Glidecam Industries
Camelot Industrial Park
130 Camelot Drive, Bldg. #4
Plymouth, MA 02360


Dear Glidecam:

I wanted to drop you a line to let you know how well the Glidecam V-16 has worked out for us on the Homeland shoot. Our original decision to use the Glidecam was based on sheer practicality. We were shooting in rural El Salvador and had to ship all the film equipment from New York to Central America. We did not have the cargo space to include a dolly and all the necessary lengths of dolly track and blocks. I have to admit that I was very skeptical that we could ever make the Glidecam look like a dolly but we had no other choice. Even if we could have brought all the dolly equipment, the shooting schedule was so rushed that it would not allow for the necessary set up time.

The Glidecam turned out to be our savior. After a few days of practice, I was getting dolly smooth shots with no track limitations. Once we got the hang of it, we were going from sticks to the Glidecam in less than 15 minutes set up time - an average dolly shot takes at least a half hour to set up plus rehearsal time and triple the grips. And I loved the freedom it awarded me, especially due to the fact that we were working with many inexperienced actors that did not hit their marks - I was able to make crucial adjustments in terms of distance and composition that ended up saving the takes. Add to this all the other benefits of having a Glidecam at our disposal - ground revealing shots, multidirectional shots, stairs, etc... and you can see why we will never regret our decision to go with Glidecam. Thanks for creating an inexpensive alternative, not only to the Steadicam, but to the dolly as well.


Sincerely,

Jamie Yerkes
Director of Photography, Homeland