For those who are familiar with Vivian Kubrick's fascinating documentary on "The Shining" that has appeared on the past two DVD versions of the movie, this is a wonderful clip that recreates behind the scenes of the classic film, including look-alikes for crew members seen in the documentary and picture-perfect copies of various sets from the film.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/03/channel4.kubrick

The story behind the clip is worth reading on that page, but the video is squeezed; a more accurate version of the clip can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG3DcCTKUdk&feature=related

that kind of shots make me put the rig on and go,
awesome work!

that kind of shots make me put the rig on and go,
awesome work!

I wonder if they did a Kubrick number of takes. From memory, I recall Garrett Brown saying they did 36 takes up that staircase.

Very cool Charles. The Shining is probably my favorite movie ever. The recreation of the sets and actors and such was well done. Seems that everytime I watch the clip I start noticing a little more leaning with the steadycam around corners and some slightly jerky moves. The ending sort of floats around a bit too. Do you agree or my hyper sensitivity to the shot in your opinion?

Well, all the things you mentioned are present in the shot, so I can't dispute that. The horizon issues are pretty classic--panning while making wide arcing turns with a rig presents a particular challenge to maintain level. I wouldn't want to be too harsh as it is a tough shot and many of the more delicate aspects of framing and timing were well met. Not knowing who operated this, I wouldn't want to be too judgmental about it but I know that if it had been my work, I would still concur with your findings.

It's a fine line when one is in the learning stages of Steadicam--I like to see new ops be constructively critical of their work but not overally harsh or quickly frustrated as it is such a long-term process. I'm the first person to see errors or sloppiness in my own work; there's almost always room for improvement somewhere.

I think part of the charm is that it looks like a Steadicam shot, especially since the connection is so well known by film buffs. Also, the film is important for the development of two handed operation as against the singled handed Steadicam operation.

I've had directors complain because there isn't that floaty effect, so you can't get too hung up - it's what what works for each shot. Although, I'm always happiest when it looks like a dolly.

Thanks Charles and Brian for giving my eyes some confirmation.

By no means would I suggest that this is poor work...on the contrary there is much that I like about the shot. It's examples like this that I love to study and learn from to better my own stabalizer proficiency.

I agree completely with the framing and timing of everything btw....it's pulled off very well and has a very behind the scenes 'live' look to it even though I would guess it was fully rehearsed several times.