First time with steadicam, advice!?

Andrew Brinkhaus

Andrew Brinkhaus

Veteran
Hey everyone. Next week I am DP'ing a short which we are shooting (independently) at one of the large soundstages at school here at Full Sail. I will be cam op'ing as well. The short is sort of a mix between doc style and a tv fashion. A good example of the visuals would be "The Office." Our school owns several steadicams...One of which I will be using for the majority of the shoot. (17th-19th) What kind of things should I look out for, as this will be my first use of a rig. BTW- I am shooting on the Panny SDX900. Thanks!
 
Invision,
A bit of bad news for you...

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Unfortunaly nothing will come of your shots. This is a fact. You should hire an experienced operator.

Steadicam is something that takes a long time (years) of devotion and practice to become good. It takes a week at a workshop and then a couple of monthes to become proficiant - much longer without a workshop.

Your very first time you will have several issues:
- Before you even fly, without any training chances are that just balacing the rig can take a long time (hours), and even then there are some personal balance settings that take a few days to get perfected.
- You will be tired very quickly. You have a muscle in your lower back that is used only when operating Steadicam or when pregnant. Unless you've recently been pregnant, that musle is completly undeveloped, and will tire out almost right away.
- Without any training, you won't know how to walk properly, and there is some risk that you will fall. When that happens, it goes fast and gear breaks expensivly and quickly. Have an assistnat help you by beeing behind you with his hands on your vest ready to help you instantly if something begins to go wrong.
- Once you do begin to fly, the rig will be very unyeidly and prety much all over the place. The shots won't have any shake or shudder, but you will find it very hard to keep the camera pointed on target. And once you actually move, the camera will go out of control any time you start, stop, change direction, change speed, etc..
- Don't forget you will need a very good 1st AC to pull focus on Steadicam using a wireless FF system (presumably there is one available)

What rig are you planning on using?
For an SDX900, I'm figuring it's going to be a mid range to larger rig. (I'm not talking the light and relativly painless Flyer here)

Ok, lets say you do want to try operating. Get yourself in the rig as fast as possible. I mean like tommorrow. If at all possible, get an experienced operator help you - at least your first time. If your school has several units, someone there probabaly knows how to use them. Or then look up another operator in the area. Start with this list for FL: http://www.steadicam-ops.com/database/soaListName.php?recordID=Florida If they have time, Operators are often happy to help somone try on a system & get started.
While waiting to get the rig on, read all the information you can. A good place to start is with the manuals here: http://www.steadicam-ops.com/soamanual.shtml Knowledge is power.

If you put in a solid week of nothing but practice, starting with some guideance, your shoot might not be a total disaster and you might even be able to get some OK usable footage.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be a downer, just giving you a realistic warning while you have time to consider your stratergy.

- Mikko
 
Hey thanks Mikko, great info and thanks for the helpful links. I will try to get a hold of an operator for the shoot if possible, if not I will see what happens. Thanks for the words of wisdom!
 
Mikko's right, I've shot with STEADICAM+great operator many times, you need someone with experience. When I tried on the rig it shocked the hell out of me. You do have the option of leaving the lens long without an FF. Depends on what you want. Best of luck and remember good operators NEED paying. :)
 
mikkowilson is spot on the money. I shot a music video 2 years ago with SDX900 for which we also rent a steadicam -- the shots were crap, i could roll for only a few seconds at a time -- the center of gravity is so much forward. Not worth the effort. I'm the kind of guy who would jump into anything and try it so see if it's doable. But trust me here you need a steadicam operator.
 
I can't believe your school would let you operate a steadi cam without prior instruction. At my school you have to take an entire steadi cam course before you are authorized to operate it.
 
Hey check out www.2nd-unit.tv we did an interview with the D.P. from "The Office" no Steadicam it was just a "pooty scooter". Check out the interview to find out what I'm talking about!! Click on the past episodes tab!!
(EDIT) I forgot check out the "Birns And Sawyer" interview also. We had Peter Abraham a stedicam guru.
 
Elvis said:
Hey check out www.2nd-unit.tv [...] check out the "Birns And Sawyer" interview also. We had Peter Abraham a stedicam guru.
Click to expand...
Great interview :thumbsup:

Peter is the guy who teaches the 2-day Flyer workshops I rave about. A great guy, a great operator, and a great teacher.

One minor inacuracy: The first movie to use Steadicam was Bound For Glory (1976) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074235/]
Followed by such notable films as Marathon Man (1976) and of course Rocky (1976), long before the fantastic work in The Shining (1980), done with the "Model II" Steadicam.

- Mikko
 
invision also you have to be in shape when i first started with stedicam like 10 years ago i thought this is going to be cool my first time in the rig i wanted to die. i shoot stedicam 3 days a week and run 15 miles in the morning on the off days to keep in shape. good luck
 
Mikko good catch! I pointed that out to our editor, I guess he forgot to change that. Glad you liked the interview.
 
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