CharlesPapert
Director of Photography
This week marked the 25th anniversary of the passing of legendary Steadicam operator Ted Churchill. In rememberance, I digitized a pile of old negatives to share with the Steadicam community and thought some here might appreciate as well.
Ted was a documentary cameraman who was one of the early intrepids to embrace the possibilities of the Steadicam in the late 70's. He quickly made a name for himself on the east coast due to his finely honed eye and artistic sensibilities. He was also a brilliant marketer, using full-size ads inside the front cover of American Cinematographer to promote his services, which no individual had done before.
Fall of '83 found me sitting in a phone booth in my NYU dorm clutching one of those ads and trying to get up the nerve to cold-call Ted to ask if I could meet him. To my surprise and delight he extended a warm invitation to come to set at the Public Library in midtown the next morning. I was hugely star-struck to be able to watch him do his thing amongst all the Panavision cameras and lights and crew...was somewhat less starstruck watching Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis act in the midst of all this but still pretty cool (I'm sure I don't have to spell out what film that was)!
Subsequent to this I struck up a friendship/mentorship with Ted and did many more set visits. While preparing a promotional brochure he asked me to bring a camera along. He ended up using a couple of these stills in his brochure, which was a massive thrill for me. A few of the pictures I printed at the time but most I left on the contact sheets, being young and proud and thus rejecting anything with missed focus or motion blur (shooting 35mm at Grand Central on manual lenses, wide open and slow shutter speed was no joke)! So when I decided to scan these to post for the Steadicam community, I was seeing many of these for the first time. As with all vintage images, the interest is often around the edges of the frame. What has changed, what has stayed the same? I'm struck by the simplicity of the cameras and builds, especially the Panaglide seen in the later shots which was so streamlined. And the glimpses of Ted's unique style...no issues with flinging his vest onto the sidewalk while his hightops are neatly stowed on the lens cart with his name carefully lettered in imitation Panavision font.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_6a8THCJ4OOyFsyqq-XXmn94n5LXgAKK?usp=sharing
For those looking to dive a little deeper, Ted made this very funny video right around this time and it has remained a must-watch for all Steadicam operators to this day. A one of a kind character. He is deeply missed.
https://vimeo.com/215639845
Ted was a documentary cameraman who was one of the early intrepids to embrace the possibilities of the Steadicam in the late 70's. He quickly made a name for himself on the east coast due to his finely honed eye and artistic sensibilities. He was also a brilliant marketer, using full-size ads inside the front cover of American Cinematographer to promote his services, which no individual had done before.
Fall of '83 found me sitting in a phone booth in my NYU dorm clutching one of those ads and trying to get up the nerve to cold-call Ted to ask if I could meet him. To my surprise and delight he extended a warm invitation to come to set at the Public Library in midtown the next morning. I was hugely star-struck to be able to watch him do his thing amongst all the Panavision cameras and lights and crew...was somewhat less starstruck watching Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis act in the midst of all this but still pretty cool (I'm sure I don't have to spell out what film that was)!
Subsequent to this I struck up a friendship/mentorship with Ted and did many more set visits. While preparing a promotional brochure he asked me to bring a camera along. He ended up using a couple of these stills in his brochure, which was a massive thrill for me. A few of the pictures I printed at the time but most I left on the contact sheets, being young and proud and thus rejecting anything with missed focus or motion blur (shooting 35mm at Grand Central on manual lenses, wide open and slow shutter speed was no joke)! So when I decided to scan these to post for the Steadicam community, I was seeing many of these for the first time. As with all vintage images, the interest is often around the edges of the frame. What has changed, what has stayed the same? I'm struck by the simplicity of the cameras and builds, especially the Panaglide seen in the later shots which was so streamlined. And the glimpses of Ted's unique style...no issues with flinging his vest onto the sidewalk while his hightops are neatly stowed on the lens cart with his name carefully lettered in imitation Panavision font.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_6a8THCJ4OOyFsyqq-XXmn94n5LXgAKK?usp=sharing
For those looking to dive a little deeper, Ted made this very funny video right around this time and it has remained a must-watch for all Steadicam operators to this day. A one of a kind character. He is deeply missed.
https://vimeo.com/215639845
