Euromasters Reports I and II Glasnost Surprises
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NEWS FOR OPERA TORS AND OWNERS Volume 2 Number 3 Jan 1990 ac?iU~ n Glasnost • I Surprises In November 1989, while visiting Moscow on a fi lm distribution deal, Ian Woolston-Smith arranged to meet cameramen whenever he could. Armed with a translator, a Sony GV-9 TVIVCR , and a book of Steadicam production stills, Ian discussed the virtues ofSteadieam with Vertical I and Vertical II plans from Mosfilm . -Do not duplicate! everyone he met in thefilm industry. EuroMasters Reports I and II "Equipment such as this is only a dream in the Soviet Union," said a cameraman who shot major Soviet 1989 European Masters Nicola Pecorini writes fr om Italy; music videos. conducted at Castle Brolio European Steadicam Operators At Mosfilm, a government studio Association proposed in Moscow, I received a camera ---- ---- -- - - demonstration by the man in charge of In October, 25 of Europe's best camera equipmen t. When I pulled out assembled near Siena and spent a Siena, 12/31/89 a still of a IIe in low mode, his eyes rewardi ng time studying and collec Strange but true, we made it! lit up. "Ahhh! Steadicam! " Yuri , my tively advancing the art and scie nce of We have been able to put together tour guide, expressed to him my Steadicam. The cameraderie, the for one week, a whol e week, 25 of the interest and then told me, "He says weath er, the food and the wine were busiest men on earth. Eu ropean and that we have this, a Steadicam, and all excellent. Castle Brolio, particu American operators were cloistered will arran ge a meeting between you larly in the fall when the great stone inside a medieval cas tle in the heart of and the man who does this." walls retain the heat of summer, Chianti, drinki ng wine and dissectin g Alas, it wasn't until my last day in offered a friendly and fasci nating every possible aspect of their profes Russia that the meet ing could be atmo sphere, and the portraits of 11th sion . planned, and then it almo st didn 't century Ricasolis and Medicis looked Ten countries were represented: happen. Snow, no taxis, and no quizzically down at our medieval Italy, Belgium, France, Sweden, translators all conspired to cancel the lookin g appliances . Holland , Spain , Switzerland , West meeting. Somehow, at the last All of us were domiciled in the Ger many, Austria, and the USA. All moment, I found a taxi and skidded seve ral residential wings of the castle, sorts of "levels" and experience were and slipped acro ss town to Mosfilrn. and breakfast and lunch were taken in represented, even in the equipment. There I waited and waited in a dim the great room, which otherwise All sorts of nuts , bolts, home-made room where all vis itors must awai t served as the ping pong arena. mods , video crap, and mechanical acceptance into the studio. I used a Dinners were served in the Baron's porn ography got integrated with the 1940s style pay phone to cont act a restaurant at the bottom of the hill. XVI century furniture and paintings of translator I had used earlier. My Interestingly, security, usually a Brolio castle. Even the Broli o version guide, Yuri, was able to come and drama for these workshops, was a of the "Slavecam" had a medieval help me with all the paperwork to ge t breeze at the castle. There is only one touch! me inside. One of the ladies in charge Masters continued on page 3 Nicola continued on page 7 Glasnost continued on page 4 For a free VHS videotape about SteadiMag & other new Steadicam gear, please fax or write to llS Oil your company letterhead. Introducing SteadiMag: The compromises are over. SteadiMaggoes far beyond Both threading & throat Cinema Products introduces the this. In addition to the extended cavities areconveniently accessible new Steadilvlagr for Arri 3 & 2C throat, sleekly-styled SteadiMag is - even in the loading bag. So cameras. The 400' capacity nearly 2 lbs. lighter than modified threading is quicker & easier. SteadiMag is ideal for Steadicarne Arri mags! SteadiMag is also great for use. Steadicam operators will hand-held work. The profile of an For over ten years, Cinema appreciate the new positive latch Arri 3 equipped with SteadiMag Products offered an Arri Mag modi single door configuration. offers optimum on-the-shoulder fication which extended the maga Cinema Products balance. zine's throat, providingvertical dis C:: O R F'O AA T I ON For information about placement of the film and allowing 3211 So. