Garrett Brown

Garrett Brown (native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) an American cinematographer, best known as the inventor of the Steadicam. Brown's invention allows cameramen to film while walking without the normal shaking and jostles of a handheld camera. The Steadicam was first used in the Hal Ashby film, "Bound for Glory" (1976), receiving an Academy Award (Best Cinematography) and since on such films as "Rocky", filming Rocky's running and training sequences, and "" where Garrett walked with the Steadicam shooting film at 1 frame per second to achieve the illusion of high speed motion during the speeder bike chase.

The sequence in "Rocky" that took the audience up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum for the triumphant moment at the top was first filmed during tests for the original Steadicam system. When shown the footage, Director John Avildson thought it would fit well into the training sequence. In the subsequent decades, tens of thousands of visitors to Philadelphia have taken the time to visit that locale and run up the steps, alone or in groups, to enjoy that unique view and share in the energy and triumphant feeling evoked in that sequence.

He was used extensively on Stanley Kubrick's 1980 classic thriller, The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson. Brown's Steadicam work can be seen in over seventy motion pictures.

Brown has also invented the SkyCam (for football games), DiveCam (following olympic divers) and MobyCam (underwater camera following olympic swimmers).

Garrett Brown is the father of Jonathan Brown, a professional cinematographer in his own right. Both worked together as Steadicam operators on the film "Bulworth", directed by and starring Warren Beatty. Member of the American Society of Cinematographers and the Directors Guild of America, Garrett was recipient of an Oscar for Scientific or Technical Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his invention of the Steadicam.

External links

*imdb name|id=0113593|name=Garrett Brown
* [http://www.garrettbrown.com Homepage of Steadicam inventor Garret Brown]
* [http://www.steadicam-ops.com Steadicam Operators Association]
* [http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1352&specialid=48 Interview in Knowledge@Wharton published February 2006]