Thank God It's Over

It's a wrap! After four months of car rigs and Technocrane and Shotbusters* and splinter units and hotel rooms and forty degree temperatures and 102 degree temperatures and Phoenix cranes and Giraffe cranes and speedrail and track and people movers and vans and helicopters and stuntmen and traffic cones and green screens and more hotel rooms and stakebeds and crashboxes and pictures of family and phone calls and swimming pools and beer and whiskey and rum and sunblock and fleece and rain and Russian arms and Porsch with posts and lightening, and dirt and sand and coffee and egg whites and burritos and long nights and long days and close calls and stitches and medics and funerals and bandages and Technocranes and four-wheelers and Libra heads and laughs and fights and deserts and asphalt and c-clamps and salt water- and cliffs and dirt and eyelines and cars that won't start and rain and dollies and rum and cokes and sunblock, it's finally over. Thank you to a fantastic and visionary DP and a truly talented Director. I'm exhausted and drunk and elated and sad and happy and totally excited to be a part of something new and fresh. Thank you all. I'm tired and I want to go home.
I love you all,
D

*A special type of process trailer in which the actual driver can be in either front or back. We had two: a front drive and a rear drive.

Repost of an Oldie

I don't have time to write up anything this week. Just too much work and travel. Here is an old one from a couple of years ago. Hope you like it..

D

Catwalk in Stage 18 at Paramount Studios, Hollywood.

This week, as part of my current two and three day a week schedule, I got to visit a place I've rarely had cause to venture into. I worked in the perms. For the uninitiated, the perms, or permanents refers to a grid system of wooden beams suspended in the top of most Hollywood stages. The beams are criss-crossed at 90 degree angles leaving roughly 3'x5' openings called ozones. This grid is surrounded and quartered by a system of catwalks and the whole thing is basically just a base from which to rig everything from lighting to set walls and special effects. The whole grid can be anywhere from thirty-five to sixty  or seventy feet above the stage floor,* depending on the height of the stage. It's truly a grip and electric's world up here, as we are usually the only crew members who have a reason to climb the long ladders or staircases into these shadowy recesses. It is from here that the electrics pull up hundreds of feet of cable and the grips hang teasers, green beds (catwalks that are suspended by chain just above set walls), backings, truss, and any of  the other countless things we are called upon to suspend above a set. I've actually never spent much time up here. I came up as a set grip in Atlanta, where stages were mostly empty warehouses in which we would hang a pipe grid. Perms were unheard of. I didn't come up through the studio pecking order where a rookie started out on the gang hanging green beds and backings before finally making his or her way onto a set crew. By the time I started working in Hollywood, I was already a working Dolly Grip with years of set experience and a pretty good resume, but there was a whole segment of grip rigging knowledge of which I was ignorant, that many Hollywood grips take for granted. I still remember my first job in Los Angeles. I was a permit (someone trying to earn their thirty days on a union show, making them elegible for membership in Local 80, the grip local in Hollywood.). As a permit, you basically had to wait until the town was busy enough so that even the most moronic among us had a job and no actual  Local members were available. I got a call at five o'clock one morning from the Local asking if I could push B camera on NYPD Blue, as their guy had called in sick."You can push dolly, right?" the voice on the phone asked. "Yes... yeah I can. Where are they?"  "Fox Studios in Century City," the guy said. "You need to be there by seven."  So I pulled out my trusty Thomas Guide** and plotted a course to the storied Fox Studios for my first job in an actual soundstage after over twelve years as a grip in the film business. I still remember calling my parents from the parking deck and telling them that I was at Fox Studios to work on NYPD. Even though I was, by now, a seasoned Dolly Grip, I was still a little unnerved by the thought of actually being there and wanted to share it with them. Anyway, I've gotten off track here, but I still remember walking in that stage and craning my neck up, and up to the highest ceiling I think I had ever seen. And at the top of it was the perms.
  So this week I did a commercial at Paramount. Now, I've done many commercials, too many to count. But I am still pretty ignorant of the perms. I've just never had much reason to go up there until this week. I should explain that there really isn't a dedicated dolly position on commercials, at least as far as rate goes. As a Dolly Grip on a commercial, you are expected to fall in with the boys when you are needed and especially on prelights and at wrap. So, I showed up to push dolly on a commercial and found myself in the perms pulling up pipe and trying to remember my knots. You know what the perms are? The perms are history. They've seen it all. Many of these stages were built in the twenties and these ancient beams have supported lights and walls, grids, and backings for everything from Sunset Boulevard to Casablanca.***  You can see the notches worn by years of rope rubbing across beams and handrails as it was pulled up by now forgotten craftsmen on these movies that have ingrained themselves in the public consciousness. On the air ducts and handrails, grips and electrics have drawn pictures of everything from women, to (strangely) women with penises (I don't get this one. What are they, twelve?) to dirty jokes or their own names, and sometimes, just the names of shows and a date. The wood is worn smooth by years of the hands of long-gone grips and juicers who participated in the making of everything from Ozzie and Harriet to Star Trek. These guys lived through the Great Depression, fought in World War II, and then hitched up their pants, lit a cigarette, and went to work. They walked these narrow beams without a yoyo**** or a harness. I guess the thought of falling seventy feet came in a close second to getting shot at by the Nazis. And then they went home to dinner with their families. I rubbed my hand along the smooth handrail and thought about them for a moment. And then I waited to hear the voice of the Best Boy say, "3-2-1 Pull!" like so many of them probably did. And I pulled, and pulled, and suddenly the pipe was at the top and I quickly tied it off (under the handrail, cross over, pull back, over the handrail, behind the rope, pull up, under itself and a double hitch. I think that's it). I think everyone who gets a chance should visit the perms at least once. It will humble you. It did me.




