WEBVTT - SYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: How Steadicams Work 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:04.080 Hi, everybody. Chuck here with another intro for our summer 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.920 movie playlist. Right now, you're about to listen to how 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:10.719 Steadycam Works. This one goes all the way back to 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:13.840 June twenty sixteen. But this was a pretty good one, everybody, 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:18.040 because a steadycam is one of movies great inventions, quite honestly, 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:21.240 first used in some of the early movies like Rocky 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:23.720 and the Shining. We're gonna talk about how it was made, 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:27.080 how it works, and how it works best. So check 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:31.800 it out right now. Welcome to Stuff you should know 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:39.159 from HowStuffWorks dot com. 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:42.440 Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:46.360 Charles w Chuck Bryant. Jerry's over there. Chuck's wearing a hat, 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:47.960 so it's stubby you should know. 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:53.760 Yeah, he's still still pretty sad. Yeah, are you really sure? 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:54.080 Oh? 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.680 All right, Pete, you know what I'm getting The Josh 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:00.000 is referencing my last chance garage hat that I've talked 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:03.840 way too much about. I'm getting the patch remade as 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:06.920 we speak. WHOA, I actually found one an eBay that 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:10.280 had been sold three months ago, and he's all a 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:11.080 big conspiracy? 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:12.240 Is that right? 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:13.080 Now? 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:14.200 Okay? 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:15.640 But I found a picture of the patch that I 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:19.200 sent to a patch maker who like can digitally reproduce 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:19.679 this thing. 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:20.320 Nice man. 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:22.920 Well then I got to find in the right hat it's. 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:25.080 Coming back home. Well that's step one. That's a big 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:25.640 step one. 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:27.520 Yeah, I'm getting a few patches and a few hats 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:27.880 this time. 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:30.240 I think that's a good idea. Yeah, you can name 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:31.040 them one through eight. 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:31.640 That's right. 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:38.039 Let's see, Chuck, you worked in the film industry previously. 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:39.679 Yeah, so did you technically? 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:44.360 Yeah, you did more than I did by far. You 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:47.400 worked it in front of and behind the camera. 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:47.600 That's right. 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:50.440 Did you ever work with a steady cam at all? 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:51.160 Yeah? 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:53.320 So, like you've seen these things up close? 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:53.720 Yep. 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.840 I don't recall Scott or anybody using one. 0:01:57.280 --> 0:01:58.600 We did not have one on our show. 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:01.640 Okay, they're expensive, Okay, but I mean there is some 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:04.640 pretty good equipment on set. It seemed like sure, but 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:06.640 there was no steady cam, right, Nope, Because I was 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:09.399 trying to recall and I could not, for the life 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:11.960 of me remember a moment when there was an awesome 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:16.560 like extendo arm camera with like all of the components 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:18.680 exploded out into different parts of a poll. 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:20.040 That didn't happen because he would have walked in and 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:23.200 said what's that right, and everyone would have laughed, and 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:24.960 you would have been like, why does everyone make fun 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:26.480 of me? Would have all this stuff? 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:28.600 Oh uh. 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:31.080 Now, we never use one on our TV show for 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:33.800 Science Channel because, like I said, it's pricey to rent. 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:36.560 And this is a bit of a giveaway, but a 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:42.040 person steady cam operator comes with the package, right, with 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:45.360 all the equipment. It's a lot of times their own, 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:48.720 and it's you know, it's pricey, yeah, to pay for 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:52.200 that lady or that dude, right, But. 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:56.000 The reason it is price is because it's it has 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.680 a really good effect. Yeah, and the person who's doing 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:01.360 it really knows what they're doing. 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:02.160 Yeah. 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:05.280 I don't know, but just from researching this, it seemed 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:09.440 like they were probably the most skilled trades person on 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:11.480 the set at any given time when they were on 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:12.600 the set. Is that right? 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:14.840 Well, I think it's just a matter of what skill. 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:16.840 It's just a different skill. 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:19.480 Are they like the highest echelon of camera operators? 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:22.160 No, it's just different Okay, like a top niner. 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:24.119 Niche Yeah, okay, I got it there. 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:27.040 But but you don't just wade into steady cam and 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:29.600 start getting work the next day. It does take a 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:32.360 lot of work to master. But like a good dolly, 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:36.760 grip is just as skilled, right, it just pushing that 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:38.600 thing around, But that takes a. 