A cameraman who’s shooting for the stars
Ron Goodman
Aerial cameraman and president
of SpaceCam Systems Inc.
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Latest project: “Troy”
What the job entails: “Everything from operating the camera, pointing it and pressing a button, to running the camera with someone in the helicopter, either the director or the second-unit director, to the point where basically we are an independent unit and are responsible for not only shooting the material but directing it as well.”
Just add a cast of thousands: “In the case of ‘Troy,’ since it is so intensively visual-effects-orient- ed, we collaborated with the visual effects supervisor and basically gave him the background plates he needed to insert the thousands upon thousands of soldiers and boats. What they look for from us in this particular situation is an extremely steady and very controlled frame, because into our frame they are going to insert all of these extra embellishments. SpaceCam [a camera system that Goodman developed] is uniquely suited for this type of visual effects.”
Why it’s not for the pensive: “The working environment inside a helicopter ... is not an environment where you can sit there flying and have a conference call to discuss what you are going to do.”
Why he got into it: “When I went to college I tried engineering for a year and then I went into business and didn’t find it a challenge. So I said, ‘Why not photography?’ My grandfather was an accomplished photographer and artist, and I guess I inherited some of his interests, so I tried that. At the end of my first project [I shot in] a helicopter with a camera system on it and it just appealed to me so much. Everything was there. I had worked part time at an airport as a service guy, so photography and aviation came together. This was 1970.”
First impressions: “The camera was like a space satellite compared to a normal camera on the ground. You are sort of petrified doing anything wrong. It took me a while to calm down and realize it was just equipment.”
Big break: “There were very, very rough, lean times ... and then we started to get some very large films, like ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’ We did all the aerials and then we did ‘Return of the Jedi’ and the ‘Superman’ films. So we were starting to get known. Then we were looking for an agent in Los Angeles and ... we never left.”
Credits: “I am very happy with a lot of the stuff we did in ‘Con Air.’ I’m happy with ‘Twister.’ We certainly got some nice aerials. We have been involved with a lot of Imax projects as well. We did sequences in ‘Everest,’ ‘Dolphins’ and ‘Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure.’ ”
Age: 57.
Resides in: Westlake Village
Salary: “You wouldn’t have much of a life if you wanted to make a million a year as a cameraman. I would say there are aerial cameramen who have very little family life and make a half-million a year. I prefer to be involved with the design and direction of SpaceCam and have more of a home life and more of a relaxing lifestyle than constantly be traveling from point to point. That is one of the really tiring things about aerials; you are not with the film for the entire duration of the shooting. The longest films we are on are two to three months. Mainly it’s three or four days on a film, and it really kills you.”
Rewards, but no awards: “I would love to see some award for aerial cinematography. There have been many projects we have been associated with that have won Oscars for cinematography. I don’t wish to take the wind out of the major director of photography’s sails, but in most instances a film pilot very finely crafts those aerial sequences [with] an aerial cinematographer, and it would be great to somehow have some sort of little award to honor both.”
Problem solving: “Problems are part of the game. The equipment is extremely complex. It would be nice if this type of equipment was reliable as a transistor radio, but the complexity mechanically, electronically and in terms of software are such that it is a real challenge to have it 100% at all times. Helicopters are complex machines as well and ... a part will break. You utilize everything at hand to fix up problems -- couriers, messengers. We have even chartered small aircraft. It is almost like a military operation.”
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On the Web
To see scenes from “Troy,” visit www.calendarlive.com/Troy.
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-- Susan King