**** A safety system designed for high work. You clip it onto your harness. It keeps you from hitting the ground.
For more personal experiences in the perms, check out Michael taylor's excellent blog at Blood, Sweat, and Tedium. He says it best.

Okay, you made it this far, now I have a ghost story involving the perms. Two good friends of mine, on separate occasions told me this story. They were both up in the perms on a stage (I don't recall which one, it may have been stage 18 where I was) at Paramount working on a movie called The General's Daughter. At some point, while looking down upon the filming, they noticed they were in the company of a man a few feet away, in strangely outdated work clothes, who was also gazing down upon the activity below. They didn't really pay that much attention to him, other than that they didn't recognize him. Then, as soon as they had seen him, he was gone. They both walked the perms looking for him and found no trace. When they finally climbed down they asked the stage manager if there was another way out of the perms and explained why. He stuck his hand out and said, "Congratulations. You saw him."
Thanks to Dano and Gary for this story.

*No, I don't know exact numbers. Come on, did you read the first part of the post?

** In LA, before smartphones and GPS, everyone usd the Thomas Guide, which was a comprehensive map of Los Angeles. Call Sheets would give the Thomas Guide page for the location.

***Stages 8 and 9 at Warner Brothers.

Alexa Update

   I posted last year about some problems regarding the Alexa that I was having on a show (I would link to the post, but the internet here is slow because the entire crew is on it, so just look it up). In short, we were shooting on mostly zooms, with the 15 mil rods and were having a nightmare getting the bumps out. Shots that I would not have hesitated to do without skates on a Panaflex were showing bumps and shimmies like we were on a dirt road instead of track. We tried wedging under the lens, skate wheels bracing the arm, everything, yet the bumps still showed. We finally switched to 19mm rods and that cut out 75% of the problem, but I was still having to wedge under the lens. The problem is the 4" footprint of the baseplate and not much supporting the rest of the camera. Since this post, I've gotten phone calls and emails from many dolly grips having the same problem with this camera. I got a text just yesterday from another one. I don't know what the solution is unless Arri comes up with a better support system, or if the rental houses at least make sure that all the necessary support brackets etc. come out with this camera. The movie I'm doing now is maybe 20% Alexa and the rest are Canon cameras (a lot of car mounts) but we are still having to wedge the lens. Anyone got any thoughts or comments on this situation? Fire away...
D

Being "Reactionary"

