electrical/Electronic, continued: want it ( ) forget it 7. Color monitor screen D D D IJ 0

8. Video "bars " generator D 0 D 0 0

9. Standard and overscan switch 0 0 0 0 0

10. Extra horizontal and vertical frame lines D 0 0 0 0

11. Transparent masking for "tag shots" D 0 D 0 0

12. Light pen or other drawing capability IJ 0 0 0 0

13. Redesign of electronics to save weight, power, space D 0 D 0 0

14. Built in slot or space for wireless receiver D 0 0 0 0

15. Built in slot or space for video transmitter D 0 0 0 0

16. Built in slot or space for small format VCR D D D 0 0

17. Isolated video inputs and outputs 0 0 0 0 0

a. I output to include frame lines but not bubble level D 0 0 0 0

18. Built in interfacing with major camera indicators D 0 D 0 0 (warning lights above monitor)

19. Eliminate electronic "target" and let electronic "bubble" float across by 0 0 0 0 0 itself (Target is confusing and unnecessary for indicating center) C. Arm:

1. Lighter arm (titanium/magnesium) D 0 0 0 0

2. Provision for add-on bungee cords to strengthen or weaken arm for heavy D 0 0 0 0 and light cameras. (set of four bungee cords included) D. Vest:

1. Redesign of pins and cones for quick release 0 0 0 0 0

2. Return to velcro (properly done) for quick release D 0 D 0 D

E. "EFP" Steadicam:

1. Should CP make an inexpensive Steadicam for EFPllight film cameras, D 0 0 0 0 with a solid-state screen and surgical rubber arm springs?

2. Would it be a good value at $15,000 US, if it included one channel of by- D 0 D 0 0 wire lens servo control (focus or iris) and remote video zoom control?

F. Other:

1. Would you rent a Lightweight Panaflex that ran on 12 volts? D 0 D 0 D

2. Lightweight fast charger, with battery rejuvenator circuits. 0 0 0 0 0

3. A lightweight docking stand (Holway's "no drop" design). D 0 D 0 0

4. Would you prefer a standard 2 inch center post? 0 0 0 0 0

PLEASE INDICATE YOUR PREFERENCES AND MAIL BACK TO STEADICAM OPERATORS ASSOCIATION 108 CHURCH STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19106