Helping Hands from 2003

[Gerald Godbout]

Hey guys I'm shooting a music video here in miami. I'm curious if anyone has had any experience in shoooting with the Glidecam and is willing to help me with some shots. I can never get the damn thing balanced right.

[John Locke]

Gerald,

Go to a photo/video store and pick up a two-axis bubble level and attach it with velcro to the slide. I put mine just in front of the monitor. I've seen some recommendations to put one on the top of the unit as well.

That'll help you get started. Then make sure you have about a 2-count drop to the vertical axis when you drop the sled from about a 45° angle. Finally, make the spring arm rest at horizontal or slightly below the horizontal axis.

The most helpful thing for me, though, is to use the bubble level when I'm tweaking the fore and aft adjustment bolts in the top plate.

[Charles Papert]

John:

A bubble level in the side to side axis is a great idea, and standard practice to make sure that the horizon is level. For fore and aft, having the rig set perfectly level may be a hindrance. You can rough it in to eye at the beginning of the day, but ideally one trims it for a given shot to help maintain ideal headroom with a minimum of operator involvement. I would estimate that I trim fore and aft many dozens of times a day.

[John Locke]

Thanks, Charles.

I'm glad you corrected me on that because I've been wondering how you'd handle fine-tuning after the first balance of the day...with a Glidecam, that is. Before I head out, I'll put it on the C-stand and do all the balancing...but then if, during the day, I change lenses or go from standard to low mode then back to standard...the balance is off again. So how would you recommend quickly getting back in balance?

I've been wondering about that because I can't imagine people lugging the C-stand out with them. And if I mark the balance point on the Quick Release and try to match it up in the field, it still needs some tweaking to get proper balance...but that's hard to do without the C-stand. I used the two-direction bubble level to help me guesstimate it better...but invariably it's off a bit. How would you recommend?

And when you say you trim fore and aft many dozens of times a day...do you mean compensating with the guiding hand, or actually setting the balance?

[Takeshi Fukushima]

Hi,
I know this is sort of a rush, but ...
Am looking for a [equiped] light person during the period for a shoot of a making video for a new product, for a electronic maker. We will be shooting 24Pa on the DVX-100 and will be shooting interviews and meetings.
Please get back to me with which equipment you have and a estimate of the term as well.
Thanks in advance,
Takeshi Fukushima
Camera/Edit
Evolution Cafe

[Charles Papert]

Hi John.

I'm not an expert on Glidecam, having only tried them on at tradeshows. I had to look at the website to understand what mechanism is specifically used for the adjustments to the camera stage. I'm honestly a bit shocked that it appears (correct me if I'm wrong) that you have to use an allen wrench in two places to adjust the fore-and-aft...? Oh boy. No wonder you're not adjusting the balance during the day!

OK, so as far as lugging a C-Stand around, obviously that's a pain; but we do always move the dock around with us, it's never more than a few feet away unless the shot is a 360 degree (and then you have someone take it away and bring it back after cut). I use an American brand Steadicam stand, it's like a heavy duty light stand with castors that make it easy to move around the set. Others use a Magliner cart with a baby spud welded to one end, which lets them move cases as well as the rig at the same time.

The rig should--should!--allow you to make tweaks in fore-and-aft and side-to-side while wearing it. If it is true that you have to loosen the two screws to adjust fore and aft, I would recommend replacing those with thumbscrew-equipped screws (or getting the plastic wing-nut style cap mounts that pressure fit into the hex head). You need to be able to reach over and adjust this easily, with the rig on or off the body. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the Glidecams are that much less expensive than the Tiffen Steadicams--every Tiffen rig, down to the lowly JR, allows you to adjust the trim while flying, tool-free (this is not necessarily an endorsement for Tiffen).

Anyway, regardless of the rig, it is critical to be able to adjust the balance throughout the day as I indicated. It takes so little for a rig to be knocked out of fine balance, especially with a lightweight DV setup. You need to regularly consult your bubble for side-to-side to make sure that your horizons are consistent, and adjust as needed; and as I alluded to earlier, the fore-and-aft adjustment is actually based on the needs of the shot. If you are following a 6'2" person and you are 5'7", obviously you will need to maintain a certain amount of tilt to keep proper headroom. When you line up the shot with the appropriate distance to the subject, you trim the fore-and-aft so that the rig settles into a natural balance with that headroom. That way you don't have to exert any force to maintain the shot you want, which will result in a smoother move. A radical version of this would be if you had to maintain a 45% tilt down, say if you were following someone's feet. Adjusting the tilt so that it stays at 45% makes the shot a lot easier. Now, if that shot tilts back up to their face, then you need to pick which part of the shot lasts the longest and set the tilt for that part.

