<<If it were that easy, wouldn't everyone have one?>>

Maybe...if it cost the same as a tripod!

Incidentally, there's a new game in the bigtime Steadicam world called the Revolution. An NDA prevents me from explaining how it does it, but I can say what it does: you can flip the rig from high mode to low mode and the camera stays level the whole time. Fly it sideways (horizontal post) and the camera can glide over objects. It AUTOMATICALLY controls the roll horizon. That's right, no matter what you do, the camera itself stays level. It's a big deal, the first major advancement in the nature of Steadicam since its invention thirty years ago. And it costs about $40K and is optomized for a new rig which costs $30K, so for many operators it means a whopping $70K investment in addition to the gear they already own...

Don't expect this technology to trickle down to the prosumer level any time soon, however!

I was thinking, I could just strap a couple of 15k rpm hard drives on 3 axis of my Magiqcam and it would be stablized nicely...


I used to joke to people that I had so many hard drives in my computer that I could kick it on it's side and it wouldstand right back up... . :)

Seriously, it sounds like a gyroscopic stabilized steadicam. I knew it was just a matter of time before Wescam or someone got into the steadicam market.

Am I close? :)

Charles. Can you talk about the size of the Revolution? Does it make wearing the Steadicam rig look even more profound than it already does? That's all we need is more staring. When will it be available to view?

thanks for all the tips. as important as the shoot sounds, its a free labour/ my practice kinda gig. so I don't think my friend would be too bothered if it gets wobbly. hehe.

I know I have to clock the miles to get good results. I will put in hard work !!! (and not forsake the tripod at this gig , just yet)

Charles P : would this amazing advancement make dolies obsolete then ? hehe.

I still can't figure out how they did the Alien POV floating sequence in Alien 3... spydercam ?

... and was the steadicam operator on a helicopter all the way and seamlessly got down to the groundlevel and walked into the house, in the opening sequence of the US 'The Birdcage' ?

Oh so many questions!!! Here we go:

James: the Revolution does add a bit of heft to the rig, but not radically. So far it has been shown to a select few operators but will be "exposed" to the industry at large within a month or so.

Wesley: the racing around in the hallways of Alien 3 was Steadicam--I never got a good answer on how , when inverted, it got CLOSER to the ceiling rather than lower to the ground. I'll bring that up with the gang on the Steadicam forum, see what shakes out.

The Birdcage was an early example of digital compositing; the initial shot was a standard helicopter shot that "morphed" into a Steadicam riding down a crane and into the front door of the nightclub; the image of the inside of the nightclub was yet another Steadicam shot (this time shot on stage) by a different operator! So it was three shots combined in one. If you look at it critically, it's pretty easy to see the first transition as the people on the street essentially dissolve in a rather clunky fashion. The second transition is a bit more subtle, but you can still see some weird registration as the camera approaches the doors. Not bad for its time, but hardly impressive in this day and age (gee, all of, what, eight years later??)

Wow thanks for the insight.

I'm assuming the opening shot for the Thomas Crowne Affair was done very similarly but really looked like one seemless shot. It started as a shot of the entire eastern coast, if not the continent, and came all the way down to street level.

Can't remember that one.

For me, the opening of "Boogie Nights" is the shot to beat.

oh yeah. steadicam on a crane and down to and inside the disco? or was it compositing again ?

That and De Palma's Carlito's way sequence, captured me the most.

I had to watch it 3 times. If it was 1 shot, it must have been a back breaker.......

The opening Boogie Nights really was one shot, no tricks. Great stuff.

I remain in awe of the Carlito's way sequence in Grand Central. Brilliant shot design on that one.

Maybe I will put up my own personal "back breaker"--a fast moving three minute one'r from the movie "Big Fat Liar".

4 weeks til shipping !!!

*faint*

Will master my DVX til then, I guess.



so when can we see the 'Big Fat Seqeunce' ? Does it invole Paul Giamatti ?

Sure does...here's that shot. (http://homepage.mac.com/chupap/BigFatLiar/iMovieTheater21.html).

Paul Giamatti was a lot of fun to work with; great guy. It turned out that we had several mutual friends from his college days.

We did the shot on a really hot day and it was the first time I've had to ask for a ten-minute "cool down" time in between takes. The length of the backing-up portion coupled with the walking speed plus a few obstacles (backing off curbs etc). conspired to leave me a bit breathless after the 4th take or so (what you are seeing was the 8th and final take). The shot was continuous until the end; there was a reverse of the studio head that was cut in but the master continued all the way through.

This shot was apparently transferred off the workprint, so it wasn't color timed and thus somewhat dark in places.

I referred to this as a 3 minute shot in my previous post--it turns out to be closer to 3.5 minutes. Sure seemed like about 11 at the time!