  I'm from the old school. This is the school where you, get marks, watch a rehearsal, set up, do a first team rehearsal (stop and go), and then shoot. This still seems to be the norm in television, where time is of the essence and the understanding of time budgeting seems to be a little more evolved on a day- to -day basis. Features, lately, though, seem to work on a more catch-as catch-can basis, where no time is given to the camera crew to work out the bugs of any given shot. Our old friend Sanjay believes that this is a result of digital filmmaking, which has worn away the old discipline of rehearse-mark-rehearse-shoot. We now seem to turn the camera on and just roll, and roll around, hoping to get good pieces. I agree, and I see it more and more. Pixels are cheap, compared to film stock, and this has resulted in lowering the bar on a technical level for those of us directly related to the final outcome of any given shot. I used to lament about the editor using the one bad take out of four that had a bump or bad boom in it. Now, there's just one endless take that we extract pieces from. In a way, it's actually raising the bar. You have to be right every time, but in a different way. It's like auditioning on the first take every time and having to sight read music. I've heard this called being "reactionary," or reacting to what unfolds before you and finding the shot within it. To a certain extent, this can be fun (given that your operator trusts you). On the other hand, it's total crap. I've got to get well around six hundred pounds of dolly  or four thousand pounds of Technocrane arm moving on the whims of a twenty-something actor who never does the same thing twice. My competitive nature says, "Bring it on!" and my common sense says, "You people are out of your mind." Not too long ago, I spent twelve weeks working this way on a huge movie and it made me almost ready to go back to TV. Believe it or not, the talents of the dolly grip seem to be more respected there. In the feature world of today, stuff just gets done and you either roll with it or you're replaced by someone who does. In either case it comes down to this: spending a little more prep time and getting a spectacular shot, or doing it on the fly and half-assing it. I'm not a half-ass kind of guy. It all comes down to trust. If you're doing this kind of reactionary show, you have to have the trust of your DP, Operator, and Director. WIthout it, you're gone.

Weekly (monthly) Update

   Hi everyone. It's been a busy couple of weeks so not much time to post. We are sprinting toward the last three weeks of our fourteen week show. After a couple of weeks of mainly car mounts (which were a lot of fun), we had some days of actual old fashioned movie making with dialogue and everything. This DP (who I really enjoy working with) likes to go big on the cranes. He also loves to set up really intricate shots with the fifty-foot Technocrane. I find myself doing a lot of fun moves involving circling around actors, "scraping the paint" off of hundred thousand dollar cars, and hitting over-the-shoulders at sixty feet from the camera. Thanks go out to Mike Howell and Jeff Curtis, two really good pickle operators. Our DP and director excel in coming up with some really cool and challenging shots, so I often go from days of literally doing nothing but turning a wrench, to suddenly standing at the business end of fifty feet of arm wondering if I can still pull it off. I've had to become more adept at finding sightlines where there are none, and then suddenly changing them all as the shot evolves. We also get very few rehearsals (almost none with first team) so it can be a little nerve wracking. I think I'll do a refresher course on sightlines for cranes when this is over. Thanks for hanging in there. I'm still here even though you don't hear from me as much. One more week here and then we are on the road again. Keep the Need.....
D

A Moment From The Set...

DP: "You're starting too late."

Operator: "We started when he entered frame. You want to be moving already?"

DP: "Yeah, you should be moving before he comes in."

Me:  "You want to text that to me next time?"

The Thing (2011)

  Or as they should have called it, Shit (2011), is a simply horrible movie. Every lazy filmmaking mistake you can make was made in this piece of crap. Sigourney Weaver lookalike? Lazy filmmaking. CGI creatures that were done BETTER thirty years earlier by Rob Botin with stop motion animation? Lazy filmmaking. Bland Swedish (Nordic? Norwegian?) character development ? Lazy filmmaking.The last twenty minutes when the characters are suddenly on the planet from Aliens? Lazy filmmaking. American hero (?) with a raspy voice? Lazy filmmaking. As a huge fan of John Carpenter's The Thing, I really was looking for something special out of this movie. What I got was bad CGI, worse acting, and even worse filmmaking. Blah blah blah and I'm done with it. So if you have nothing to live for or have absolutely no taste in movies, rent Shit (2011), or as it is marketed, The Thing (2011). 
  The Captain has spoken.