So, yes, I am adjusting fore-and-aft physically, many times a day. If you have the opportunity to watch a Steadicam operator on a feature set, you will see a little flurry of fingerwork every time the rig comes off the dock before a take, sometimes right up to the slate or beyond (I've made adjustments even as "action" is being called, knowing there is a dead second or two before the shot becomes good).

Of course, this is facilitated by rigs that are designed to allow this and cost accordingly (Tiffen's high end rig has a motorized stage so that you can actually trim DURING the shot via radio control buttons on the gimbal!). Nevertheless, the concept of trimming before each shot is still valid on any rig, you just have to allow time for it.

Hope this helps...

[Alan Burney]

Hello to you ...Currently based on Nantucket Island MA.. Doing wedding videos...and Local TV.....Originally From England...
with experience of shooting most of London and its occupents
...Would love to get some experience in NY.....I own a XL1S..plus
have all the right sound equipment.......For more info you can mail me at alanjohnburney@hotmail.com.....Or checkout our site
Nantucketeventmedia.com....all the best

[John Locke]

Thanks, Charles!

I was wondering about that. So, Steadicams are setup so that balance during the day is much easier. That figures.

With Glidecam, it is a pain to try to deal with the two allen bolts, and really the only way to do it easily and accurately is to take the unit off. Now that I know that it's common practice to lug the C-stand around, I'll have to start doing that. I need to buy a burro, I think. The Magliner cart sounds interesting. Right now, I don't even have a case. So I transport it by hand and backpack. No way can I manage a C-stand too unless I get more organized.

You've got a great idea though...<<thumbscrew-equipped screws (or getting the plastic wing-nut style cap mounts that pressure fit into the hex head)>>...I'll be looking into that. Glidecam...are you listening?

[Charles Papert]

John,

With a light setup such as the V16 and an XL1, I think you would be OK with a mid-duty light stand that can easily be compacted and strapped to your backpack. I'm thinking of the Avenger AVG-A630B, which weighs 5 lbs and will support 20lbs.

I remember you were saying how beat up you were after your initial Lady X shoot--now I get it, you were literally wearing the rig all day!! Putting the thing down between takes is crucial, both mentally and physically. It becomes more obvious when you are flying 75 lbs, but it's deceptive with a light setup as well.

[John Locke]

Yep...lugged it around all day without taking it off, except for one brief handheld shot. But I've since learned to at least disconnect the sled and set it on the ground when I can.

The Avenger AVG-A630B looks good...good price, too. Sold! Also, I'll look for the plastic wing-nuts you mentioned. The combination of those two things should make life quite a bit easier.

So when is your DVD coming out? I'm sure there's tons of tips like this you could pass on. Put my name on the order list. (any chance you can add a brief "Glidecam" section for things specific to those users?)

[Charles Papert]

The DVD project is buried deep in my "must get to" pile. And I MUST get to it. I'm planning on keeping it non-rig specific though, which will aid in marketing it through many manufacturers rather than a few.

I should mention that I've not used that Avenger stand specifically, the one thing to be concerned about is the side torque from hanging the rig off the docking bracket, so I would recommend a trial before purchase to make sure the stand doesn't bend...although I used to use an aluminum Beefy Baby stand years ago, and it bent a bit but never broke.

Having a stand on wheels is the BEST, but this would be a start, right?

[Alex Knappenberger]

Hey, i'm wondering if anyone here is from my area (northeast ohio) and is a "professional" photographer, and would be willing to take some nice (kind of scary, but just generally good looking, but dark) photos of this local band, for the cover of their CD? They've had it recorded and done forever now, but they are lazy and the cover art is whats holding them back, and apparently they took some pictures of each other for the cover or something, but I imagine they are terrible since it's just them snapping shots of each other, probably with just ambient lighting or the flash or whatever, so they are probably bad and not suited.

If they let me do it, I plan on borrowing someones 35mm SLR and setuping up my 750w lowel tota light, and maybe some work lights, at some location (probably like a brick wall or something) and have them all pose and just take some shots, and photoshop them to look cool, airbrush them, and all that crap, and I was just wondering if anyone around here is more suited and would be willing to do it for cheap, or possible even free, i'm sure they would buy film and all that crap.

[Mark Moore]

You should definitely try to do it yourself, Alex. Beg or borrow a good camera, or use a crappy one (especially if you are pretty decent in photoshop), because your name will appear on their liner notes forever for the cover art! Plus the experience would be real good. You can shoot it for deferred payment, meaning if they make money or make it big, then you get paid - handsomely!

Go for it. Don't less any opportunity pass you by!

[K. Forman]

What happened to this site? It's already dead.

[Corey MacGregor]

I was just curious if anybody knows if it's easy to get a job in editing/videography/motion graphics in Taipei. My girlfriend might be teaching English over there and I wanted to know if i'll be able to find work. I only speak English, I'm not sure if that matters or not. Thanks in advance!

Corey