Steadishots.org : Steadicam Shot by Dave Knox from Silence of the Lambs

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Operators	Dave Knox	IMDb
Year	1991
Production Links	Official Site	IMDb
Director	Jonathan Demme
DP	Tak Fujimoto
Company	Orion Pictures Corporation
Length of Shot	1:20
Submitted by	SteadiShots
View more shots by Dave Knox

Silence of the Lambs
"Morning Run", By Dave Knox

Knox filled in for McConkey on the opening sequence of the film. This shot contains a lot of great moves, tracking a fast moving subject. One great move within this sequence is the operating as Foster climbs the large obstacle. Since the speed of the actor climbing up and down the netting could be very different from take to take, it required the operator to really be in tune with the actor, anticipating the time it would take to get to the top, and then back down. With the proper timing, as is seen in the final shot, the actor is held in frame throughout, and the camera never stops moving forward.

Operator's Commentary
Johnathan Demme, a really nice man, wanted me to run along with Jodie Foster through the FBI Quantico obstacle course wearing the steadicam. I said "sure!", and then had a private talk with Jodie about keeping everything at a jog, and NOT going full bore and leaving me behind on the first take. We eneded up doing ten takes before lunch and two afterwards. I was toasted, but the last take (the one in the film) looked great.

Equipment Used
Early model Panglide sled (what the hell is dynamic balance?) with lightweight panaflex camera. Cinema Products arm and vest. Assistant Jeff Hand chased right alongside Jodie and me, pulling focus on a single channel Heden hardwire box, the motor was c-clamped to the camera body.

Shot Elements
Running

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