Better Early Than Late

  We are doing a lot of blind* Technocrane moves on this show with a very exacting director (and DP). As a result, I've recently become reacquainted with one of my old rules that I had almost forgotten: generally, it's better to be a little early, and fudge it in the feather-down, than late, because you can never catch up. This is a principle that usually comes in handy when you are trying to match to a certain passage of dialogue or land on a specific word in a piece of dialogue. As long as you don't get too far ahead, you can always stretch out the move in the feather to make it almost unnoticeable. If you're behind, there is almost no way to catch up and you end up just stopping short when the dialogue ends, running the risk of ending on too loose a frame. Usually, this is a function of actors getting faster in their dialogue as they get more comfortable with a piece of dialogue. Especially off camera dialogue. This happened earlier this week when the writer/producer (whom I've known for years)was reading off camera to an actor supposedly watching him on an iPad. Another actor was cued to walk in on a specific word in the off-camera dialogue and I had to be in a certain spot to see him walk in in the background. He read faster and faster until the camera was flying around to reach the specific point in the dialogue. At this point, the only way to not be late was to get there early, and slow it down into a creep to the number two spot before wrapping around the actor who walked in. It worked (although we still took around ten takes to get it right. So remember this: better to be ahead and slow down, trhan behind and rush to catch up.

* A blind move is one in which you can't see all the actors or set pieces because of your position on the bucket. Also called "flying blind." It often involves a little on the fly calculating combined with desperation and luck.

Technocranes

  Let's talk about Technocranes for a moment. I generally love them. As long as you have the right size (not too large, not too small), they make life a lot easier. You can hit multiple points in any shot without laying floor or track, and the shots generally become more creative just because you have the ability to go any direction in space (assuming you have the room). On exteriors, usually the bigger the arm, the better. It gets a little trickier on interiors. I have found that often you have more arm than you need. By which I mean you sometimes end up trying to thread a fifty footer around in a space where a thirty, or even a twenty would work much better. Here's the crux of the problem though: too much arm, and you are forever fighting the bucket end hitting walls, etc, and too little, you end up laying track for an extendable crane. Today, we had both situations. A large space to swing a fifty around in, but it wasn't quite enough to get us the reach we needed. So we ended up laying forty feet of track to do an extremely technical series of moves in a space where a thirty footer would have made life easier (because of the shorter bucket end swinging through doors etc.) By the end of the day I was exhausted. No, utterly exhausted. We swooped and circled, and dove in and quite literally missed the walls on the bucket end by sometime a half an inch. With a Technocrane, it's always a game of variables. On a normal dolly shot, you have a Dolly Grip, an operator, actors and a focus puller. With a Technocrane you add another: the pickle operator. So now you have six variables that all have to work together in a ballet of movement. When you add the extra variable of an interior shot dodging cars, and support beams, and lighting fixtures, it can become a little daunting. The only good thing about an interior Techno shot is the plethora of sightlines. Outside, you generally start high, which gives you nothing but the sky as a sightline. So I'm forever trying to remember that the matte box is straight up from the church steeple, and the sidebar is at hipbone height. I don't use lasers. I've got enough to watch for without trying to calculate if the laser is off the tape mark because the extension is off or I'm too high or low. This reminds me of a story, which I've told here before, of the dayplayer who informed me that I "shouldn't use the sun as a sightline because it will move." And with that, I'm out.
D

Finally, Something To Do

   I've been a little lax in the posting duties lately. Mostly it's because we have not only gone into straight nights, but also have entered a dialogue phase of shooting where the camera isn't mounted on a car, so I actually get a chance to swing a Technocrane around, or push a dolly. As a result, I'm a lot more tired than I normally would be, so forgive the rarity of posts.
   Don't forget the Fisher Open House on May 18th from 9AM to 4 PM. have a beer tell Frank Kay hi for me.
   Well, it's pissing rain (a continuation of the rain I stood in all night). I've got cheeseburgers from Five Guys, a jug of Captain Morgan, and the beginnings of a six day work week starting at 11AM in the morning. Life is good.

