Brad Grimmett

I'm jumping into this super late, but I just wanted to comment on the conversation involving handles. I, like Nico, prefer to hold on to the mattebox. I never use handles. I find holding the mattebox makes me feel much more connected to the camera. It's more responsive and easier to control that way. Of course, having the camera in good balance is a must. I will often have the assistants add a second onboard battery in order to add weight to the back of the camera. A light weight camera is great, but a well balanced camera is much more important, even if it adds weight. Also, good kneepads are an absolute must! There have been so many situations where I need to get lower and I can just drop to my knee, or knees, at full speed. Without kneepads, that's not happening. There was even a shot a couple years ago where I went from running full speed to dropping to my knees and sliding into an over. My kneepads are probably the most important piece of gear I have for handheld.

Please change your user name to your real first and last name. It's a rule on the forum.

It balances fine with the deck on the back, which is the only way I've ever done handheld with it. I'm sure you can figure out something without the deck, but I've never done it that way. I personally don't like handlebars or any of that gack. I generally just hang onto the mattebox and rods with most cameras.

I'll add that ALL steadicam operators will feel the same way.

The Glidecam, or any Steadicam, is not a good idea for car interiors.

Oh jeez. Be careful! He might take that seriously and actually quote 75 pounds.

Nicely done Greg. It's interesting to see Bay's operating compared to the other operators. I think I spotted Mike Watson banging a slate at one point. Do my eyes deceive me?

I'm not an assistant, never have been, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I think one of the most important things a 2nd AC can do is 'go with the flow'. If your 1st likes something done in a non-standard way and there is no harm in it, then do it. If an operator or DP has little quirks with how they do things, just roll with it. Of course, if someone is doing something that puts you in harms way or is dangerous to someone else then you should speak up, but in general that won't be the case. The best thing a 2nd can do is fit in and make everyone else's jobs a little easier. There are very few times a 2nd really needs to take a stand about anything. Learn as much as you can from the people you work with and use common sense and you should be fine.

If you're looking for the standard joke-a-minute bad television, then Louie isn't for you. It's VERY different and original, and certainly not for everyone. There are very few jokes in the show, with the exception of the standup scenes, and I'd hesitate to actually call the show a comedy, especially this season. It's so original that it's hard to label, and I think that's a great thing. It's about life. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's sad, and sometimes it's very contemplative and quiet. It's very artful in my opinion. It's kind of ironic that it's gotten so much press and praise this season since this is clearly the most esoteric season. The first two seasons were much more commercial and comical. The cinematography is very loose and fits the content of the show very nicely. Side note: Louie was tweeting and asking people where to find a specific Ultra Prime earlier this year, which I found very DIY and funny. Just tell your producer to find it! I agree with you James that Archer is funny. Fart jokes, binge drinking, and sexual harassment can be hilarious, but to compare it to Louie is pointless, that would be like comparing Transformers to There Will Be Blood.

The One is much better for handheld. I've done the same thing with the Epic regarding adding weight. The Epic menu is better, but if you're operating off of the eyepiece it's a total pain to go into the menus because you have to disconnect the eyepiece and connect the touchscreen monitor to make any changes, and the touchscreen doesn't always work very well. Forget the Redmote. It's a piece of junk.

Nice to read such great info from Neal and Charles. I was learning to operate a gear head about ten years ago, and ever since then it's become harder and harder to convince production to let me have one. They are definitely more fun, and it's still a much needed skill as more and more remote heads show up on sets.

Haha! Phil, you crack me up. Victor, you should try to talk to some other steadicam operators in your area and see what they are charging so you can have some base of knowledge. Ideally, you'd know rates based on experience, but since you don't you should try to gather as much information as you can about the project and the going rates in your area before agreeing to anything. Check out the Steadicam forum and try to find some helpful info there.

I have to disagree with this. As an operator I think of myself as having two direct bosses, the director and the DP. Sure, on some projects the director doesn't give much input to the operators, but on most projects they give plenty of input directly to operators. It really depends on the director and how visual they are and how specific they are about composition, lens size and camera movement. I worked on two projects (one feature, one pilot) in the last year where the director and I talked about shots much more than the DP and I did. Every project is different.

We just had one on a movie I just finished and we used it a lot. We had the 45-250. What a horrible range! 45mm just isn't wide enough for a zoom in my opinion unless it's something like a 45-90 that's a compact zoom. It's a big lens, so it should be wider than 45mm on the wide end. Other than that it's a nice lens. It seemed brand new so we may have been the first to use that particular lens.

The TV Logic is the new standard it seems. I just finished a film where we had two and now I'm on another movie with two of them. The assistants seem to like them.