Some 40+ years ago, I had the privilege of being one of the engineers and cameramen at the Universal Studios Hartland visual effects facility. One of the many things I designed and built there was a 3-axis motion control model mover. My friend Peter Anderson rescued part of one of these model movers and kept […]
A Visitor from the Past – the Hartland 3-Axis Model Mover Read More »
Much like the high quality, all-aluminum Peter Lisand pedestals, the inventory I bought from the Lisand family included quite a few of these well thought out, well made, medium duty shoulder and body braces. I have used one with a RED Dragon and with a Canon T3i to shoot video, and they were simple to
Peter Lisand Shoulder and Body Braces Read More »
While I am still trying to get the belt drive screws out of the VistaVision camera, which is turning into a long and frustrating process, I thought I’d make a slight turn and show a fascinating piece of equipment that Roy Wagner has left with me with the hopes of finding it a new home.
Still Struggling with the VistaVision Camera Read More »
Much like the high quality, all-aluminum Peter Lisand pedestals, the inventory I bought from the Lisand family included quite a few of these well thought out, well made, medium duty shoulder and body braces. I have used one with a RED Dragon and with a Canon T3i to shoot video, and they were simple to
Peter Lisand Shoulder and Body Braces Read More »
Taken directly from the widescreen wars of the 1950’s and 60’s, is this amazing, production used, three panel Cinerama Slate that comes straight from the set of the western epic drama “How the West Was Won” (1962). “How the West Was Won”, produced by MGM, was directed by John Ford, Henry Hathaway, and George Marshall
Screen Used Slate from”How the West Was Won” Read More »
Much of this week was taken up with doing the final inspection of several cameras so they are ready to go to their new homes, and I didn’t have time to document this process in all the chaos. While taking a breather from that, I pulled out this group of fascinating old light bulbs that
Light Bulbs of Yore Read More »
One of the more surprising and interesting relics we found in the Lucky Brown MovieTech collection was this outwardly nondescript wooden case. We were first intrigued by the MGM decals on the top and front of the case, how heavy it was, and by the name Ray June inscribed on the lid. Inside this custom
Ray June’s Filter Cabinet of Curiosities Read More »
Way back in 2019, I was asked to rebuild the missing sections from the Dykstraflex camera moving system so that a working Dykstraflex could be demonstrated at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Galactic Innovations event. This project happened on a tight schedule, and in the middle of me moving my business across
Further Adventures with the Dykstraflex Read More »
A friend of mine pointed me toward an estate sale of a former USC professor last week and I found a couple of interesting relics that begged me to bring them home. This home in Westwood, CA had the most amazing and eclectic collection of just about anything you could think of, from a player
Estate Sale Finds! Read More »
The other day I was reminiscing with a new client about early motion control cinematography and I happened to mention one of the various versions of video taps that I built long ago. That spurred me to dig this out of storage for a nostalgic look. The concept behind this video tap was not to
A Look Back: Drop-In Video Tap for Mitchell Standard or GC Read More »