Help Out!

   A student at UC Santa Barbara recently contacted me about a three part workshop they are having on Sunday April 28th. They have a Fisher rep, and an SOC operator lined up, but are looking for a dolly grip to come in and take part in discussions with the camera operator about their working relationship. They also would like the dolly grip to give a short how-to on basic things like marking and track laying. I don't know if there is any financial remuneration, but if I was available, I'd do it just to help out. Shoot me an email if you are interested and I'll put you in touch with the interested parties. Thanks.
D

Hello From Northern California!

   I'm two weeks in on a fourteen week show and I've had....one day of dolly work. Since it's a movie about a cross-country race, most of the work is, as you may have guessed, Interior Car. Since we have, not only the regular grip crew, but a crew of three car rigging grips, I don't have a lot to do. I've never felt more like a Steadicam operator in my life, (or a Standby Painter). Although they have been sending me to splinter unit a little more lately, I spend a lot of my time just trying to be useful among the nine or so grips we have rigging cars already. Today was a little bit more excitement since I got sent off with the second unit to do some introductory dolly shots of actors and beauty shots of cars. After that, I spent a lot of time waiting. Mostly on this show I wait. So, here I am....waiting. Who needs a wrench?

Wheels. Wheeeeeels.

  I recently was asked a question on Twitter about wheel setup. As a Chapman user, you have a few options and the questioner wanted to know what works best where. Well, things are always changing and what is in favor at one time is out of favor a few years later. Back when the Hybrid was Chapman's signature large dolly, I would always put on the pneumatics and leave them on for the run of the show. By design, they work on both track and floor. Later, when I became a Hustler 4 user, we would combine both the track wheels and the pneumatics (I always put the air tires on the outside and the track tires on the inside) which seemed to give the best of both worlds. Although I doubt there is much difference in where you put them, the pneumatics on the outside seemed to make more sense to me. My good friend GHB does the opposite and sets up the track tires on the outside. I can't argue with success 'cause he's done well for himself. As far as the Hybrid goes, a lot of Camera Operators I work with began to complain about the bouncy nature of the pneumatic tire on floor, while some thought it was fine. After using the medium softs, which I found to be very good on dance floor, I began to agree. As far as the Pewee goes, I always switched out the hards for pneumatics for floor, but switched back to the hards after the shot because the air tires make the dolly so much wider and hamper maneuverability. I think it boils down to communicating with your Camera Operator. He/ she is your best source of feedback for what is happening in the lens. If the pneumatics are causing problems, try the medium softs. I do what I know until I'm told it isn't working. Unfortunately, now that we are doing more and more HD work, the little bumps that we used to get away with seem to show up much more vividly than they did in film. It's a more unforgiving medium in every sense.
   As far as Fisher dollies go, you have two choices: the standard air filled or the round track wheels. I also have no idea why Fisher refuses to let go of the old square track/ bogie wheel setup. I haven't seen, much less used square track in at least fifteen years. Who are you catering to? The music video market? If I'm wrong, please fill me in Fisher users/ insiders/ Wick?

Fisher Open House 2013

  It's that time of year again. Frank Kay of JL Fisher sent me the latest update about this year's festivities. I can't really say enough about this event. It is truly a day for Dolly Grips, and we don't get many. I've only been able to make it once over the years due to location work, etc. but there was beer, barbecue, beer, and good friends. Fisher pulls out all the stops and puts on a great show. If you are in Burbank on May 18th, do yourself a favor and drop in. Do me a favor and mention Dollygrippery. I won't be able to make it once again because I'll be in the middle of a show but represent for me and I may send you a t shirt (coming soon).

The details:

JL Fisher Open House

Date: May 18, 2013

Place: 1000 W Isabel St

Time: 9 AM til 4 PM

Don't miss the Moving Camera Seminar hosted by George Spiro Dibie ASC.


