New Toy (Glidecam) - first impressions

clive

clive

Hi Guys,

As this year I'm shooting a dv feature this year and also as my business is picking up nicely, I've been investing in some new kit.

Anyhow, a few days back I ordered a Glidecam Pro 2000 for my camcorder and today I took it out on a job for the first time.

Man, I should have bought one of these years ago. It's just a fabulous piece of kit and even though I've only been playing with it for a couple of days, I'm already getting some nice sequences out of it.

The only negative thing I would say is that with a really light camcorder, like my Panasonic, setting the balance is pretty tricky. (The camera is so light you have to remove all the weights) In the end the only way to fine balance it was to blu-tack some pennies on one side. However, I've ordered a Bogen quick release plate for the camera and the weight of that will mean that I'll have to counter weight the bottom; I believe that this will make adjustment easier and in the long run give even greater stability.

For those of you thinking about going down this route, the whole thing gets a massive thumbs up from me, and the guys at Gildecam were super-helpful. I ordered it and it was here in the UK three days later.

When I start doing test shots for the feature (in the summer) I'll post some footage. I know that's a while, but I want to get my skill levels up first. It's a vanity thing. This feature is going to be the first time I've ever done my own camera work on a feature lenght project and I want to get it right. I know I can do it, but it's a fairly big step up from anything I've shot in the past.
 
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I'd actually like before and after clips as you learn along with tips to tell how you personally get rid of bad habits and pick up new ones. I do understand the vanity thing, but I'd like to see where it starts before I see where it goes. :)
 
sounds sweet, how much did you end up paying? (if you don't mind me asking!)
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I got a good discount with my indietalk membership.

knightly I'd actually like before and after clips as you learn along with tips to tell how you personally get rid of bad habits and pick up new ones. I do understand the vanity thing, but I'd like to see where it starts before I see where it goes.
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No problem. I can't use the footage I shoot today because there is a client confidentially issue, but I'll shoot something else and update this thread when I learn anything useful.
 
I'd also be interested in your progress with this piece of kit, as I am thinking of hiring one for a few shots.

Steven
 
If you want to have some fun, walk backwards down a hallway with a low angle up-tilt at the chin of somone walking dramatically forward. That was the first thing I shot (for fun) with a Glidecam- amazing little tools, they are. You'll never want to pick up a tripod again!
 
You'll never want to pick up a tripod again!
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It's an interesting approach to shooting. I've just been watching "The Bourne Supremacy" and 99% of that looks like it was shot on steady-cam. It's got that, "just a little movement" look; even on shots that would traditionally have been static. I think with the right kind of subject matter it's a great way to shoot, especially with these smaller camcorders, where you just can't shoulder mount.

My resistance to cameras like the PD170 and the AG DVX100/200 has aways been the fact that they don't shoulder mount properly, but with this piece of kit I don't need to and if anything the overall effect is better.

Anyhow, I'm digitising footage in right now, so if I get anything that I think will be useful I'd compress it and post it. I'll look for stuff where I loose control of the camera for a moment, just to show where I've still got room for development as an operator. ;)
 
View attachment Glidecam Test 1a.mov

Here as promised is my first go. This is straight from the camera footage with no colour correction, and with everything set on auto (So, if the exposure looks wrong and the camera hunts for focus at points it's because I wasn't bothering to set those manually)

This is what I learned from the experience.

1) With pans it's better to move the whole unit with your body/arm; rather than using finger control to rotate the post in the gimbal – the second method is too hard to control the end point of the pan. It is, however, a very good way to whip pan out of a shot.

2) The light weight cameras definitely need some balast - with all the weights removed to get it right for my camera as is, it means the unit is prone to drift with the slightest breeze. I tried to compensate by using the control hand to steady the rod, by this just took away the steady-cam properties. You'll also notice on the running in wood section that the lack of weight caused the camera to drift down. I'm sure the extra weight will solve this problem.

3) Even with the LCD screen out monitoring is tough, especially if you are changing the height. (This is heightened on light camrea set ups, because any movement of the LCD screen to compensate alters the centre of gravity - thus throwing your horizon off.)

One I've rebalanced the whole thing with extra weight I'll try again and let you know if it makes a difference.
 
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cool...as your arms get stronger too, your footage will be more stable as your arms are able to hold still for longer periods of time. Fencing has taught me this :) To practice separating your arm movement from your body (using the handle, not a vest right?), carry around a glass of water (scalding hot will make you improve faster, but cause severe burns ;) ) without letting the surface ripple.
 
Fencing has taught me this To practice separating your arm movement from your body (using the handle, not a vest right?), carry around a glass of water (scalding hot will make you improve faster, but cause severe burns ) without letting the surface ripple.
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Good tip. I was a finalist in the ILEA novices fencing championship in 1987, but haven't used a foil in years.

Yeap, I'm just using the handle (no forearm brace). I think you're right, practice will definitely improve the technique. However, I think that for a palmcorder I can already see that this is an alternative to shoulder mounted.

Give me a couple of weeks and I'll have ironed the technique kinks out.
 
Good news. The Bogen quick release plate, Beach-tek XLR to mini jack adapter and Audio Technica mic have arrived.

This means that the actual camera weight has gone up dramtically and therefore I've had to add additional counter weights to the Glidecam.

As I suspected, this has increased the stability 700%.

The floating on static shots has been eliminated, as has that drift and it's all much, much smoother. It's also now very easy to adjust into balance.

I was happy with the unit before, I'm now very, very happy. Once I've got some free time I'll repeat my camera test so you can see a difference now the weight of the unit has gone up.

On a separate note, the new audio set-up is ultra sweet. There is no noise on the adapter unit (it even had a switch that took out the camera hum) ... and the microphone is absolutely marvellous (Big thanks to indie for recommendation on that)
 
I got the Glidecam for a feature a few years back. To be honest I dont know if its the same model you have, but I never used it much. My DP hated it. But we were using the GL2 at the time and we could never really get it to work right. Maybe the Canon was too light.. Maybe we were just impatient..lol
 
The additional weight makes a lot of difference. And, it's a completely different way of shooting from anything else I've tried. I think it depends on what you're going for, but for me it's opened up ways of working you can't do with a camera that doesn't shoulder mount.
 
I'll try to get something shot and posted this week, but the week is getting away from me - I have a deadline that I'm trying to avoid even looking at because I'm so far behind on it. Hence all the rambling, avoidance postings recently.
 
I'd guess you just weren't patient enough Timberwolf.. I know when our DP used his last fall it would take him about 20-30 minutes to get it balanced just right with a DVX.. and he uses it quite a lot, so there wasn't any time wasted with learning curve or anything like that.

Incidentally, I for one am glad to see that you've decided to continue with your filmmaking Clive. I wish you all the best.
 
Incidentally, I for one am glad to see that you've decided to continue with your filmmaking Clive
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Just needed to take a step back and look at new strategies and for some reason I couldn't do that until I was ready to quit.

Thanks, though.

I agree with your DP's take on the glidecam ... I needed half a day to work out the best way to balance it with such a light camera and then another half day adjusting my shooting style.

I think it can be pretty frustrating to use until you've got the balance issue sorted out - and although it comes with great instructions, when you're actually setting it up for the camera there's a definate knack.

(Oh ... I think the trick with fine tuning the balance is to forget the two sets of screws at the head, but to instead make minor movements of the weights - there's a lot of positional play in them and it's much easier to control .... does that make sense without seeing the unit?)

Anyhow. Shot some footage with the new set up, will probably post something over the weekend
 
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