Pulp Fiction steadicam

[Rob Lohman]

My Pulp Fiction DVD arrived a couple of days ago and I saw the
movie twice (had seen it before). Last time with the commentary
subtitles on. They used some heavy steadicam shots in that one.
One was over 2,5 minutes long. The steadicam shot when butch
rans over the field to his house raised two things:

1. how did they get through the fence with the whole steadicam
rig?

2. there seems to be a little bit wobbling left-to-right on the field
that follows. Was the rig not balanced properly?

[Charles Papert]

Rob:

If I remember correctly, the fence was peeled back just before the operator went through with his body.

I would have to see the shot again to properly evaluate the "wobble" you refer to, but it may have been due to wind or fatigue or any number of factors. There are quite a few "operator error" Steadicam shots out there, I've certainly contributed a few! Sometimes it's a take that was used for performance reasons even though there were better ones for camera. If you watch films from the late seventies through the late eighties, there's a certain amount of mediocre operating aka "wobbling" present, since the skill was less developed at that time and operators were overall more green.

[Rob Lohman]

Hmmm... that would make sense. Thanks!