American Cinematographer - July 1992 - 82

This
Publication....

won't take. He likes

been shot.

When Knox started out,
90% of his jobs were strictly
Steadicam. Now, he does 50%
Steadicam and 50% second camera,

preferring jobs like Sea of Love, The
Hard Way, and the soon-to-be-released Scent of a Woman. He feels
that such projects give him more
time on the set by blending both
skills. "It's more creatively satisfy¬
ing to be on a project day after day,"
he explains.
that
Steadicam is "still in its absolute
Knox

can look at movies
and think it's contributed a lot, but

infancy. You

is Available in

it's

got a very long way to go." The
biggest limitation to date is video

MICROFORM
For

University

technology, he says: 'When a nor¬
mal camera operator looks through
the camera, you can see the scene
in full color, or you can tell if the

Microfilms

extras are

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:

looking at the camera. On
a three-inch
green screen, the extras

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look like video blobs." There's also
a human hindrance:
finding a good
assistant. "It takes a special breed to

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Apt. No.

Steadicam - all the bells and
whistles. I'll tell them if I think it's

Zip

State

City

with commercials, when

agencies want to show the client
they're interested in the product.
They'll bring in Louma cranes,

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pull focus for Steadicam because
they have to work by remote as best
they can. The onus is on them at the
end of the take. That's why there
are as few
good Steadicam assis¬
tants as there are operators."
When a job comes up that
Knox feels isn't right for Steadicam,
he speaks up. "It tends to happen
more

Miss/Mrs./Mr.
Name

maintains

not necessary or appropriate." Film
jobs use Steadicam more for prob¬
lem solving, "so you're more apt to
do something dangerous. You're
the one who gets close to the fire
and follows drugged animals and

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fast cars." Knox talked one director
out of putting the Steadicam in a

helicopter "because helicopters
tend to crash. I told him a Tyler
mount would be better." Knox

rockclimbs in his spare time, and
isn't afraid of heights, "but I'm not

going to let them hoist me by a
cable backed by a construction
crane."
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80

July 1992

lasts four minutes." He won't, for

instance, chase Keith Richards
around

are some

jobs Knox

on

stage for four hours or

follow a football game.

"Sports fig¬
going to hit marks. A
video director half a mile away in
a truck doesn't realize he's
getting
great pictures because of you. You
feel less important."
ures

aren't

Steadicam work, he feels,
should be integral to the project. "It
should support the text of the film
without drawing attention to itself.

Long takes

are popular but that
draws attention to the the fact that
the shot is Steadicam." The first

question Knox always asks is if
other camera angles are involved in
a scene.

"If the shot stands

on

its

own, you've got to make sure
you're satisfied with the pace, the
lighting and the actors' perfor¬
mance. You've
got to be perfect, but

with the conventional method of
two master shots and a close up,

you can cut and paste and build
drama through shot selection."
There comes a point in ev¬

Steadicam shooter's life, Knox
when "you think
Steadicam can do every shot. As I
got older I got more aware of its
limitations, though there are few,
and now I consider Steadicam just
another tool. It7s basically a piece of
grip equipment. I like to use it like
a Louma crane or a Fisher
dolly."
Don't get the wrong im¬
pression, however; Knox loves
Steadicam. "I'm just not married to
the Steadicam anymore. I don't
promote it as a device that can do
every shot, because it's not," he
says. "It's not great for slow tilts, or
pans where control is of the ut¬
most." As the years go by, Knox,
who danced along with the stars of
Dirty Dancing, predicts that he will
move
away from Steadicam and
seek out work as a director of pho¬
tography. "It's a lot of worry to
maintain the equipment and drag
the cameras around the airport," he
concludes. "A regular operator
ery

believes,

calls the
goes to

There

or

film-style
shooting, "where it's like fiction,
creating as we go, and the film only

camera

rental house and

the airport with

night bag."

an over¬

A
American Cinematographer - July 1992

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