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The gear game of DSLR cameras is getting out of hand.  When a camera rig costs more than your camera something is wrong.  These were the thoughts that fueled the creation of our latest video “DSLR Camera Rigs”.

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We are starting to collaborate with Dave Creu on more and more projects.    He is heading up an aerial project with us, plus he contributed to our Neumann Films Presets.   On a stormy day in March, he sent me an email about an idea he had.

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This idea would end up being the DSLR Camera Rig video.  It transformed and changed over time, but the idea remained the same.  Create a rig that is so over the top, so unnecessarily large, that it will be laughable.

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What then came into play was, what would the plot be?  We tossed around having guys trying to sell the rig, having a shoot out with a T2i user, even a full on commercial.   We ended up settling on a Behind the Scenes type of Promo video.  As if, this company hired a Videographer to come out and film a progress update on their rig.   The catch would be that the Videographer would put together a great little promo video in a few hours with just a T2i and a tripod.

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The message of this video is quite clear and shows how we feel about certain companies, their prices, and the products they sell. I wanted to do a quick interview with Dave Creu about how he got the idea to do this and how he made the rig.

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NEUMANN FILMS:

Dave,  it was fun collaborating with someone else on a project,  it’s really the first time we have done that.  The premise for this DSLR Film Spoof was great,  how and when did you come up with the idea?

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DAVE CREU:

Thank you!  I’d like to start by saying how much fun it’s been working with you guys on this.  You’ve been great!

The premise of the story comes from realizing how much I had been searching for gear to make my camera look like a “proper” movie-making machine; i.e,  base-plate, rails, and of course, the matte box, for that “cinema” touch.  Soon I began to realize how ridiculously silly all of this made people look.

I remember surfing around different sites looking at how other people had configured their “rigs”, when I happened upon a site featuring photographs of a school play, showing both the stage and the audience.  One photo in particular immediately struck my funny bone and I began laughing hysterically at my own stupidity! The photo was taken from the stage end back toward the audience, and on the very front row there was this guy, face obscured from the HUGE matte box on his DSLR rig that had two big “handlebars”, a long rail system, and counterweight that was hanging over into the next row behind him.  A few seats to his left was another guy with JUST a DSLR camera with about a 24-105mm lens and a shoulder strap gazing over at this other guy with a “what the he..” look on his face!

I felt SO embarrassed for the “rig guy”.  He was obviously compensating, and was oblivious, or just didn’t care that he looked like a moron and was BLOCKING other parents’ views of their own kids as they tried frantically to get those priceless shots with their point-and-shoots and palm-sized camcorders.  Needless to say, I was cured right then and there of “gear envy” and haven’t looked back since.

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NEUMANN FILMS:

That’s hilarious!  At what point did you realize you wanted to turn this into a spoof video?

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DAVE CREU:

There had just been a product released by a certain manufacturer that was nothing more than an overpriced (and oversized) handle for making “movies” with an iphone.  It just looked so amazingly funny seeing how serious they took this thing!  I immediately pictured one of their 3x viewfinders hanging off the back of that iphone, and just about spewed my coffee across the table.  That’s when the inspiration for this story hit me…BIG time.

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NEUMANN FILMS:

Which brings us to the question everyone wants answered…how did you make that rig??

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DAVE CREU:

Well, I’m a DIY guy.  Always have been.  So many guys will relate when I say that guys like us use what we have on hand.  I had just acquired a vintage 70′s motorhome to restore.  The roof was pretty much destroyed and would need replacement.  As I took off the roof-mounted luggage rack a strange idea began to form in my “mind”.  I took the various pieces of the rack into the garage and noticed that I could configure a “cage” type of rig by connecting the joints,  kind of how the older tent poles slip together.  After a few tries I had the basic shape that I was after.  It turned out to be pretty functional, albeit hideous!

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NEUMANN FILMS:

That’s pretty cool,  what will happen to the rig used in the video?

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DAVE CREU:

I’m in talks right now with one of the well known manufacturers to obtain the rights….No, not really.  If there is any interest in it,  it would have to be of the “Smithsonian” type,  because I really don’t know what to do with it! Although local news crews have been after me about it.

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NEUMANN FILMS:

Fantastic!  Well Dave, the spoof was a great idea and it went hand in hand with what I find annoying and bizarre about the DSLR world.  Great work, let’s do it again soon!

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DAVE CREU:

You bet!

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