 Moving right along, I just wrapped myself on my latest show. No, I didn't quit. I was always going to leave a week early to start the next job with my regular crew. As most of you know, I never use real names here, but I have to thank Mitch Lillian. I learned so much from you and understand why you are truly one of the great Key Grips.Words fail me. Best Boy, Paul Candrilli, you were a gem to work with and kept us laughing on those long rainy days. You are a real prick knocker. "A" Camera Dolly Grip Bruce Hamme, you're one of the best in the business and I'll be your guitar tech any day.To one of the finest grip crews I've ever been a part of: Sonny, Pat, Danny, and Jimmy, you made me proud. Finally, thanks to our DP, Mr.Robert Deakins. It was a pleasure to work with you. I never saw a man do so much with unbleached muslin. I hope to see you down the road.

D


PS- Stop emailing me. Yes, I know his name is "Roger."

A Little Help From My Friends

  I've been having a little, okay, a lot of trouble lately, coming up with good topics for posts. Over the last  six years we've covered just about every imaginable aspect of the craft. A look back at previous posts lists everything from dance floor to track laying, safety to handheld support, car rigs to lens flagging. I've expounded long and drunkenly on various theories and philosophies of moving a camera. Frankly, the well is dry. Also due to the pressures of work and family, time has also been short. The writing has gotten sloppy and not up to my former standards. Thanks to a couple of friends of the site, I have some new ways to attack things and some good inspiration and encouragement. Michael from Blood, Sweat, and Tedium gave me a much needed pat on the back and some good advice, as did our friend Onno from Solid Grip Systems.  Onno suggested that I revisit some of the older posts and give them a fresh perspective. Although I had loathed the idea of repeating myself, I think a lot of this stuff from a few years ago could certainly be updated and rewritten with the benefit of age and a little more wisdom. Mitch, the Key Grip I'm working with now has also given me some good ideas as has Danny, my frequent B Camera cohort. So hopefully over the next few weeks, I will have a little more interest in this little project and be better able to translate it to the page. My next job involves a lot of location work so I will also probably have more time to devote to it from my hotel room(s). As always, suggestions are welcome here from those of you who are old-timers, and also those who are the up and comers. Till then, I'm thinking. In between all the other crap.
  Tomorrow is my last day on this job. I'm leaving a couple of weeks early (this was planned from the beginning, although back then it was only a week early). I'm taking a week off and then getting on a plane. You may not hear from me for a few days while I tie up loose ends. Hopefully Azurgrip will throw something up to keep you busy.

D

My 3D Experience

  Wick recently suggested a post involving 3D and how it affects us as Dolly Grips. To be honest, I don't have that much experience with it. A couple of years ago, the powers that be on a series I was doing decided to that we should reshoot a scene we had already done from the current episode. Only we were going to redo it in 3D.  So, all of us gathered on a Saturday to take a half-day seminar by the 3D techs (nerds) to better acquaint us with what was coming. I found the whole thing very interesting. We learned about "Convergence Points" and "Racking Convergence" and "Neutral Zones"  and basically a lot of very compelling things with cool Star Trek names. I don't remember much of it at this point (let's be honest, my eyes started glazing over at the first mention of "points of convergence.") So we all learned a great deal about 3D, but I was concerned about the nuts and bolts, which would directly affect me.
   I don't recall when exactly the shoot was, but I think it was after an intentionally short day. My first thought upon seeing the huge 3D rig was something along the lines of, "Oh $%&*." This thing was huge. It was a large red case of about 3' high by 2' wide. While interested, I was also wondering how I had suddenly stepped back into the 40's with blimped Mitchell cameras. I then began to consult with the director and operator about recreating the shots we had done in regular 2D a few days before. The first shot was a dolly through a doorway. And therein was the first snag. "Unless you want the lens at four feet high or take the top of the door out, we can't do it," I told the operator. So, we compromised. This was not the first compromise of the day. I then discovered that all the dance floor had to be double laid because the rig was so top heavy that every seam was transmitted through the arm, resulting in a dolly move not unlike what one would see while dollying on a dirt road or doing really bad handheld. So, we brought in more plywood. The next snag was when we needed to place the camera high and wide in a corner of the room. Again, the rig made it impossible to get high or wide enough to get the exact shot we needed. So we compromised. Later, we needed to go into low mode. I soon discovered that this doesn't work either without orienting the dolly the only way it will work, to the side, making the shot we wanted to do impossible because of the geography of the room. So we compromised. By the end of the day, we had spent at least seven hours reshooting a scene that took around four to shoot originally And I was exhausted from double laying everything and constantly redoing things which we discovered didn't work. "I don't know how anyone ever finishes one of these things," I thought. Then, I thought, it's just a different piece of equipment. You adapt. We've gotten so used to cameras and equipment that are streamlined for camera placement and movement, that you truly do have to put put yourself back in the age of Citizen Kane, when the cameras were huge, to make it work.
   Again, this is only my short experience. After all the compromises, the final product, when I saw it, was extraordinary. It looked fantastic. But I don't think I would want to do it for four months.


