Slippery Footing, but fairly stable footage...

[James Hooey]

I am finally posting some Glidecam 4000/smooth shooter footage, for fun, for critisism, to share....hey why not?

http://www.vimeo.com/860996

Since this video was taken I have done more practice and a 4 hour shoot with the rig at a music concert. I will post some of that footage for comparison as soon as I get back to my edit system.

In the meantime, have a look and can you guess which shot is the running one without reading the Vimeo video information first?

James Hooey

[Timothy D. Allen]

The clip is set to private it looks like. :-P

[James Hooey]

private is now turned off.....

Sorry about that.

[Charles Papert]

Pretty locale James!

Glad you are enjoying your setup.

Just a note to you and others who opt to run with their body-mounted rigs--PLEASE use a spotter, someone nimble and strong who can run behind you and keep a hand tucked into the top rear of the vest in case you stumble. Once you tip forward wearing the rig, it will shoot out and then it becomes very hard to keep from crashing, risking both metal and flesh. Your spotter can thus yank you back, allowing you to catch your balance.

Also, never run at what you feel is 100% of your available speed while wearing the rig. Always hold back just a little as you may need a little burst to avoid calamity, such as above.

And furthermore, it's smart to walk your desired route first and check for potholes and divots in the ground, etc.

I know this all sounds like a downer but having crashed full-size rigs a few times over the years, I can tell you that it's pretty scary. Thankfully I've never hurt myself but it can be expensive (you guys DO have insurance for your equipment, right...?!)

Wanna see a near-crash that would likely have sent me to the hospital, had it not been thwarted just in time? And it was all because I had no idea how fast a particular actor was going to move so I got stuck side-stepping, then caught my foot on a flagstone (there's that thing about checking your terrain). Fortunately a grip was right there and he blocked me from going down onto a picket fence. It's an ungainly bit of footage, but then again, all crashes are ungainly...

http://www.nbc.com/Raines/video/#mea=65611
about :30 from the end.

[James Hooey]

Charles,

Many thanks for your words and wisdom! Very true that a spotter can and is a valuable help when working with any rig. I fear far more for my gear than my own person but certainly either being harmed would be a painful experience. In all honesty I did not have a spotter for any of the shots in that particular quick test video. In particular the running bit was my most concerning part, but even the snowy uneven ground was a bit worrisome at times.

Looking at your clip your rig really looks like it could have pulled you down quite quickly and hard. The initial trip doesn't look as bad as the inertia that the rig pulls on you just after the trip.

My rig is not as heavy as what you were flying but I could guess that it may have a bit of pull to it as well.

Rest assured that I have been considering a dedicated spotter for several things that I will be shooting in the future. The caveat there is also that I am a one man band in my production company up here in the little old land of the Bruce Pennisula. I think I would have to go about 350km to find another videographer up here :) Doesn't stop me from trying though!

All the best,

James Hooey