Jump to content

Long night ext. steadicam shot - on celluloid...


Recommended Posts

  • Premium Member
2 minutes ago, Satsuki Murashige said:

The whole shoot sounds like a shit-show, frankly. None of the Local 80 grips knew how to build the jib arm? Hard to believe, really.

I mean so many shows are this way when you've got 60 setups in 2 days and the "star" is someone super famous and you're basically beholden to them. They're not technical and they point to things and you kinda do? I mean had I known that going in, maybe I wouldn't have gone? I know the DP on that show was blamed for a lot of problems that were not our departments fault, it was all the "star" not communicating what they wanted. I know the DP well and they will never work with those people again. Personally, I didn't have a problem really, I had fun and enjoyed running around solving problems all day long. The DP wanted to run some shots and I was like, go for it, more power to ya. 

Oh the guys knew how to assemble it, but that's about all they knew. Getting it balanced on the dolly, getting the camera mount setup. Even using it, how to turn it and raise it up and down to get a good shot, lost... totally lost. On the 2nd day, they nearly ran my camera into a wall with the jib arm, I ran over to warn him when they were moving it because it was damn close, but it just brushed one of the video cables. Man that was too close for comfort. 

I get very nervous about my camera on shows like that... it's one thing to be in my hands, it's another seeing it 20ft in the air on a crane arm circling the room and wondering "is that single 3/4" screw going to hold up". Well of course it is.. doesn't make me less nervous lol

Ohh and I haven't had a shoot quite like that one since. Things have been pretty sane over the last year. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
13 hours ago, Satsuki Murashige said:

The whole shoot sounds like a shit-show, frankly. None of the Local 80 grips knew how to build the jib arm? Hard to believe, really.

But Sat, it’s one of the more popular Tyler plot lines, just requires a slight suspension of disbelief. Usually a variation on “professional crew struggles to understand situation, Tyler steps forward to save the day”. Often involves fairly common things that inexplicably can’t be worked out by seasoned pros until Tyler shows them how it’s done. I liked this version, he threw in the “super famous star” rationale to explain it, which was a nice touch if not entirely logical.

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
8 minutes ago, Dom Jaeger said:

But Sat, it’s one of the more popular Tyler plot lines, just requires a slight suspension of disbelief. Usually a variation on “professional crew struggles to understand situation, Tyler steps forward to save the day”. Often involves fairly common things that inexplicably can’t be worked out by seasoned pros until Tyler shows them how it’s done. I liked this version, he threw in the “super famous star” rationale to explain it, which was a nice touch if not entirely logical.

?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Tyler, I’m just very confused by all of these professional crew members you work with who seem to be completely incompetent at their jobs.  

 ACs who don’t know how to set up Sony cameras and let cameras fall over in the wind;

Dolly Grips who don’t know how to run a dolly without it falling off the tracks;

Grips who let stands fall over and don’t know how their own equipment works;

Jib Operators who are unable to keep their cameras from bashing into walls. 

Personally, I have never encountered crew like this, outside of student films and no-budget music videos...

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
2 hours ago, Satsuki Murashige said:

Tyler, I’m just very confused by all of these professional crew members you work with who seem to be completely incompetent at their jobs.  

Heck if I know. I don't really get to work with top crews. Day rate is more important than level of competence on most of the stuff I've worked on, even the higher pay stuff with lots of money. I mean you'd think on a half million dollar commercial or music video, they'd have great crew right? 

I mean if you're 90% good at your job, that's pretty competent to me. I for sure wouldn't call them "incompetent" because a gust of wind suddenly came by or they couldn't figure out how to assemble something they had not assembled before. Mistakes happen on set, it's the way of life. I for sure wouldn't throw someone under the bus because they made a few mistakes when trying to make their day. Incompetent to me is someone who is hired for the job, who simply can't do the job at all. I personally have only seen that on student or no/low shows with young crew who are just starting out. I go out a lot with my package to help guide youngsters so they don't make mistakes on set. Generally outside of those shows, most of the people I've worked with have been very talented and super competent. A few examples here and there from a career that spans what, going on 30 years, is ok. 

Honestly Satsuki, I just thought of a few more instances that make me gag, from one of the features I did. But it was ultra-low, so I get it ya know? I'm sure you've been on set and rolled your eyes at something another department does. Yea... well, sadly that was me, working with the director as a co-producer and watching the DP. I learned a lot of what not to do on that film lol 

 

Edited by Tyler Purcell
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...