My vote is for Pete McAdams, for his breakthrough work in The Perfect Storm.

I don't think a lot of people know that many second unit dolly
grips. Heh. I vote for the guy that did Matrix 1 dolly work.

This should be a worst second unit dolly grip list, I always seem to find their work to be sub-par. Course, I haven't seen the Perfect Storm...

You, Robert. Thumbs up to ya.

Robert, I think your sarcasm may be lost on some people.... but I appreciate it! :-)

2nd Unit Dolly Grip
My vote goes for the guy on Vista Valley PTA. One of my top 20 favorite movies.

So, Boyd...what you're really saying is that these people need to get a grip?

Well, not in the spirit of the first thread but at least specific to the subject matter: I was fortunate to visit the set of "The Perfect Storm" as they were shooting next door to "The West Wing" where I was sequestered at the time. Curiousity and a wee crush on the cute redhead camera loader on the show led me over there on a regular basis. The stages were jaw-dropping, in particular the one with the water tank and full-scale Andrea Gail ship mounted on a gimbal that could hoisted and turned every which way. The entire stage was painted blue. 1st Unit would work for 12 hours, then 2nd Unit would take over for the next, so that stage hummed around the clock. OK, I never met the dolly grip, but that sure was a hard-working crew. It might be worth mentioning that the dolly grip is the lead man on a crane when they are used, and there was a lot of Technocrane with the Libra head (gyro-stabilized remote head) in use in that film, so I'm pretty sure Pete McAdams can take credit for specific moves on-screen!

Of course I know this post was meant in jest. These days, I'm finding the effects credits to be the ones that go on endlessly, and there's all kinds of arcane and obscure titles handed out to animators of different stripes.

That's 2 votes for Pete! Keep 'em coming!

Chas, while you were hitting on the camera crew on Stage 19, did you get to see the wind machines, water canons, and dump tanks in operation? If I recall correctly, they took some hours to refill, and all that water had to be purchased at a premium. The enormity of the whole operation must have been quite a sight to behold.

I saw some behind the scenes on the DVD. Massive is the only
word I can use to describe that. Lots of water too.

Pete has definately earned his time in the spotlight, and I don't mean to take away from that, but I just wanted to say that Robert's first post was hilarious. Now, please return to Pete.

I feel like finding out Pete's email address--I wonder if he'd be flattered by this!

I saw the dump tanks but not in operation, sadly. Really an impressive operation. Too bad the movie wasn't that great.

Well, it managed good critical reception, and the studio was pleased with it (it beat The Patriot at the box office on their opening weekend, after Mel Gibson had turned down the lead role in The Perfect Storm, giving Wolfgang Petersen imaginable satisfaction). It might be as good a movie as could have been adapted from the source material...

Another TOTEM anecdote from that time: I was hanging out on the lot on night chatting to other West Wing crew when a lady with a little girl clutching her hand approached me and asked directions to the commissary, which I then gave her & sent her on her way. A few minutes later, the conversation turned to "The Perfect Storm" which had just started shooting in those adjoining stages. Someone asked who was in the movie, and various names came up: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg etc. When Diane Lane was mentioned, I said "Boy, she's pretty--wouldn't mind meeting her!". The guy next to me said, "well, you just did". Guess I wasn't really paying attention when I gave her those directions...!

LOL. Did you hear her joke on Letterman, wherein she stepped out of her trailer on her last film and thought it a bad omen when the words "Fire Lane" were painted on the street?

Keep 'em coming. Those anecdotes are great! The only anecdotes
I have his a horse almost ruining my Lady X *and* my car and
to shoot a well known darts player where the footage was never
used. Oh well...

Charles! You met Diane Lane! Ah...the agony...

I've had a crush on her since "A Little Romance" was released.

Apparently she has a thing for thigh-high leather boots. Double agony...

John:

Please tell me that you were not much older than her when "A Little Romance" came out--otherwise, y'know!

It was "Streets of Fire" for me, I think. I remember thinking "can a girl be THAT pretty?"

LOL... no, I only saw "A Little Romance" just last week. ;)

Actually, I'm a little over three years older than Diane... so think of it as a Senior/Sophomore crush.

That works!

DIANE LANE

The Outsiders and STREETS OF FIRE

Sigh.................................................