  Many of you have much more experience that I do with this technology. I know Gil has done at least one whole feature in 3D and many more of you probably have as well. What are your experiences? What tips can you give the rest of us?

Major Award!

   Dollygrippery would like to congratulate my friend Brad Rea for receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award for Moving Camera Platform Operator from the SOC. Brad is truly one of the best Dolly Grips in the world with "A" camera credits like Memoirs of a Geisha, A Walk in the Clouds, Armageddon, Angels and Demons, and  Star Trek: Into Darkness on his resume. And the list goes on and on. Brad is like a rock. Nothing rattles him and he's a great guy to boot. Congratulations, Brad! No one deserves it more than you!

    Meanwhile back at the ranch, the show is going well. I spent today in the freezing rain (all man made) which, luckily I am used to since I've also spent much of the last month and a half in the freezing rain (both real and man made).  Unfortunately I will be leaving a week or so early to start the next epic which I hate doing, but don't really have a choice in. This is truly one of the finest grip crews I've had the pleasure to be a part of. And we have our wrap times down to about fifteen minutes, tops. I have about three weeks left before I have to fly to Northern California to prep the next job, which is basically a remake of Cannonball Run without Burt Reynolds, and with $150,000 cars. I hope all of you are staying busy and staying safe. Try to remember that making movies should be fun. My first Key Grip told me many years ago that when it stops being fun, it's time to get out. Oh yeah, he also said never get in a helicopter. So I try to remember those two things, especially the fun part. We're blessed to be able to do the things we do and work with the people we work with.

'Til next time,
D




PS:
   If I don't post often it's because I am having a problem coming up with ideas. Over the last six years of Dollygrippery, I've pretty much covered every aspect of this craft. Give me some ideas. Is there something you would like to suggest? Send it in at dollygrippery at gmail dot com.

Too Many Options?

I happen to be lucky enough to work in a town with many options in telescopic cranes. I'm missing at least one manufacturer's but in defence of the town's rentals houses, at no time will all the telescopic cranes available be working on one day. I've got TechnoCranes, MovieBirds and Scorpios at my request (and all sizes except for the Scorpio 64 and the Techno 100).

Like the Chapman vs Fisher debate, this is something that's totally a personal preference and may take a number of beers to convince other of which is best ("Taste Great! Less filling!" comes to mind…).

I had one rental house rep ask me what was my preference. I believe it depends on the shot. I tend to prefer the SuperTechnos. All though they are the heaviest of the bunch, I feel that they are not as fiddley to balance and keep in balance no matter the length. When I swing into the final position, I want it to stay there and not drift off. I'd like to be able to take my hands off for two second while I scratch my head or grab a swig of water and not have to worry if it's going to wander off on me.

The Scorpios is the finickiest. Lighter all around, but requires the most tweaking to keep in the optimum performance. The computer brain is very cool to take the arc out of some shots, I haven't played with the motorized lead sled for quickie compensation. Plus that's only a feature on my 23' here. Hoping they get around to getting on their 30+7'.

The MovieBirds fall in between. I had the opportunity to fool around with a 30' at open house and the latest generation feel a lot better than what came out a couple years ago. Peter Adamiec (the gent behind MovieBird) was on hand to explain all the nuances of the latest generations. Also note, that a lot of the MovieBirds are custom tailored to their market, so you may not come across the same machine in two different markets.

