Thank you very much to the Don of UK Steadicam, Robin Thwaites of Tiffen Europe, for inviting me along to a lunch with some Steadicam celebrities today.¬† Present aside from Robin, Terry and James from Tiffen were Peter Robertson (operator of such masterful work as Atonement, Hot Fuzz and many, many more), Roger Tooley (Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Match Point, Shaun of the Dead and many many more), Paul Edwards (Harry Potter, Sunshine, Love Actually and many many more), Imran Naqvi (Jack Says, No Smoking Please, Are You Ready for Love)… and of course we shouldn’t leave out Garrett Brown (inventor of the Steadicam as well as a insanely long raft of other extraordinary film and video devices).
The film industry is bloody hard work, and you could be forgiven for getting the impression talking to film crews on and off sets that we can be a miserable, chip-on-the-shoulder lot.¬† So it was absolutely great to be in the presence of a group of true professionals who couldn’t have been more genial and interested in each other’s work.¬† Particularly telling was the fact that Peter Robertson in particular operated two of the ‘big’ shots I’ve seen in the UK recently, the 5 1/2 minute shot from Atonement, and the Stanley Kubrick Film 4 promo, and we had to drag the stories out of him!
In an industry where it’s all too easy to find the ‘louder’ types regaling you endlessly about their remote involvement with some second rate movie, it’s extremely refreshing and inspiring when the guys really doing the top work are very modest about it, and immediately point to the work of the whole team that was involved.
I’ve been operating Steadicam for a couple of years now, which makes me a relative newbie to the whole thing.¬† As well as being honoured simply to have been invited, listening to Garrett talk about how proud he was to have been responsible for a worldwide network of people to have made a living (as Roger put it, “you’ve paid my mortgage!”) doing something that requires a extremely high level of skill and vision, was very inspiring.¬† Few people can say they’ve had that degree of impact upon so many.
I’ll be spending a fair bit of time next week helping out at the Tiffen stand at the Broadcast Show in Earl’s Court, London.¬† I’ll be demonstrating a range of Steadicam rigs as well as answering any questions people might have.¬† I got my first ever “go” on a proper Steadicam at one of these events waaay back in distant memory, so I can easily be persuaded to let others do the same!