Damn! Charles. I really envy you but not really, if you get my drift?!. You guys have the best of both world. You get to meet all the stars and work your magic with the steadicam, all that at the same time. But that weight baby! My back would have crashed out on me ;)

Sure wish I had the back-mounted vest back then!

For the record: that was with a Panavision LWII, Primo lens (don't remember the focal length, but it looks like a 29mm to me) and Preston FI&Z with focus and iris motors working, on the PRO 1 sled with PRO arm and vest. Approximate weight of rig, 65-70 lbs.

wow, what a great read from all of you. I just spend about 45 mintues reading through this thread.

I too was looking into purchasing something of this nature. I liked all the positive and honest reviews given by you guys! Charles, I do have to say nice work in those films!! Bravo!

Also are there any books out there that will help master the art of the steadycam shot? I'd love to read.


Just to comment on the lower back positioning and stress this product gives; I'm a bodybuilder on the side so I don't believe this will create much of a problem for me, never know tho. However, for those of you that are having some pain in your lower back make sure that you are properly stretching out your lower region prior to yoru shooting. Also you may want to look into doing several exercises that will help with your strength and mobility on set.

I suggest doing some "good mornings" which is an exercise performed by slightly bendign you knees and bending over at the waist keeping your back straight. Stopping at a 90 degree angle and coming back up to a standing position. You obviously want to do this with weight on your shoulders, similiar to that of a squat.

Also another exercise that is a little easier and less stressful on the lower back is broom twists. You simply sit down on a bench or chair, which ever you're comfortable with and place a broom stick or of the like (not too heavy) and turn at the waist to each side really stretching and working your obliques.

Also you may want to note that nothing says a strong lower back like a strong ab region. Work your abs as well to develop over all strength in your midsection for the best endurance and performance on your shoots.

oh, and is this a good link to purchase this product? : www.magiqcam.com

I'm assuming it is :)

Thanks again guys for the positive feed back and good insight on the shots as well. :)

What is the price of the rig? I can't seem find any info on their website.

Also, where are they located?

The footage is incredble!

thanks in advance.

The series one is 1450 and the series two is 1650. If you surf around the Magiqcam site you'll find the info. You can always call them too. I ordered one a few days ago and can't wait to get it.

its cheaper to order through ebay and the package offered usually come with a case.
mark, how is your testing coming along? do you have to adjust the sled lenght to the maximum to get get the balance with dv500 and how many np1 battery do you use at one time?

ed

I've never seen one on Ebay

I've got a question about attaching a monitor with an anton bauer battery to the Magiqcam. I was thinking about getting that new Panasonic 7" monitor that everyone's talking about. The battery converter that Panasonic sells with it, makes it so the battery attaches to the back. That's not how you'd want to do it with a steadicam right? I'm sure you'd want to mount the battery to the opposite side.

Here's what I don't understand: How do you power a monitor with an anton bauer battery without buying that attachment? Also, do they sell special mounts for mounting your battery to a steadicam? I don't need a monitor yet, but I'm thinking about getting an XL2... in which case, I'll want a monitor.

<<<-- Originally posted by Ed Liew : its cheaper to order through ebay and the package offered usually come with a case.
mark, how is your testing coming along? do you have to adjust the sled lenght to the maximum to get get the balance with dv500 and how many np1 battery do you use at one time?

ed -->>>

Or you can ask them in the mail about extending their ebay offer to you as well.

tony,
my advice to you is that you give john the anton gold mount measurement. magiqcam universal battery holder only fit np1 battery casing. i've got a workshop to help me make a larger plate so that the anton mount can be fitted onto the universal mount. while waiting for the plate to be ready, i cann't fly my camera on it. i'm using the panasonic agdvc200 camcorder.

ed

Ok, I don't have an Anton Bauer, so I could look into getting one of those NP-1 batteries instead. Can I power the Panasonic LCD monitor with an NP-1 battery and if so, how? Is there a webpage with a FAQ or tutorial on this? Sorry for the Sesame Street question... I'm sure this is common knowledge, but I'm sorta new at this.

tony,
if i'm not mistaken, it has a canon 4 pin 12v input at the back.

ed

Let me ask a more basic question:

how do you power an LCD monitor with a large battery like an NP-1. I'd prefer to use a large battery because it would help balance my Magiqcam.

Sheesh. still waiting for my magiqcam...

so before I go mad, I will post yet another amazing steadicam scene/film.

In fact the whole film in a take !



Yes you've guessed it, the Russian bore-train Russia Ark. Its such a landamark that I HAVE to own it on DVD (sooner, than later) since I feel asleep at the cinema coz I don't really know the history of Mother Russia.

lol.


