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Fitness Videos

 
 

In November of 2021 I was tasked with being the DP/Gaffer for a series of fitness work out videos. We had a week to prep (including building the set) and the a two week shoot. This was a bit of a baptism of fire for me as I had never had to take on so many roles on a bigger set at once and in such a short time frame. We constructed a 36ft long back drop with integrated T8 tubes in three days and had to get it up in the studio in 12 hours with just three people. For the shoot we used a four camera set up routed into a Atem Mini for a client feed and for rushes. For lighting I had everything (save the rear Quasars and the Mole Richardson) on crmx so that I could control it all on the fly.

 
 

Solo Steadicam

 
 

I love Steadicam for the same reason that I love analog film. There is just a feeling that you get from the footage that is subtly different from that of the modern replacements. That being said, we have some of these modern replacements for a reason. I have to use a digital cinema camera for the majority of my projects for budgetary issues. 

Contemporary 3-axis gimbals are super cheap and easy to operate which is why they have taken over most independent and low budget shoots. They generally are built with consumers in mind and are compact enough for one person to operate. As someone who is just breaking into the Utah County market I have only been working on no budget projects which has meant that I have not had the ability to hire either a grip or a first AC which has been an interesting experience when it comes to Steadiam operation. 

The first complexity is getting the vest on which can be a bit challenging if one is not very flexible. I luckily can manage this though. Once I am set up I now have to move around and operate the camera by myself. Moving around might seem simple but it becomes complex when it comes to tracking backwards. When I was on a shoot at Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon I was almost hit by a car when tracking backwards.  

While operating Steadicam solo is entirely possible it is not ideal.