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The Steadicam was invented by Garrett Brown, and there's no better way to highlight this than by citing part of his own list on:
“Why use Steadicam?”
- easy camera movement in small spaces;
- recording on rough, damaged surfaces;
- allows for continued filming where accommodations cannot be set up;
- where any other movement technique would have to be done externally (on a bridge or dock?);
- where it is necessary to isolate the movement of a vehicle;
- where it is necessary to simulate the movement of a vehicle when there is none on the film set;
- for human and superhuman viewpoints;
- to capture any and all movement, where time is a determining factor.
The list goes on. But it’s more convenient to say that the Steadicam turns the impossible into reality.
Mr. Steadicam
Since its first use in a moving scene, the Steadicam has changed the way we see images in films. When Haskell Wexler, ASC worked as the director of photography on the film Bound for Glory (1976), a feature about the life of folk singer Woody Guthrie, he hired Garrett Brown, the creator and operator of the Steadicam, to film a shot with difficult movements. The sequence begins with an overhead crane perspective and gradually descends to closely follow Guthrie's shoulders as he moves through a field of migrants. The subjective and poignant images transport viewers into the film as participants, placing them right in the middle of the action.
Bound for Glory earned Wexler an Oscar for Best Cinematography and introduced Brown's revolutionary equipment to the film industry. “I think at one time or another, every director of photography has dreamed of getting out of the dolly and doing a handheld camera in the crowd,” says Wexler. “But before Garrett Brown invented the Steadicam's balanced camera system, I don’t think there was a smooth way to achieve that effect.”
The ASC awarded Brown the ASC Presidents Award in 2001, which is periodically given to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the art of filmmaking. Brown will receive the award at the 16th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards ceremony on February 17, at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
Previous recipients of the Presidents Award include pioneering cinematographers William Clothier, ASC, Charles Wheeler, ASC, and Guy Green, BSC; visual effects technical innovators Linwood Dunn, ASC, Hans Koenekamp, ASC, and Douglas Trumbull; documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles; actor Robert Duvall; and film restorer Kemp Niver, ASC.
“Garrett Brown’s creation of the Steadicam added a new dimension to the art of filmmaking,” states Victor J. Kemper, president of the ASC. “He invented the tool and showed the industry how to use it. Garrett is a hero behind the camera who has earned his moment of glory on the main stage.”
In 1977, Brown and the Cinema Products Corporation shared an Academy Award (First Class) for the creation and development of the Steadicam. In 1998, Brown and Jerry Holway shared an Academy Special Mention Award for the invention of the floating platform Skyman for Steadicam operators. Brown has also received two Emmy nominations.
“I am immensely grateful for the ASC Presidents Award,” says Brown. “This is the kind of recognition you hope for from your peers.” With a wry sense of humor, he adds, “Fortunately, this isn’t a lifetime achievement award. I’m not done yet, and I’m still bringing innovations to the Steadicam.”
Brown, who currently holds 50 patents for camera designs, also created the Steadicam Jr. for camcorder assistants; the Skycam, which slides on cables for filming sporting events; the Mobycam, an underwater camera first used during the 1992 Summer Olympics; the Gocam, a miniature camera for use on tracks; and the Divecam. Working diligently to improve the quality of his designs, Brown has greatly expanded the cinematographer's toolkit.
Born in Philadelphia, Brown began his career as a producer/director of television commercials and films for Sesame Street. He developed a prototype of the Steadicam in the early 1970s. “I wanted to improve the image of my handheld shots,” he recalls from December 1988. “I was intrigued by the challenge and built a long T-shaped bar out of pipes, which was stable in all directions like someone running in the field. It was very ungainly and bulky, but the shots were surprisingly good.”
Brown continued refining his prototype. To position the camera exactly at the balance point, he added a handle and improved the design. He also incorporated a pulley and cable system that positioned the weight of the camera on the operator's shoulder. After reducing the camera's weight by adding a suspension and an arm, and incorporating a monitor, Brown established the foundation of his original patent on the design, which he named the “Brown Stabilizer.” The initial Steadicam also included a belt for body adjustment, in the form of a vest for the camera operator with an attached articulated arm.
Ed DiGiulio, founder and president of Cinema Products Corporation, saw the potential for using the Steadicam in feature films and financed its development. “The Steadicam was conceived as a special camera designed to film sequences on uneven terrain,” Brown wrote in his Steadicam Maintenance and Operation Manual (1990), “but by 1975, at its debut in feature films, we began to realize that we had underestimated its potential.”
Since 1975, the Steadicam has been part of a sophisticated camera support system that films without contact with the operator, regardless of whether they are stationary or in motion. The operator wears the equipment but remains isolated from it. To date, Brown has operated the Steadicam on 200 feature films and trained over a thousand Steadicam operators in workshops around the world since 1980.
“I really developed the skill to operate the Steadicam during the year I worked with Stanley Kubrick on The Shining,” he states. His fluid camera work gave the terrifying story an unforgettable and sinister atmosphere. “While I was working with John Alcott [BSC], I learned how to do this and also how to teach. It became clear that the future of the Steadicam depends on not limiting this specialty to just a few people. I want to create a group of camera operators who can learn this art and teach others.”
Source: Ray Zone