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:41.320 Very non herky jerky Well it's not. 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:44.200 Gonna be herky jerky anyway, but just to hit the marks, right, 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:46.120 and oh I see yeah, I mean all that stuff 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:47.240 takes a great amount of skill. 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:49.800 Well, let's talk about this because Steadycam, you know, when 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:52.880 I came of age, was already invented. It was it 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:55.840 was basically became commercially available the year I was born. 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:59.280 So I don't really know a world prior to Steady Camp. 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:01.640 I've never seen a movie that came out before nineteen 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:02.600 seventy six. 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:06.960 Funny, and I'm just used to it, right, Yeah, But 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:09.640 it's it's it's interesting to look back and see that 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.240 there there actually is a point in time where this 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:15.480 one dude who was actually kind of an outsider of 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:20.880 the movie business basically changed it permanently forever for sure. 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:25.240 Yeah. His name was Garrett Brown. Is Garrett Brown. 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:26.920 Yeah he's still around right. 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:30.599 Yeah, And he he was working for well, he was 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:34.760 working in TV commercials on Sesame Street, in Philadelphia. Yeah, 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:40.159 and he got a little frustrated, as camera people do 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:45.400 pre steady cam with not being able to accomplish certain shots. 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:50.599 Yeah, there's supposedly there were thirty impossible shots that just 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:54.240 based on the equipment of the day, you just couldn't 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:55.200 do right. 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:55.800 Yeah. 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:57.440 Well, and a lot of it had to do with 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:01.040 like rough terrain. Sure, staircases were big one. Yeah, and 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:03.040 the recent these shots were impossible. It's not like you 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:05.359 couldn't lug a camera around up and down the stairs, 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:08.200 but the movement that the camera recorded would be so 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.240 jarring that it would render the film like that that 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:12.600 it would be unusable. 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:16.000 Yeah, and this was in the day before I mean 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:19.320 there were shaky cam shots and like Cassavettis and all 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:22.520 these early indie filmmakers did a lot of like avant 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.200 garde handheld stuff. But it was known as avant garde 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:28.360 right cause it looked different and people were used to 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:31.440 kind of smoother looking things in mainstream movies at the time. 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:34.719 Yeah, it had like a real frenetic energy to it. 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:36.839 Yeah, which you see all the time now. It's like 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:37.920 a bona fide thing. 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:41.279 But it wasn't just like picking up the movements of 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.840 the camera. It was like telegraphing them as far as 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:47.359 the human brain's concerned, because we take it for granted, 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:51.600 but we have in our own brains a pretty complex system. 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:51.920 Yeah. 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:55.919 That involves the inner ear coordinating with the movement of 0:05:55.960 --> 0:06:00.479 the retina so that it offsets the movement and the 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:04.679 motion and the jarring impact of like just walking. 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:05.240 Yeah. 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:07.440 Like if we didn't have that, we wouldn't be able 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:09.360 to focus on anything while we were moving around. 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:12.400 Yeah, people wouldn't jog. They would get sick and vomit 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:13.080 every time they. 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:15.400 Jog, exactly right, And you certainly wouldn't be able to 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.080 read US Magazine while you were jogging or something like that. 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:21.640 The fact that you can, Yeah, it really is. It 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:26.159 really shows how incredibly complex and well developed the system is. Right, Yes, 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:31.480 that's what the steady cam that Garrett Brown created sought 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:34.080 to recreate and he did it. He nailed it, like 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:35.039 on the first time out. 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:39.440 Basically, Yeah, because we mentioned a dolli. That is, people 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:42.640 that know film know this stuff is like pretty rudimentary information, 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:44.800 But a lot of people don't know what a dolli is. 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.040 And they see the word dolly grip in the movie. 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:50.040 They just think it sounds funny. But the DOLLI is 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:51.960 how you typically would get a smooth shot. It's just 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:57.359 a big, super super heavy sled with wheels right that 0:06:57.480 --> 0:06:59.760 the camera sits on and the camera operator sits on. 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:02.719 And it's either on a very smooth floor, it's on 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.880 a piece of track like a little railroad car, and 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:07.920 it pushes along and that's how you get those nice 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:08.600 smooth shots. 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:11.360 So that's a dolly. The problem with the dolly is 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:15.080 is you can't really lay that track over a rocky 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:18.000 terrain if you're filming on Mars or something like that. 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.520 No, and like you said, you can't push it up 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:23.120 and downstairs. It just had its limitations. 