Jul 27

Jul 27 Shooting a Whole Movie on Steadicam!

I recently had the opportunity to DP my first full feature. The Sci Fi-Horror-Thriller will come out later this year and is set to be titled “Dead of Night.” Now, I’m no newbie to the world of video production. In my 10+ years working in various genres, I’ve worked on Live TV (Sports, Events, Concerts), Documentaries, Commercials, TV Mini Series and a whole slew of Reality TV Shows. What has eluded me, though, has been the narrative world, features and episodic. I worked on Goldenworks Entertainment’s last feature “Masquerade Mixup” as a First AC then Camera Operator and 1st Unit DP, which was a fantastic experience, but Dead of Night is my first chance to really put my fingerprints on a film.

Having working on Masquerade together, Co-Directors Brandon Ho, Michael Merrell and I already had a strong relationship, which helped tremendously. I have plenty of confidence in my skills as an operator and DP, but there are always nerves and butterflies coming into new challenges. If you listen to any established DP or Op out there, the common thread is that they’re nervous going into a new job. But I believe the moment I stop feeling nerves is the moment it’s time to move on to something else.

Anyways, the pieces all seemed to fall into place. Their script was fantastic, my schedule lined up great, amazing actors we worked with previously were available. Everything pointed towards this feature making sense for all of us. An interesting element came into play, however. In January I went down to LA to take a Steadicam Workshop from the Steadicam Operator’s Association. I had kicked around the idea of picking up Steadicam for years, but the pieces never lined up. This was a chance for me to learn from legends of the industry (Dave Chameides, Jerry Holway, Rey Reyes and the man himself Garrett Brown to name just a few) This changed my perspective on the industry. I didn’t feel rudderless anymore. I found a community passionate about the industry I love so much and it lit a fire under me. So much so that I came back committed to find a way to become a Steadicam Operator myself.

Well, in an insanely down year, I found a way to put money down on my first Steadicam, an Axis. I chatted with Brandon and, as we discussed the movement philosophy of Dead of Night, I mentioned that I would like to put in some Steadicam shots if it arrived in time. Little did I know I just locked myself into one of the craziest experiences of my career: SHOOTING AN ENTIRE MOVIE ON STEADICAM! Because, as luck would have it, my kit arrived 2 days before our prep day. Big gulp. Here we go.

Now, I fully expected to use the Steadicam for a few shots here and there, namely some more ambitious walking shots that carried us some distance through our house. Besides that it would be a balanced mix of dolly and tripod shots. On day one, though, that went out the window. One change over from sled to dolly quickly revealed that with our limited crew and time, that was going to be way too slow and we’d never get our film done in time. So I committed. And my awesome First AC, Alex Steiner committed to pulling for Steadicam. Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that Brandon, Michael, Rob and the rest of our cast and crew put total trust in me. I should remind you, I got the sled 2 DAYS BEFORE! Thank you all so much for the trust! And we made it happen!

So, let’s talk the Pros and Cons of shooting a feature almost exclusively on Steadicam.

PRO - It let me move REALLY FAST. I could walk through, light and block a scene and immediately strap on the sled. No laying dolly track. No plotting out tripod positions. And not time consuming adjustments if for some reason our blocking didn’t work out. Also, assuming I lit the scene correctly, minimal time resetting for other angles. We just talked adjustments take to take and off we went. In our case this meant we could get through an INSANE page count every day and hit our schedule with little to no overtime.

CON - It could take away some of the intention of movement. One of my philosophies as DP is that just because you CAN move doesn’t mean you SHOULD. The fact that I wasn’t confined to track or tripod did cause me to treat some camera placements a little less intentionally than I would have otherwise. This showed me that on future films I want to have intention and motivation for where I put the camera and why/when I move it, whether on Steadi, Dolly or otherwise. I will say that I think Brandon, Michael and I were very cognizant of this, especially as the shoot went on. And I think that, although the temptation to throw intention out the window was there, we checked each other quite well and maintained the feel we were going for.

PRO - Our film has a definite look and language because of the feeling steadicam offers. I love the sense of movement that comes with the tool. Like Garrett says, Steadicam is the closest thing to what our eyes see. We get to live in Dylan and Pepper’s (our protagonists) world. An uncertain but Real world full of realistic hopes, dreams and fears, but unsettled by a constant movement. And I contribute this partly to my inexperience with Steadicam. I’ve been operating for near a decade, so I understand camera movement, but there’s a certain dance with the Steadicam that as a newer Steadicam Operator, I’m still learning the intricacies of. There’s a bit of a frenetic nature to Dead of Night because I’m still learning that dance and wasn’t necessarily as stable as I will be. It’s interesting to think that this specific look of this specific film will only happen once. It gives a life and energy and flawed character that I think works very well with the story.

