A little Steadicam nostalgia

CharlesPapert

CharlesPapert

Director of Photography
I've spent the last couple of weeks shooting "The Mindy Project" while regular DP Marco Fargnoli is directing an episode, which has been great fun. The excellent A camera/Steadicam operator is Nick Franco who is an old friend. The other day while he was at craft service I thought I'd throw his vest on for a laugh...much to my surprise it fit me well enough and before long I found myself wearing the whole rig. My first time putting on a full-size Steadicam in a few years (I moved up in 2010). It was an interesting experience to get back in there for a few minutes! Despite appearances here, Nick was plenty amused.

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In light of this pic I dug up some moldy oldies from my 25 years flying the contraption around, thought I'd share.

My attempt at a homemade rig, 1984:
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Model 1 Steadicam, had been using from a rental house for 5 yrs and finally purchased in 1990:
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Model 3 Steadicam, NKOTB video (New Kids on the Block comeback), 1995
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PRO rig, Office Space, 1997
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Modified PRO rig, Fired Up, 2009 (with Genesis camera)
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Thanks for sharing. Pretty cool to see! What was your first exposure to steadicam, and what made you want to build your own?
 
Dan_ETP said:
Thanks for sharing. Pretty cool to see! What was your first exposure to steadicam, and what made you want to build your own?
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I first read about it in regards to "The Shining" and tried to find out more, but living in Boston I didn't have much direct access to anything relating to the film industry. It must be quite bizarre for anyone under a certain age to imagine not having the internet to service one's curiousity....! This being the early 80's and Steadicam still being quite an exotic beast, it wasn't until I discovered American Cinematographer that I finally saw pictures. By the time I got to NYU I was completely obsessed with learning more and I sought out one of the top New York operators and tagged along with him on a number of features including "Ghostbusters". I decided to quit film school to devote my energy into becoming a Steadicam operator, and knowing that it would be years before I could afford one (at that time there were no knockoffs, competitors or smaller rigs), I went about building my own. It was a noble effort but didn't work all that well (the gimbal was a ball-joint and the friction was fierce) so I re-focused my energies on saving up to buy a legit rig. Took me anther five years, and it was old and beat up, but it got me started.
 
That's wild! And that was incredibly awesome that that operator had you tag along! What made you decide to leave school? Was it one of those 'there is no doubt' decisions, or was it more difficult?
 
Honestly, leaving school was a no-brainer for me. Being on those big sets was the last straw--I knew what I wanted to do and it didn't involve textbooks or lecture halls. Also I was acutely aware of the burden of student loans and how that would impact my ability to be able to buy a Steadicam. In retrospect, the only regret I had was not having those years to forge working relationships that could have carried on well into my career, as I've seen be the case many times.
 
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I'm positive you meant to say "forge" there instead of forget. If not, don't worry, there will be plenty of forgetting later. . .
 
Yes...nothing quite touches a large set...the dynamic collaboration and how like a well oiled machine the business works...I came from an Art Department background, but it's pretty tough to beat that first opportunity...a foot in the door in this industry, can be a truly lifechanging experience!...I've also appreciated the footage you posted of your friend who operated steadicam on Shame and many other projects...his name slips my memory, but when I see work like that, gimbal footage just does not cut it for me!...though no doubt they too will get mastered....
 
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