Super backbreaker !!! (did they use firestore or someother harddisk solution on that Sony ? ~ Anyone ? Charles. P ?)

They used a custom hard drive rack that was wheeled around behind the operator at some distance. There are articles about in online that I read a while back, a search might turn up the details.

I have a copy of the movie courtesy of our good friend Rob Lohman sitting on my shelf, waiting to be viewed. From what I've heard, it's an interesting achievement, beautiful in places, a bit ponderous in others. There is a reason that cutting was invented...!

Still haven't watched it eh <g>

Yes it is a good thing not every movie is done this way. But I
think it kinda fits that particular movie. It is quite a "european"
movie and definitely not something mainstream. There is a small
making of on the disc as well. The behind the scenes does talk
about how they accomplished it all. You'll be quite amazed at
how many people where both working behind the camera to get
it all done and how many people actually acted in the movie.

Now go watch it Charles!

p.s. I'm still waiting for the picture with you and the DVD
thanking me for your life changing experience..... <g>

sheesh. looks like I'll never get my magiqcam in time for mini-celeb friend's wedding this sunday, let alone practices for a flowing sequence throughout.

...

Well, I did watch "Russian Ark" and I pretty much stand by what I had heard about it:

<< it's an interesting achievement, beautiful in places, a bit ponderous in others.>>>

Yes, yes and yes.

There have been a few films shot this year that have used the same concept that I have heard about. One is a thriller that involves three houses on the same street (all one take); another has multiple 16-minute shots that are blended together (a la Hitchcock's "Rope") that was shot on Super 16mm. Neither have been released yet.

Wesley, I'm sorry to hear that your order is delayed. That's a drag.

Well nobody's fault really.
thanks for listening, Charles P and the other members ?

Indeed I fell asleep because 'Ark' was lingering around. But guess it has braggging rights now. Read somewhere the 3rd take turned out to be the charm and they had only 1 day to shoot it in the Musuem of Russian history. Plus they built one exactly on a soundstage for a howle year's rehearsal or something.

yeah. I really need to collect all those hitchkock movies to revist them.

houses on the same street ? reminds me of halloween.

I think it was the 4th take; yes, they only had one day to shoot but as far as building a replica on a soundstage...!! That would be some soundstage!! And then why not just shoot it there under controlled conditions? The rehersals and walkthroughs that are shown on the DVD are all at the Hermitage itself. I believe they did some camcorder rehearsals, and some partial ones with the full-blown Steadicam, but never the whole enchilada with all the extras.

What monitor do you guys recommend for the Magiqcam? I'm about to order a series IIa and I'm not certain on which monitor to get. I use a DVX100a.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Well I ordered the cheaper Varizoom monitor, only to leave it late to tell John that I have a PAL version of DVX100A . so now it's up to him to put a replacement there somewhere.

I dunno but I've heard good things about the panny 7" , you may want to try that out. panny should work best with panny accesories , no ?

Geez. it's been more than 4 weeks. No sign of my magiqcam or its Fed-ex number.

No reply from John either.

Sheesh. should I freak out now ? I sent him 2 e-mails already.

Same here. I ordered mine on July 15. I emailed them and have yet to get a response. I guess I should just give them a call.

Tony

Well, you're lucky. At least you are in USA. Its gonna be a different timezone and lotsa IDDs for me to call in the wee hours on my morning here.

I'm sure that they're just backed up. I'll call them here in the next few days and let you know what they say.

Cheers, buddy !

It took about 6-7 weeks to receive my maqicam when I ordered it. I think it may have taken longer but the person ahead of me in line cancelled his due to medical problems. I would allow 8 weeks before you get worried.

i only got mine 11 weeks and now, i'm waiting for john to reply my support problem (almost 2 weeks now) :(

ed

They must be on vacation, because I left a message early this morning and didn't hear from them all day.

John emailed me yesterday (Wednesday 8-18)

I've placed my order. We'll give the MagiqCam a try, after using a Steadicam jr since it came out, this might help my right arm a bit.

Tim

I finally got a reply. John is a saint.

... but still no sight of my magiqcam...

When did you order it?

How do I do to enter into the Magiqcam site?

You need a name and password just to go into the filmwareproducts site.

Can anyone provide me one or how do I get and see more about the Magiqcam?


Carlos

This is a bit off but for those that have bought the magiqcam should tell John to update is website to show the new improvements he has made on the vest and whatever he has done. I think by him showing off the new modes on the vest or rig might boost his sale even further. Just a tip.

<<<-- Originally posted by Charles King : This is a bit off but for those that have bought the magiqcam should tell John to update is website to show the new improvements he has made on the vest and whatever he has done. I think by him showing off the new modes on the vest or rig might boost his sale even further. Just a tip. -->>>


Is that why the entrance to the site is locked?


Carlos