Joe

  We in the camera movement community lost a good friend this week. Joe Cuzan, who was a tech for Cinemoves, was killed on Friday while working on his truck. I first met Joey in 2003 on Big Fish. He was a big, smiling man who was quick with a joke and never got frustrated or angry. I remember on that job we were pulling a 50' Technocrane through mounds of sawdust at the circus set at wrap, trying to get it to the trailer. It was about 5 am and we were tired and ready to get back to our hotel rooms..  At about a hundred feet from the trailer the steering handle sheared off, making a long night even longer. Joe didn't curse or get upset (unlike me). He calmly got down under the base and figured out how to fix it. That's how he was. He knew there were more important things than this business. I just happened to see him Thursday night on a job after not seeing him for a year or so. He shook my hand and gave me a big hug with that smile he always had. We later made a joke about a PA telling him where to stick his paperwork. At the end of the night I shook his hand, said  "Thanks Joey," and left. The next night we learned that he had left us. He was a good dude. Those of us lucky enough to have worked with him will miss him. Scott Howell and the whole Cinemoves family has stepped up to help support his children, Sebastian and Isabella. A fund has been set up in Joe's name at http://www.gofundme.com/joe_cuzan.
 Please give if you can.

   Joey, "Fancypants," I'll miss your smiling face buddy. See you down the road.

                                          The Cinemoves Family. Joe is in red on the left.

Lay The Room (in dance floor)

   I'm just finishing up the latest epic. nine weeks of dance floor and crane work and I'm worn out, and strangely elated. I love dance floor work. It really is a disappearing art in a lot of ways. In a world where most young directors just want to bring out the Steadicam (or "Crowd Pleaser"as an operator friend and I call it), I think a lot of younger dolly grips aren't familiarizing themselves with the craft as we all used to. There was a time when dance floor moves were just a regular everyday occurance that you had to contend with. Dolly grips learned how to lay it, overcome problems with thresholds and carpet, etc., and not get freaked out as the combos got bigger and more complicated. Now, dance floor seems to be only infrequently used, and then mostly in tv work. As a matter of fact, I now use dance floor work as a benchmark of mastery of the craft. I once had a very young grip tell me that he had taken set gripping as far as it could go and was considering putting himself out on the market as a dolly grip (after I had just shown him how to put on the low mode). "Oh really?" I asked. "Can you do a five or six point dance floor move with three booms in it and nail it by the second take?" He had no clue what I was talking about. In that spirit, here is a short primer:

1. Lay to the wall. In other words, don't try to lay to the angle of the move. Lay the floor parallel to the set walls. You'll see why if you don't.

2. Try to lay the floor in pads or squares when possible. Avoid tailoring the floor to the exact move in "L's" or other irregular shapes.

3. Accommodate the actors. Don't have them half on and off a floor. Lay it bigger.

4. Learn the move in chunks. If you try to envision the whole move in it's entirety, you'll get freaked out. Let the actors tell you where to go next.

5. I tend to worry more about the plywood joints than the plastic ones. They tend to show up more. Try to run the plywood with the direction of the move.

These are just a few hints to help make your dance floor life easier. There's a lot more to it, but this is basic.

Good luck,
D