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:25.160 Right, it did. So Garrett Brown said, I'm sick of 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.240 these limitations. I'm so tired of being limited by dolly 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:32.240 stupid dollies. I'm going to invent something better. And so 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:37.160 he tinkered around with his what was called the Brown 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:41.880 Stabilizer at first, Yeah, he later renamed the steady Cam. Yeah, 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:45.200 and to show off, like at first he was just 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:47.640 using him in commercials, and he was like, this is 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:50.400 way bigger than just commercials. Yeah, I'm going to make 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:53.720 a sizzle reel, and he made a sizzle reel of 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:57.680 the thirty impossible shots that you just couldn't do before, 0:07:57.760 --> 0:07:59.440 and he did it with the steady cam, but he 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:00.960 didn't show how it was done. 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:04.560 Yeah, and you can. He was able to save ten 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:08.080 of those shots and digitize them, and a couple of 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:11.560 years ago he finally released online ten of those so 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:13.800 you can actually go see this original reel. Yeah, it's 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:14.960 pretty cool. 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:17.440 His wife and his best friend like just doing stuff, 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:19.840 while just doing stuff, like, you know, like one of 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:23.720 them was swimming. You can't run alongside somebody swimming, apparently 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.240 was an impossible shot. I'm not quite sure why. 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.840 Well, you just couldn't run alongside someone doing anything. 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:31.480 Oh, okay, that's what it was, even with a dolly. 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:35.280 Well, no, you could have. You could have laid dolly 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:37.200 track down the link of a swimming pool. 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:38.800 Shirt, right, That's why I didn't understand that one was 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:42.160 an impossible shot. But to show off, he goes question 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:47.720 he goes around a slide just to kind of show. 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.000 Maybe maybe that was the impossibility of it. 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:51.839 But then his buddy gets out of the pool and 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:54.800 like walking like he pivots around him, and I'm sure 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.280 when he put this reel together and he sent it out. 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:02.359 The directors are like, this is magic sorcery. 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:05.160 Well, it was mind blowing, and some people say it 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:09.080 was the first viral video because it was shared around 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:13.520 Hollywood literally in a matter of days. Everybody in Hollywood 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:16.440 was saying what in the world, Like you said, what 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:17.360 is this sorcery? 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:17.880 Right? 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:19.839 This Garrett Brown has bestowed upon us. 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.520 Yeah, it was a bit of a mic drop as 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:23.720 far as that reel goes. 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:28.200 And Stanley Kubrick being Stanley Kubrick sent a message to 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:31.520 Garrett Brown that said, if you are really concerned about 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:34.959 protecting its design before you fully patent it, I suggest 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:37.120 you delete the two occasions on the reel where the 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:40.000 shadow on the ground gives a skilled counter intelligence photo 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:43.160 interpreter a fairly clear representation of a man holding a 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:45.280 pole with one hand, with something or other at the 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:47.280 bottom of the pole, which appears to be slowly moving. 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.679 All of that is Stanley Kubrickian for, Hey, there's a 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:56.120 shadow in one of your shots of the steady camop. 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:59.000 Yeah, which was pretty cool of him to do. Sure, 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:01.240 because I'm sure there were plenty of people in Hollywood 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:03.079 who would have been like Okay, I think I kind 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.679 of get the idea of what this was, because there 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:09.920 was no suggestion whatsoever of what what Garrett Brown had 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:12.360 used to get these shots except in those shadows. So 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:16.040 he went eat and went and immediately cut those, yeah, 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:18.720 those I think fourteen seconds out of his reel and 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:20.280 then released the second edition. 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:22.560 And it looked pretty good. I mean, it's it's rough 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:26.080 compared to today's standard, sure, but the time it was 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:27.959 it was like unbelievable, right. 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:32.240 It changed everything? Oh yeah. And one of the shots 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:36.400 that he got was his wife Ellen. He said, dear, 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:39.320 why don't you put on your most seventies bell bottoms 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:42.280 you can find? And I'm going to run up behind 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:44.840 you as you run up the steps to the Philadelphia 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.520 Museum of Art, and maybe when you get to the top, 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:51.360 you can raise your hands in triumph and I will 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:55.360 spin around you. And if that shot sounds familiar, it 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:59.880 actually attracted a guy, a director named John what is 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:00.840 the Avilson? 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:03.800 Yeah, John G. Avelson, who said I. 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:05.640 Like this, I'm going to use it in this little 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:07.160 film I'm directing called Rocky. 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:08.040 Yeah. 