Darryl Richard Humber

Uusally the special effects guy has a steamer. It looks something like a vacuum cleaner that he uses to steam the mirror. I think they're made for steaming clothes.

This is slightly off topic, but I just did a movie with Oliver Stapleton where we used the new polarizing gels on all the windows. Once the window is gelled, you set your polarizer on the lens and it takes down the windows without affecting the quality or amount of light coming through. It was really cool to see but they were very expensive. The main problem was that the manufacturer forgot to mention that the gels have to be on the inside because if you gel the outside the window glass affects the polarizer and no one thought of it for one particular shot. Otherwise, they worked great.

[How easy is it to keep the crane itself level for shots? Could you use a c-stand or so to rest it on like some Jimmy Jibs I've seen? Or does it have to be held in place. Or should it be? By the way, Darryl, been an avid reader of your blog for a while! Even though I don't grip it's really interesting to read. Jon answered. Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy it!

I've used the 23 on a lot of features. It's a great arm. It's very intuitive and everything is color coded. If you can read and you have a basic knowledge of cranes you can do it. The caveat here is if someone you are working with or yourself is familiar with basic crane ettiquette, you can figure it out. The hardest thing about the 23 is that you have to keep the arm level to get all the pieces to fit. It's the easiest arm to build I have come across in years. Look for the "rear" piece, the "third" piece which are all marked, and if you have a grip crew who know how to operate cranes safely you will be fine.

Get in touch with a key grip named Sanjay at sanjaysami@hotmail.com. He is a great key grip in India with a lot of credits to his name. He can help.

I did a horseracing movie years ago and the trainers told us not to wear steel toed boots around the horses. Not because of amputation but because he said if a 2000 lb horse stomps your boot, the steel can collapse trapping you in the boot. True or not, I don't know but we didn't wear them after that story.

You can buy Aerocrane jibs. I've worked with a Dp and a key grip who both owned their own. It's a good arm, though a little tedious to put together.

I did a movie last Spring off Cape Ann, MA with a LOT of boat to boat on open ocean. We used a boat called a "flight deck" as a camera boat. It was very stable and powerful and we mounted a short Phoenix arm with a Libra (and sometimes a Scorpio) and did a lot of work at high speed (boat not camera) We also mounted a Scorpio on sticks for some of it. It seemed to work out very well. Whatever you do, make sure the guys driving the boats know what they're doing first of all. This is the most important. A good grip crew is also important. There are a few pictures of the boat we used with a longer arm in it on my site at dollygrip.blogspot.com.

Hi Robert, I answered your PM, I just wasn't sure you got it.

Crane ops are in the Grip Dept. Generally the Dolly Grip also operates the cranes.

Dolly grips do this shot every day. Be sure anytime you have a camera etc over anyone's head that you have someone who knows what they're doing operating it. Always safety everything. Don't forget track to take the arc out of the drop.

With the incentives that states are now giving (ct, Louisiana, Ma etc) more features are shooting almost entirely out of LA. I spent 6 months out of town last year (2 features that shot entirely in ct, and Shreveport, La) and am starting the year out in Boston for 10 weeks. At least three other dolly grips I know are also out of town for long shoots right now.

Robert's right. I forgot about the flat spots. I've been using the Portaglides so long it didn't even cross my mind. Also, as your guy pushes, try having him lock his upper body and be conscious of his steps, keeping constant pressure on the dolly as the weight is transferred. It seems like a simple thing but a lot of people don't think about it.

Most likely, it's either the track you are running on, or the guys pushing it need to learn to push it properly. I don't think a gear system is the answer. Dolly grips have been pushing dollies for 80 years and done just fine. There's more to pushing a dolly shot than just pushing it from 1 to 2.

Most grip departments keep a "camera ready double" which is just a double net, usually 12x12 , in pristine condition for just such a shot.

Yes it is (limiting), but it'll give him the one in the video ;) . There are a thousand ways to do it. Mine was predicated on the fact that in the video the moves are very precise in their start's and stops, he wants to be able to track also, the actor looks to be around 4-6 feet from lens. Robert opted to give him more versatility. I've done both ways and they both work. It's not that complicated a shot, no matter how you do it, and I think it was done on a lazy susan (the simplest way is usually the best). Now the guy has several ways to choose from (although I'm going to try to think of ten more. :P )

You might try getting a dolly with roundy-round steering and rig a platform off the front ( a Hustler 4 has seat recievers in the front board and you can rig a speedrail platform around it). You can ubangi the camera way from the actor and you should be able to get a good 4-5 feet away. Be sure you have enough counterbalance on the back of the dolly, although the Hustler weighs a good 425 lbs and the back end is where most of the weight is. Spin and go.

Just for fun you should see if these idiots will in return sign a contract that says if the show doesn't go feature or they don't hire you for it that you get paid the total amount you would have made. The w :lol: orld's first grip pay or play contract.

Hi Matt, Thanks for reading. I'm told that a NY Key Grip named Stan Nilson invented them and he's looking for a company to manufacture them. His website is nilsongear.com.

Hi Anton, If you've got experience it shouldn't be too hard although now there's a defacto strike for features as everyone is waiting to see what the actors are going to do strike wise. Getting into Local 80. which you'll want to do if you want to do decent budget work is not easy, but it's not impossible. You should be able to find enough work to pay the bills after putting your name around a little (non-union commercials and music videos) but a lot of features aren't going to start up after a certain date (end of March) til the actors have a deal. Traffic isn't a nightmare if you leave before a certain time (in my case 6:30 AM). If you have an 8 or 9AM call and set is 30 miles away, you might as well still leave at 6: 30 and take a little nap when you get there. I've never been late yet so it's not impossible.

Boston is covered by IA Local 481 Studio Mechanics. I know it's very busy there right now. I'm starting a movie there next month and I hear it's so busy they're having problems staffing up locally. If you type IATSE 481 into a search engine it'll show how to contact them.

And the first thing out of their mouth will be, "We don't have any money but..."

Generally, Key Grip and Gaffer are the same rate. Best Boy and Dolly Grip are also often the same, although some contracts (LA basic) have the Dolly Grip at a couple of dollars more (at scale). Generally, we negotiate a rate above scale so the dolly and best boy often end up being the same for a particular production. It's actually a good idea to keep an eye on what the other departments are making so you know how to negotiate. I know of jobs where the key found out the gaffer was making a little more (and vice versa) and renegotiated and got the same, higher rate.

"On the pin" means full spot.

I should mention, if you go with a hydraulic dolly like a peewee or Fisher, be sure you have someone experienced with it. An operator can be seriously injured just by someone turning the valve handle the wrong way unexpectedly, or not keeping an eye on the operator during a shot. Be safe and be careful.