The Chapman Leonard family invited the Society of Camera Operators once again to participate in their 2nd Annual Chapman Product Showcase held on May 31, 2015. Last year the SOC cheap nfl jerseys presented a hands-on demo and discussion of how to make the most use of the Chapman Dolly and Cranes in Handheld or Steadicam camera use. The thought Breda was that this would provide an additional creative toolset for successful? operators by incorporating handheld tracking shots with the potential of stepping off a Dolly or Crane and having the shot develop in a unique way. It was a rousing success!

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Photo by George Leon, Filmcast Photos.

2014 Product Showcase was the first ever event that Chapman held and it was well received but scantly attended. This year the SOC took part in the publicity as well as Local 600 and the Digital Cinema Society to name but a few. The wholesale jerseys turnout was markedly improved. Everyone was thrilled with the food, which included and In-N-Out truck, Gourmet sandwiches from Mendocino Farms, a Taco Cart, Shave Ice and Rosy’s Fruit. There were product demos and the entire parking lot at Chapman was shoulder to shoulder with the wide array of Cranes, Remote heads, Jib arms, Dollys and the new Carbon Fiber Dolly Track. It was a beautiful sunny day in North Hollywood.

The SOC offered up Steadicam walk on and off the mighty Titan Crane, supervised by SOC members and experienced Steadicam Operators Dave Emmerichs and Twojay Dhillon. Dan Ikeda from Tiffen had two Archer Model Steadicam rigs outfitted with two RED Scarlet cameras from Birns and Sawyer. Cameras and monitors were also provided by Clairmont Camera, Cineverse, EVS and The Camera House for promotional consideration. Having cameras and monitors on all of the moving camera platforms enabled a great range of hands-on experience for the attendees. In addition to the usual collection of professional Camera Operators and Dolly Crane Grips in attendance there were students from as far away as the San Francisco Art School shepherded by SOC Education Chair Hugh Litfin, other local film schools as well as filmmaking professionals, producers and directors eager to learn about the wide range of Cranes and Dollys that Chapman Leonard Studio Equipment has to offer.

Photo by George Leon, Filmcast Photos.

Photo by George Leon, Filmcast Photos.

Chapman Leonard offered up three new product demos; The Miniscope compact telescopic crane with new Lightweight C/L Mag Remote Head introduced by Leonard Chapman, The Cobra VT 22-61 Dolly introduced by Dave Frederick, SOC with Dolly Crane Grip Chris Brow, and the family of Hydrascope Telescoping crane arms by Dolly Crane Grip Erik Zuker (EZ).

The Chap-A-Thon Dolly Grip competition was introduced to the event, which was a clever idea by Chris Brow. This is a new head to head timed skills competition that was won by Key Crane Dolly Grip, George Palmer. At stake was a brand new iPad Mini. There were two tours of the facility given by the Chapman Family.

The SOC panel, “Camera Operator & Dolly Crane Grip – The necessary Synergy and 2015 Connection was very well attended. Veteran Operators Michael Scott, SOC, David Emmerichs, SOC and Bobby Altman, SOC invited their collaborating Dolly Crane Grips and they screened clips from shared projects and spoke to the effectiveness of their collaboration and the Seattle Seahawks Jerseys results on the big screen. Dave Emmerichs and John Mang presented a shot from Bad Boyz II that had John Mang pushing Awards the camera in and out of two rooms on a circular track amid hails of gunfire and action. There was an obvious pairing of a great talent and orchestration of this clever and complicated camera ballet. Michael Scott, SOC presented a tracking shot that circled a table with Sir Ben Kingley and Annette Bening in a very highly charged scene that had a very specific timing. Journalism Dolly Grip Bill Wynn was not available so Chris Brow stepped in and participated in the grip’s perspective on how to accomplish this tricky shot. Bobby Altman, SOC presented a clip that showcased the new Cobra Dolly that was handled by his collaborating Dolly Grip Gerrit Garretsen on the TV series, “Bones”. Citing a very tight practical space to work in, Bobby and Gerrit illustrated how when shown the shot that they needed to accomplish they put their heads together and came up with the perfect artistic and accurate storytelling solution. Fortunately they had the brand new Cobra dolly on a weeklong demo and it suited the shot perfectly. Moderator Frederick was able to field questions from the audience of Dolly Grips and other filmmakers and the hour-long discussion proved to be very interesting and was very well received.

Dave Frederick, SOC speaks with Jennifer Chapman about the role of the Camera Operator and the use of the Chapman Titan Crane as a time saving and high production value tool.

Dave Frederick, SOC speaks with Jennifer Chapman about the role Diverse of the Camera Operator and the use of the Chapman Titan Crane as a time saving and high production value tool.

The raffle prizes were amazing! Power tools, restaurant meals, and more – all ticket sales receipts went to the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital to make a difference to the families with Children with Heart Disease.

SOC Panel moderator Dave Frederick illustrates the synergy and collaborative efforts between the Dolly Crane Grip and the Operating Cameraman at the 2015 Chapman Leonard Product Showcase.

SOC Panel moderator Dave Frederick illustrates the synergy and collaborative efforts between the Dolly Crane Grip and the Operating Cameraman at the 2015 Chapman Leonard Product Showcase.

SOC Panelists, L-R, Christopher Brow, Dolly Grane Grip, Bobby Altman, SOC, Operator and Gerrit Garretsen, Dolly Crane Grip. Bobby and Gerit were speaking about their collaboration on the past season of “Bones”.

SOC Panelists, L-R, Christopher Brow, Dolly Grane Grip, Bobby Altman, SOC, Operator and Gerrit Garretsen, Dolly Crane Grip. Bobby and Gerit were speaking about their collaboration on the past season of “Bones”.

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