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.760 And I didn't get whether or not this was the case, 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:16.280 but did they did? They locate Rocky in Philadelphia because 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:19.760 of those steps. No, because he said, how did you 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:21.880 do that? And where are those steps? 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:26.280 I don't think so, man, because I wondered that too, like, like, 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:28.240 did he not have a scene written where Rocky just 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:30.760 runs up those steps? Right? I mean Stallone wrote it. 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:33.680 I think they just have to ask him. 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:40.839 Okay, hey, Sly, I was wondering if that was pretty good. 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:43.800 I answered in that little moment. Someone will have to 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:48.960 interpret that. Great movie though. Man, I rewatched that Rocky. Yeah, 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:53.120 like this year, from beginning to end, just phenomenal movie. 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:55.600 I'm trying to get Emily to watch it. 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.680 Has she never seen the original? No, it's its own 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:01.439 thing for sure, Like it's it's much like the sequel. 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:03.720 No, really, it's a love story for the most part. 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:07.120 It's a love story and like the triumph of the 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:07.680 Little Guy. 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:10.800 Yeah story for sure, Yeah, featuring boxing. 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:13.920 Right, that's exactly right. Yeah, But two and three and 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:17.200 on onward, it's like a totally different thing. 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:18.520 Yeah, but those are good too. 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:20.720 Yeah. They said, let's take your story, take out the 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:22.679 heart and insert cocaine instead. 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:28.120 Insert mister t I don't get the cocaine reference. 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:31.280 Oh, it's just the eighties in Hollywood got hands on sure, 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:32.400 you know what I mean, I gotcha. 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:36.120 Uh yeah, that's a good question, though I wonder about 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:39.319 that if he surely they didn't remake it for Philadelphia 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:39.920 just for that. 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:44.120 Well, But the point is is Garrett Brown created on 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:48.680 this sizzle reel the one of the most iconic shots 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:51.720 in filmmaking history, for sure, and he sent that reel 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:55.240 out and within that year, I believe nineteen seventy six, 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.720 three Major Motion Pictures hired him to operate his steady 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.840 camp for it. There was Rocky Yep, there was what 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:05.840 was the one about Woody Guthrie. 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.320 Bound for Glory? Yeah, I think that one came out first, 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:11.840 So that was the first actual like h and that 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:15.280 one the steady came up was Garrett Brown, I think 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:17.040 for all these because he was the only guy that 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:18.600 knew how. He got a lot of work early on. 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:20.440 Yeah, and I think the operation, I think the patent 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:22.760 was still pending until nineteen seventy seven, so I'm sure 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:25.080 he don't play the thing out of everybody closed your 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:26.040 eyes while I shoot this. 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.840 But on Bound for Glory, he was on a crane 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:34.440 even that lowered down, stepped off the crane. So people 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:37.000 had seen crane shots, but then for the crane to 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:38.839 go down, down, down, and then all of a sudden 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:40.679 start following this guy. Everyone was like, what. 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:42.840 In the world, right, there would have been a cut, Yeah, 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:45.720 after the crane stopped, and then before you know, they 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:47.400 would have cut and he would have gotten a position 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:49.920 and then started up again. This is one smooth shot. 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:51.480 One smooth shot, yeah, and then. 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:54.280 The other one was Marathon Man. So right out of 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:56.640 the blue, this guy who was a commercial director and 0:13:56.720 --> 0:14:01.400 made short films for Same Street, changed filmmaking single handedly. 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.600 Yeah, and won an Academy Award nineteen seventy eight for 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:11.320 Technical Achievement. I got that patent in seventy seven. And well, 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:12.800 that's it. That's the history of the steadycam. 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:14.880 That's it. Everybody, good night. 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:18.000 But we're gonna should we take a break and tell 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:19.040 everyone how this thing works. 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:38.080 Let's do it man, all right, Chuck, So the Steadi Camp. 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:41.040 Do you remember when we did our episode on breathalyzers. 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:43.480 Oh boy, that was a long time ago, and we. 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:45.560 Found out that the breathalyzer is one of the most 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:46.920 complicated machines. 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.840 Yeah, on the planet. I kind of hated that one. 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:54.560 Like there were crystals involved somehow I hated that one too, 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:59.000 dark crystals. This is a bit like that, like if 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:02.080 you really dive in the steadycams. Like this article on 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:07.480 how stuff works, does it's labyrinthine talk about the dark crystal? Yeah, 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:08.920 we're talking labyrinth instead. 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:12.600 Yeah. But we're gonna simplify it because you don't need 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:14.640 to break this thing apart and look at every component 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:15.680 like this article does. 