CON - I wish we had the time to vary the language a bit. I think certain settings and story points would have benefitted from a steadier shot to change the tone and feel and add to the arc. But, as mentioned, time and budget did not permit. And again to our credit I think we did a good job in blocking, lighting and operating making the feel different enough when it needed to be, whether that was adding a bit more pace to my movement or whipping quicker to follow movement or even working some low angle creeping shots in using low mode.

PRO - I was able to adapt to what the actors were doing. We didn’t have to stop down if an actor leaned in, which would have blocked a tripod shot. We didn’t have to confine movement as much as if we were locked to a tripod or even dolly or slider shot. This, along with the pace I was able to move, was probably my favorite side effect of Steadicam. Our actors were fantastic and I lit so that they could move in space. These subtle lean ins or the ability to push in or pull out based on performance I think add a lot to the film and allowed for a freedom that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.

CON - Some moves just SHOULD NOT be done on Steadicam. We did some really weird things to varying levels of success, things that, given time and budget, should have been done with grip rigs, dollies, jibs or overhead mounts. We even did a Vertigo style double dolly type shot with our actress flying back on a skateboard dolly and me throwing the sled from one hand to another all while our first pulled focus and our director pulled zoom and our amazing props and art department blasted a leaf blower. It was chaos and I’m actually quite proud of it. It was absolutely ridiculous trying these things all on Steadicam, but fun working the puzzle and taught me a lot about the limitations and capabilities of my rig and myself. All that being said, I will absolutely be using the right tool for the job in future films. (Probably)

PRO - Purely from a selfish point of view, this was Steadicam bootcamp for me. This was a chance to take everything I learned from Jerry, Dave, Rey and the SOA team along with the little bit of practice on my own and put it to the test in a real world real consequence environment. I got an insane amount of reaps and time in the vest over a very short period of time. Being DP as well, I got to design shots that challenged me. I learned what I can, should and will never do again with a Steadicam. It was an invaluable learning opportunity. I think it sets me up well for what comes next for me, both as an Operator and DP.

CON - The big one. Shooting an entire film on Steadicam, even with the relatively small build we used, is incredibly demanding, both mentally and physically. I drove home every day totally wiped and immediately iced my back and stretched. My back hurt, my calves hurt, my brain was fried. There were several times I had to take off the vest and lie down after an especially demanding take or awkward angle. It made my decision making as a DP harder as well. Many times I was adjusting a light with one hand while I held the sled with the other because I wasn’t quite happy with the lighting. I don’t think I fully realized the mental toll operating Steadicam carries with it. You’re working to keep your whole body in the shot, not just your hands or shoulder. If I drop my hip, the sled goes one way. If I step too far out, there’s no where to go with my next move without jerking the shot. And physically, the weight distribution of these things is incredible and incredibly intuitive, but it’s still a lot of weight and takes a tremendous about of coordination. All of that takes a major toll. A fresh crew member is the best crew member and, at the end of the day, one of the biggest challenges to shooting an entire film on Steadicam is that I, as the Operator and especially as the DP am not totally fresh at any one time. Without the support of such a tight knit crew, that could have capsized this production.

Overall, this was a wild experience. I’m incredibly grateful for the trust the whole team gave me to try this crazy experiment. And I think our results will speak for themselves and show how successful it was, especially given the time and budget constraints we had. We punched up for sure and I’m very excited to show off the finished product. Would I ever shoot an entire film on Steadicam again? No. I would not. Maybe if I was just the operator, but certainly not as Operator and DP. And at the end of the day, as amazing as the Steadicam is, it’s not the right tool for every job. Filmmaking is a visual artform with many different tools to tell the story. It takes a mix of tools to make a piece complete and with just one of those tools you will find yourself, as we did a few times, forcing one tool to be one that it is not. All that being said I’m very proud of the team for pulling this off and honestly I’m proud of myself for taking the challenge and pulling it together. This was a very unique experience I’m glad I got to be a part of.

FOR THE NERDS. The tools we used on DEAD OF NIGHT: