Should I invest in a glidecam or dolly/jib set up?

[Ryan Elder]

I would actually prefer to hire a separate steadicam operator but I can never find one. I tried posting adds, but the only responses I get are from DPs who are not steadicam operators.

The only steadicam operator I know is that guy who really wants to shoot in 60 fps all the time. I might be able to talk him down.

However, when I worked with him in the past, and told the DP, I was getting a steadicam operator, the DP, was insulted, and did not like me bringing on a separate steadicam operator, and I think the DP felt like I was trying to take away something from him.

Would most DPs feel this was and feel kind of disrespected if I hired them as DP but then told them that if we need a steadicam, that I am bringing on a separate steadicam operator?

[Todd Terry]

No they would not.

Do you think Roger Deakins is his own Steadicam operator? Nope, not in a million years.

It is quite common practice (actually usual practice) for the Steadicam operator to be a different, specialized, and specific crew member.

Go out and get one if you want (and again, mine’s for sale!), but don’t be fooled by how easy it looks, especially if you are starting from zero. It doesn’t take “practice” it takes “training” and fair bit of it to get decent. With a fair bit of hard work one can get reasonable results, but not right out of the box. And it literally takes years to really master it. Inventor Garrett Brown himself has said there are only about a half dozen Steadicam operators that he would call “real crackerjacks.” I think he was exaggerating as there are quite a few great ones, but it is something that falls into the “harder than it looks” arena.

I myself have been a Steadicam operator for 20+ years and have owned five rigs through the years (including one that I personally sold to George Lucas… but that’s a different story)… and I’d still only put myself in the “pretty decent” to “fairly good” neighborhood. Because I don’t do it full time, I’ll never really be a master.

I’d hire one and concentrate on the directing. Not many directors will do their own Steadicamming (well, except Robert Rodriguez, but he always does everything himself).

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Ryan Elder]

Okay thanks, it’s probably best to hire one like you said. But where do I find them, since none responded to my adds not just for this shoot, but for past shoots as well.

And even though I went to film school, no students I know where interested in becoming steadicam operators particularly. So where do you find them?

[Todd Terry]

https://www.steadicam-ops.com

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Ryan Elder]

Okay thanks! Also, I know Roger Deakins wouldn’t steadicam himself, but I feel that since I’m not in Hollywood and just making a microbudget horror, I have to do the best I can with what I have, and that might mean asking the DP if he/she is okay with taking on additional camera duties, rather than having a crew at his/her disposable. Is that okay, of me to ask that?

When I worked as a PSM I was also asked to be the boom op at the same time, to save on crew. So I did it and had no problem with it, but is that okay for me to ask someone to do that?

[Ryan Elder]

If I cannot find a steadicam operator, another method would be to get a dolly instead and get a telephoto lens that is capable of zooming past 50 feet of track, so the tracks will not be in the shot.

However, when shooting shots of actors running on a telephoto, they look like they are running much slower, while following them on the dolly. The telephoto has a slower look so would audiences think this is weird, or would the accept it as natural, as they see it, perhaps?

[Blaise Douros]

DJI Ronin and golf cart. Seriously!

[Ryan Elder]

Golf cart? How am I suppose to transport around a golf cart? They are too big to fit in any of our cars so how would I get it to the location?

[Todd Terry]

You rent it on location and have it delivered…. and picked up when you are done.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Ryan Elder]

Okay thanks. The DJI Ronin is quite high of a price range than what I was looking for. What if I got the Zhiyun crane gimbal instead, would that look just as good?