Ofcourse on top of all of this is the human element - the "pickle guy" - the crane tech. No matter what crane you have, the tech can either make or break your experience with that crane.

It all takes time to work on any machine. You might spend years on a Pee Wee, being able to pull off ten point dance floor moves with three booms but find yourself on a Fisher Ten and you can't stand an actor out of a chair.

What's your preference?

The Micromanager

   A colleague of mine recently sent me an email with an idea for a post. It concerned what you do when you work with a new operator who consistently thinks he has to micromanage your every move.  We've all been there. You start a show with an operator you've never worked with before. As we all know, as a Dolly Grip you're already starting from behind. Most operators, especially the "A" list ones are fine. After a couple of shots, they realize you actually know what you are doing and before long you're working like you've been together for twenty years. Then there are the other ones. Usually they are the younger, more inexperienced operators, but not always.The first clue is usually the need to start asking for sideboards or offsets before you've even had a chance to decide the best way to do the shot. Next, they start telling you what surface to use, how to lay it, and how to orient the chassis. These are the same guys who say "Woof" when they want you to stop booming up during a lineup. You generally just grit your teeth and push on, until they get really obnoxious, or they realize you actually are serious about your craft and good at it. Luckily, these guys seem to be few and far between. I think there are a couple of things going on here. One is that there are an awful lot of horrible dolly grips running around out there. Men or women who have been bumped up to the position by the Key Grip even though they have no aptitude for the job. Guys who have been thrown into the position before they are ready for it just because no one else is available; or guys who are just lazy and have no interest in actually excelling at their craft. These operators have probably never actually worked with a good Dolly Grip and aren't aware of what one can do. These are the same guys who keep a slider on the dolly for the whole show because they've never had a Dolly Grip who can actually compose an over-the-shoulder. I've had these guys. I find that at some point I have a conversation with them in which I inform them that I can actually help them if they'll let me. Usually they begin to loosen up and are amazed that a Dolly Grip can actually do most of the work for them if they'll just let him. I find that I have to have this conversation before long. I just can't function for weeks on end not being allowed to practice my craft and being treated like an imbecile. Those of us who have spent twenty or more years working to perfect our skills tend to get used to being treated with mutual respect by camera operators. They depend on us and we enjoy being able to solve their problems. When you get one that immediately dismisses all that work and experience with a wave of the hand and a "Get me a sideboard," it rankles you. So that's what I do. I take it as long as I can. If it's a short job, I tough it out for the two weeks and just make it about the paycheck. If it's going to be a long haul, though, I have to pull the guy aside and have a talk with him along the lines of, "Look, we're a team. I'm here to help you. I can do that if you'll let me. Just give me a chance to do that and if it doesn't work I'll shut up, but I know what I'm doing and you don't need that seat offset."

   This reminds me of a story I recently heard regarding a buddy of mine who was pushing on a big movie. He was working with an operator whom he had been with for a while but for some reason a new operator had come in and for some reason was working on a shot with him that day. My buddy missed a mark or a cue and the new operator barked at him. The regular operator, who was standing nearby said, "You realize that that guy is one of the best Dolly Grips in the world, right?" Apparently the new guy was soon gone.

  For more on this subject, see my post here. Also see this. And every camera operator should read this.

The Week in Review

This is how my week went (Stream of Consciousness):

12X's, 8X's, beams, track, rain, sleet, cold, night, splinter, dance floor, rope, hills, truck, jib arm, bounce, gold, candle, too many carts, Skoal, drink, boxes, doorway dolly, level, Guv', epk, twitter, dark, more dark, 250, Hampshire Frost, tent, "What are you guys doing?" move the truck, new boots.

In a nutshell, the previous list pretty much sums up most of what ran through my brain over the last five days. We have basically taken over an entire subdivision and are shooting in or around six houses there. None of them are close to the others. Great crew. Great DP. I spend most of my days in confusion switching between set grip, doing things I haven't done on a daily basis in at least fifteen years, and Dolly Grip, walking in and not really knowing what the shot is about before doing it. Still, we're having a great time and getting some really beautiful shots. I'll be back with more later.
D