Taking a walk ...tip from a pro

[Charles King]

Some good operating advice form a pro...

"I got this tip from Howard Smith, CEO of the MK-V company, and operator on the matrix (I LOVE THE IBC):
When you start walking place the weight of your body on your hind leg, then you start the motion transferring the weight to you front leg. Doing this you give the sled time to adjust to the change. This way the sled stays vertical.
Try doing this without a hand on the post - only one hand on the gimbal handle to control the arm - if you can walk without adding inbalance to the sled, and the sled stays vertical, you've mastered this aspect of operating. Just start slowly and then increase your speed to, for instance, running speed."

Excerpt quoted by Pascal Jolink.

[trung dau]

great tip Charles.

[Jolink Pascal]

That's great advise! Thanks for sharing!!  Did I mention he charged me US$ 1000,- for that tip?

It was the first or second time I visited the IBC and it was great meating all those masters! Last year Jerry Holway corrected my posture by having me turning toward the sled a bit (+/- 45 degree angle) This way the weight is more centered in relation to your body. Good news was that I had a pretty decent posture to start with, so all that reading about Steadicam, and stuff related,  over the years paid off 

[Charles King]

That's great advise! Thanks for sharing!!  Did I mention he charged me US$ 1000,- for that tip?

It was the first or second time I visited the IBC and it was great meating all those masters! Last year Jerry Holway corrected my posture by having me turning toward the sled a bit (+/- 45 degree angle) This way the weight is more centered in relation to your body. Good news was that I had a pretty decent posture to start with, so all that reading about Steadicam, and stuff related,  over the years paid off 

The learning process never stops, doesn't it. Hope you're well.

[Alan Dague-Greene]

The Matrix? I thought the op was some guy who built his own rig. I remember reading about it, that he didn't feel like he got as much respect (or as much work) because his setup was not a real Steadicam.

[Tom Wills]

The op was Howard indeed. I do remember hearing that he built his own rig though. Possibly his rig was what became the MK-V rig?

[Alan Dague-Greene]

Hang on a sec here. "Horse's mouth" type of stuff:

IMDb says the op is Robert Agganis.

From discussion on the Steadicam Forum:

Ian McMillan: "I'm not sure about the Panaglide on matrix. If the operarator was Robby Aganus, then the rig is a home made affair. He is into engineering."

Kim Sargenius: "Yes, Rob used his homemade rig on The Matrix. From the pictures of the Panaglide I'd say Rob's rig looks **very** similar, if not identical, except it's made of carbon fibre, very light (as far as I can tell)."

Ron Baldwin: "in the behihind the scenes of The Wall, the first Matrix, and I think Ghostbusters (uncle Teddy) you can see the ops working with panaglides. I was talking to Hugo about an Aussie op with a panaglide...he said he thought it is not an 'actual' one, but a copy made at a machine shop many moons ago."

Phil Balsdon, a prominent Australian operator who does workshops there: "The Aussie operator you are refering to is probably Rob Agganis, who did the steadicam on the first Matrix. He built his own rig, but it's no more a copy of a Panaglide than any other rig. Rob is very smart with engineering as well a great operator and is always improving his rig. He has however told me he feels he would have been taken more seriously as an operator had he bought a rig. I know this is true as a while back I was shooting on a commercial and the (American) DP said he was pleased to see an op with a real rig as the other day another op had brought a home made rig onto his set. Beats me, it was good enough for The Matrix and many other films."

All this and much more in the thread.

[Tom Wills]

I guess my memory slipped up. Well, at least I somehow remembered the homebuilt aspect.

[Charles King]

They used more than one steadicam operator on the Matrix triologies guys. Sometimes more than one operator for the same movie:

Andrew Rowlands
Howard Smith (Operated in both Reloaded and Revolutions)
Steve St. John
Robert Agganis

[Daniel Mannix]

I've never heard of anyone at daily's saying "say, what kind of rig did he shoot that on..."

[James Sutherland]

I'll say the proof is in the pudding, I haven't heard any complaints that he did bad work because of his non commercial rig. I wonder why he got the job then if he was not respected that much. At least he can go around saying he worked on The Matrix with his rig. I would guess a lot of people will only hire brand names........only to realize later that they could have saved money on a operator and rig that performed the same or even better then commercial people/rigs.

I think as HBS people we must strive for results and make it undeniable for the hot shots that we are a force to be reckoned with