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles , CA 90016 SteadiMag & Steadicam gear, give enough clearance for Steadicam Ph: 213-836-7991 Fax: 213-836-9512 us a call. Ask for Chuck Jackson or work. 1-800-955-5025 Manfred Klemme. Page 3 the Gre ats of the movie world. May (heav y-duty) geared head . A Aid a Pavoni , who proves that you grip then can keep the head level as don't have to be a nerd to be an the terrain varies and reduce the strain electronics whiz, chaired a seminar on on the operator' s "arm"-hand . the innards of Steadicam, and inciden We showed the latest gadge ts, tally made dozens of mods and repairs videotaps, the Sony Diversity TV durin g his two-day visit. Rec eiver, and various low-bud get I organized a session to commu low-mode cages, hard mounts, flex nicate the wishes of the European lens -gea rs, and the new oil-filled community to Cinema Products bubble levels that I had desi gned for regarding spare parts , local represen the Steadicam JR (for camcorders) If.) tation , etc. [ also presented an which CP will shortly make available Mike Tiverios of Sweden (born in amateurish version of Allen Krantz' for all SOA members. The bubbles Chicago) famous "Music and the Art of respond much slower, more in keeping with the pendular period of .... Steadicam" seminar which, surpris Masters continued from page 1 ingly, provoked near-violence the Steadicam, and as a result don't between thos e who agreed with our jump side-to-side because of the entrance, guard ed by a remote premise and those who thought it was lateral acce lerations of ordin ary controlled portculli s, and no one gets complete rubbish! I also organ ized walking moves. in or out without scrutiny from the top several seminars on trim , tricks and We showed and used the produ c of the 40 foot high , 20 foot thick backups and gadgets. tion prototype of the "Buddycarn " walls. which is now available from Quay We worked on techn ique s and Race Cars in Pottstown, PA. (Call Ed equipment and just generally "shot the Quay at (2 15) 326-8050 or fax him at fat" as the Europeans now have (215) 970-11 26; cost: $200 US.) learned to say. A number of seminars It work s extremely well as a and lectures were presented, including means to get lower or higher lens the follo wing: height s than would be possibl e with Tass Michos discussed the just the arm, i.e., in low-mode. reward s and pitfall s of the combined "Buddy-cam" (we must think of a new A-operator/Stead icam-operator job. nam e for the damn thing) is also an He also ran an impromptu arm excellent backup in case your arm repairs -in-the-field discussion breaks; most shots can be managed illustrated with a bravura "battlefield Carlos Cabeceran cable replacement" demo on Nicola Pecorini's broken arm. It's done by "Trim" provided a chance for the immobil izing the springs with a assembled masters to review our latest mumm ywrap of gaffers tape and then understanding of the physics of letting off the tension to slack the Steadi cam, and incidentally resulted cables. in a new operating trick, reported Nicola chaired a meeting which elsewhere in this issue. produced a resolution to organize a Similarly, "Shot Tricks and European branch of the Steadicam Backups" brought the Europeans up Operators Association . Henry to-date on our discoveries of the last Chroszick i has volunteered space and few years, including an interestin g secretarial help in Milan , and the way to keep a hard vehicle-mount rig prospects for a pan-European phone in balance when the terrain is wildly Buddycam in Siena number and database service-by-fax off-l evel. It was suggested that the are being investigated. I indicated hardmount be set atop a Worrall or with the help of a good dolly grip. As that some financial arrangement could with a numb er of items at this be made to split the membership particular work shop, there was initial revenues, in order to help with the "Euro-skepticism " and then a lot of local expenses and produce a Euro enthusiasm for this simple gadget. insert for the Letter. We will report on All skepticism, of course, was the progress of this idea in the next ju stified for "Slavecam." We built issue. one out of local hardwoods, which Nicola also is the living master of must have weighed two hund red kilos "politics" on the set, and he described without opera tor and Steadicam! the lessons learned with Storaro and Everyone had a go and was carri ed Bertolucci and the delicate territory alon g, shooting with a four mete r lens between hum ility and arrogan ce that height around our elaborate twelve must be negotiat ed when workin g for Aida Pavoni unwinds the spaghetti Masters continued on page 10 Page 4 .