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Member LoginRoss Wood Award
10 May - Adelaide
Geoff Owen from Queensland was awarded the 2003 Ross Wood Award for the “Watoosie” Dolly, which he will help him with the continued marketing of the “Watoosie” and to upgrade his aging computer.
In order for the “Watoosie” to be continued in development, Cinematographers need to support the use of the product. Sometimes we are reluctant to do this with experimental equipment especially if the product is not supported by a company that we know and trust such as “Miller”, O’Connor”, “Panavision” or “J L Fisher”. Geoff would love to be able to do the whole job himself, but knows that without corporate support, he will find it difficult to get off the ground. He would rather keep manufacture here in Australia, but expects that he will have to look overseas for the support he needs
There are many people like Geoff in the Australian Film Industry, who have great ideas but find it very difficult to bring them to the market place because of lack of support. This unfortunately is due to the small size of the industry itself here in Australia.
Australia is in an extremely good position to export locally made equipment, not only because of the exchange rate of the dollar, but the Australian Film Industry is receiving great accolades for its skills and talents both in-front and behind the camera.
About Geoff Owen
Geoff Owen has worked in the Film & T.V. industry for 23 years. He mainly works as a Camera Operator on U.S. drama projects and until recently he also specialised in Steadicam operating, generally employed in a duel roll as “A” or “B” Cam. Op. Steadicam Op. Geoff has also worked as DoP for 2nd. unit’s as well as DoP on several commercial projects on film and video formats, he hopes to move his career further into this roll in the future.
Over the years when working on fast turn-around T.V. Drama Geoff was frustrated by situations where if he could have moved the camera during the “take” he could have saved the need to re-shoot another “take” for reasons such as “foreground blocking”, offering the performers some flexibility in their execution.
In October 2001 Geoff began to concept the design of the “Watoosie”, working closely via fax and telephone with a seasoned Film Industry engineer Jim Clifford of JLC Engineering. Alter several months he settled on the current design and began to build the prototype. As with most prototypes we had a few minor hiccups which ultimately produced a better product. By June 2002 we completed the “Watoosie” in its present form. Although Jim and Geoff could see area’s that they could improve, the prototype worked very well and achieved all the objectives that Geoff had originally set out to conquer and more.
During the construction period Geoff set about to protect his ideas, unable to afford a patent attorney Geoff drafted his own “Innovation Patent” document and in June was granted an Australian Innovation Patent from IP Australia. Geoff also made application to the “Trade Marks” office and secured the word “Watoosie” as a “Trade Mark”.
In October, Geoff received 1st prize from the “Micro Business Network” for “Queensland Manufacturing”, winning a D.I.Y. web site (still under construction) and 12 months of ISP hosting, even though Geoff had already built a web site by that stage (http://users.bigpond.net.au/watoosie) it is not a searchable site through the search engines so he is looking forward to complete this task with the bonus of a new web site.
As we all know the last 12 months has not been the busiest for us all, which has unfortunately limited the funds available to aggressively market the “Watoosie”. This shortage of projects has also made it difficult for Geoff to fully test the philosophy of the “Watoosie” in the field under production conditions.
Geoff realises that marketing this type of equipment successfully will be difficult and take several years. He expects that sales will be limited here in Australia but hopes that he can get interest from overseas where markets are more buoyant.
About the "Watoosie"dolly
The “Watoosie” was primarily designed to aid in the production of fast turn-around television drama, where time is limited to complete the daily shooting schedule and often restricts “set-up” and rehearsal time which can limit the time required to fine tune camera blocking. Often actors are provided little time to rehearse “hitting their mark” and only after several good performances we can print a take that is “good for camera”. Particularly when working with children and animals
There are two rail systems available for the “Watoosie” dolly too track along. The standard system uses two extra support legs to create a “saw horse” type of arrangement. The rail length can be up to 3 meters for light cameras but a rail length of 1 meter is very useful. The second style is a “Unimount” system that requires no extra support legs, it can be fitted onto MOY or Ronford Legs or onto a doily with MOY or Ronford fittings.
As the Rails can be slid over the mounting point to canter lever the camera position a safe rail length of 750mm is optimum.
The “Watoosie” is a short travel camera slide, allowing the operator to trim composition during the “take” when needed or to simply aid camera blocking during camera set-up.
The concept of this type of equipment is not necessarily new, with several other companies offering similar devices. The design of the “Watoosie” focused on versatility of application and compatibility to standard camera mounting apparatus, where competitors products fail.
The “Watoosie” dolly system offers unique solutions to camera movement and positioning not seen before with existing “gripping” equipment.
The “Watoosie” rail system can be mounted on “MOY” or “Ronford” (150mm bowl) legs as well as scaffold pipe found commonly on tracking vehicles. The dolly will accept either MOY or 150mm bowl pan/tilt heads.
The system has been both designed and engineered to endure the rigours associated with location shooting whilst also providing the “grip” with a manageable unit capable of being set-up and used by one person almost anywhere.
Key features of the “Watoosie” include:
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Robust construction
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Manageable weight of under 25Kg
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Variable track length (1 metre track length in standard kit)
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Dual braking system
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Friction control system
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Unique levelling system
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Accepts all professional MOY & 150 mm Bowl Pan/Tilt heads (Over or Under slung)
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Mix N Match support mounting system (incl high legs, low legs, table mounts & scaffold mounts)
The “Watoosie will provide lateral movement rather than the camera being locked off in a fixed position allowing the subject some freedom in the execution of their performance. The “Watoosie” will also benefit the camera operator in the initial set-up of the photographic composition
Some uses of the “Watoosie” Dolly System are:
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Quick in-shot adjustment to hide talent discrepancies
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Short dramatic push-in shots to convey urgency
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A slow push in to build dramatic tension
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A moving point of view
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Small tracking shots for commercial products
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Micro tracking with macro shots
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Camera movements in small or restricted places
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Bridging platform over a bath-tub, bed or log
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Versatile camera positioning inside a vehicle or on a tracking trailer
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Safer camera positioning on a scaffold tower or building
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Fine tuning composition