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:17.840 I mean, it really gets involved. 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:19.760 What you should do is look at a picture of 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:22.880 someone operating one. Yeah, and just because when you look 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:25.880 at it, you go, it all makes a lot more sense. 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.560 Right, And there's really just three main parts to the 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:31.560 whole thing. There's a vest, there's an arm that's attached 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:33.080 to the vest, and then the other end of the 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:36.200 arm is attached to what's called the sled, yeah, which 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:39.720 is what the camera and its components are mounted on. Right. 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:43.680 Yeah, And that arm, I mean just picture yourself wearing 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:49.320 a like a baby Bjorn baby carrier, except for instead 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:53.160 of the baby at your sternum, there's a mechanical arm 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:53.960 coming out. 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:54.880 Like a spring arm lamp. 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:57.960 Yeah, like accordion arm or a spring arm lamp. 0:15:58.040 --> 0:15:59.720 Right, and it's virtually the same thing. 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:01.920 Well, yeah, and you guess who made one of these 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:06.560 by himself before they started making them for at home people. 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:07.520 Who? Casey? 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:09.720 No, who my brother of course? Oh? 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:10.480 Did he really? Yeah? 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:12.080 Yeah, my brother made one of these in like the 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:12.920 early nineties. 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:13.640 Did he really? 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.840 Out of door hinges and rubber bands and springs? 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:19.120 Does he still have it? Is it in the Smithsonian? 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:22.600 I don't know, it's in the Scotsonian, nice, which is 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:25.000 where all his early mentions. 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:25.680 With all his pinball machines. 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:27.880 Yeah, but he made one. He basically did the same thing. 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:30.800 He looked at it and looked at these uh swing 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:33.880 arm lamps and accordion arm lamps, and it's like, well, 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:35.760 it's the same thing. I'll just make a version of that. 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:37.920 It is, and it worked pretty good. It's virtually the 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:38.360 same thing. 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:38.760 Yeah. 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:41.360 So the whole point of a steady cam is that 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:45.080 it basically simulates or the arm at least simulates a 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:48.840 human arm right to where it can move around very easily. Yeah, 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:52.000 And it redistributes the weight of the camera, which can 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:54.520 be up to like seventy pounds I imagine probably more. 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:56.920 Yeah, the whole unit is pretty heavy, and it's not 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:59.280 easy to operate, but it hold a wear you out. 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:01.800 It holds it flessly, and it holds it in place. 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:04.760 This arm does and it does it by using springs. 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.520 And you can adjust the tension of the springs by 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:10.320 using a cable and pulley system. Yes, so that it 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:13.600 offsets the balance of the camera and holds it in 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:17.359 space in front of the camera operator basically so that 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:20.200 they can move it effortlessly up down to the side. 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.200 You can put the camera on top of the sled 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.280 so that you get high shots. You can switch it 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:27.760 so it goes on the bottom so you can get 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:28.720 low angle shots. 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:31.280 Yeah. The traditional it's called high mode and low mode. 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:34.399 And high mode is it doesn't mean it's high. It 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:37.040 just means it's on the top of the unit. And 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:38.960 then low mode is when it's on the bottom. So 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.240 if you wanted to film a mouse running across the floor, 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:43.800 you would put it in low mode, right, if you 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:45.440 want to film a human, you'd put it in high mode. 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:49.520 Yeah, And the camera itself is broken out into pieces, 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.600 which is kind of an ingenious trick that I guess 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:55.800 Garrett Brown came up with himself. I think he did. 0:17:56.840 --> 0:18:00.760 And this is the third part the camera sled right. 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:03.680 Yes, the slid is what holds all the equipment. 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:06.720 Right, And it's basically a pole with a little bit 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:10.359 at the top called the stage, and that's where the 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:12.399 camera goes, or it could be at the bottom wherever 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:15.600 the camera is. The camera's mounted to the stage. Yes, 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:19.119 then you get the pole itself and then the I 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:24.240 guess the arm is connected to the pole by a gibble. 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:24.880 A gimbal. 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:27.960 A gimbal, that's right. And that's like an old technology. 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:33.919 It's basically something that uses basically a gyroscopic action to 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:37.320 take the movement of whatever is seeking to move, whatever 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:39.520 you want to hold still and getting rid of it. 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:42.000 Like everything around it moves except for the thing that 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:42.920 you want to hold still. 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:43.840 Yeah, it's pretty neat. 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:46.640 It's super neat. And that's just the one arm that's 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:49.440