Save your back!

I've been using this thing lately on my ENG/EFP type shoots and I really like it.

There's a bit of learning curve but once you get the hang of it, it feels pretty natural and other than helping to relieve back and shoulder strain, it's also great for getting low angles. Check out the demo video courtesy of Johan, the inventor.

This is how I used to roll.

HDX900 with the Leader, Litepanel, wireless video, and often a matte box. This for 10-14 hours a day on the shoulder, 5 times a week, for about 6 months. I didn't have back problems so I didn't worry about it. Until one morning I woke up and couldn't get out of bed. Maybe some people can shoulder that kind of weight, especially you Panavision operators, but I'm an out of shape weakling and that HDX setup wreaked havoc on my poor back.

So now I use the Easy Rig so that I can continue to work in this business. Also working on that core strength! Chiropractor said it would help.

cheers,

Great advice for shooters

It's unfortunate that we shooters don't get to speak with editors and get feedback on our work as often as we'd like. Well it's true that no news is usually good news, it's always nice to hear what's really working and what simply isn't. Shane Ross of Little Frog in Hi Def - an edit blog, has posted a great list of do's on dont's for shooters on his blog. Some of these are kind of no brainers but it's always a good reminder. My personal strategy when shooting is to turn on what I call my "internal metronome". I'm constantly counting one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, etc. Keeping my moves in sync with the internal rhythm and making sure to give at least 5 seconds of pad on the head and tail of each shot. I make sure that all my moves and shots are legible. There's nothing worse than a shot that looks indecisive! What kind of story can that shot tell?

Conversely, here is a list of helpful tips for editors from Oliver Peter's blog DigitalFilms. A lot of these tips readily apply to shooters as well because if we don't shoot it, they don't have it. I particularly like his rule of 3's regarding B ROLL. This is so true. Watch just about anything and you'll notice this.

Between these 2 helpful links, I think there are some really fantastic ideas in there we shooters should strive to internalize and make part of our methodology.

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Save your back!

Great advice for shooters