Q&A with Amando Crespo Gonzalez

Do you remember the first time you saw or heard of the Steadicam?
Yes... at 1988, I couldn't understand how a camera could fly over the set...


What was it about the Steadicam that made you want to pursue it as a career?
I think that Steadicam loved me... It was a "love story" ...


What were some of the biggest challenges you remember about becoming a Steadicam operator?
With my old III-A my first work with a Arri BL-4


What are some of the biggest challenges now?
..to be proud of my family, my girl friend Anita (well knowed steadicam "amateur" girl operator at Spain)


Did you ever have a "big break' moment? A career event that clearly changed or paved the way for everything to follow?
..yes!.. But never fall...


From whom do you take your inspiration? Has that changed over the course of your career?
Charles Papert


Is there a shot, film, or moment in your career that you can think of as your most proud?
No... I have more shoots. Long and longest..


What work of your peers do you admire?
"Ugly Betty" by Charles Papert and EMERGENCY


Many people will say they've tried on a Steadicam once, and immediately thought, "absolutely not." What do you think is different about those of us that say "absolutely"?
...Sense of humor about it?...

Angenieux Introduces New Lightweight Zoom

With the Steadicam in the back of their minds, Angenieux unveiled its newest lens in their line of lightweight zooms at the NAB convention in Las Vegas. The 45-120 weighs in at 4.3lbs and is only 8 inches long from the PL mount in the rear to the 114mm front element housing. Joining its lightweight predecessors, the 15-40 and 28-76, the new lens completes a DP's need for a substantial range of focal lengths, and a Steadicam operator's need to not carry around a 2 foot long, 12 pound piece of glass on the front of their rig.

Although rod support is an option, these lightweight zooms can easily fly unsupported, with a clip on matte box, allowing for a Steadicam setup to be built without heavy sliding base plates and studio matte boxes - saving many unnecessary pounds.

Steadicam faces its toughest competition yet

After nearly 40 years as the dominant tool in the competitive Personally-Wearable-Motion-Picture-Camera-Stabilization-System market (PWMPCSS), the Steadicam gets thrown out of balance - both static AND dynamic - by a product that can literally fit in the palm of your hand.

Enter The Steadiglove.  Using ultra top secret, proprietary technology, the Steadiglove looks like nothing more than a full fingered bicycle glove that you could probably buy at any bicycle or hardware shop.  Unlike the Steadicam, which employs Newtonian laws of physics and brilliant mechanical design to isolate the movements of the operator from the movements of the camera, the Steadiglove works by simply putting it on your hand.  The result is an image free of all undesired vibration.

Upon seeing the new product for the first time, the Academy Award winning inventor of the Steadicam, Garrett Brown stated, "I can't believe I never considered a simple glove would be easier to use than 75 pounds of metal strapped to the operator's body."  He then buried his face in his hands and wept a little.

When reached for a counter comment, the creator of the Steadiglove demonstrated its versatility by placing his thumb to his nose, wiggling his fingers, and making a raspberry sound.

As of now, the Steadiglove only comes in a right-handed version.  A model for southpaws is said to be under development, but will take much longer to release, primarily because nobody cares about lefties.

The Steadiglove can be seen in action below.

The Steadiglove from Reel Vision on Vimeo.