effects and animation, he initially thought that was the area he would
pursue. But in his first year, he discovered that he enjoyed shooting other
people's movies.
"I loved running around and moving the camera. I didn't even know
what a Steadicam looked like, but I knew the concept existed." When
Emmerichs first tried on a Steadicam at a New York trade show in 1986,
"It was love at first sight."
In his freshman year, he contacted Steadicam operator Ted Churchill to
learn more about the gear and job function. "He took me under his wing
as an apprentice and started teaching me how to use the equipment. He
took me on jobs. I started learning the ropes from his assistants: how to
thread cameras and be a focus puller. He taught me how to do shots. I
was learning throughout the last three years I was at NYU." Another
mentor was Steadicam operator Jim Moru, who would later recommend
Emmerichs for his first feature.
During his senior year,
Emmerichs bought a used,
nonfunctioning Steadicam.
His mentor, Churchill, "had
enough spare bits to sort of
slap it together and make it
work. I put up little home-
made advertisements, with
a very serious picture of me
wearing the Steadicam, and
stuck them up all over the
school: `Willing to work on
serious student films for free.'"
Emmerichs' first paid job
was an industrial film for
Brown University, which came
through a recommendation
from Churchill. Before grad-
uating with a bachelor's
degree in fine arts, and for
the three years following,
Emmerichs honed his skills
working on student films and
music videos. His first feature was Hangin' with the Homeboys. "It was my
first big chance. When I showed up, they saw that I was just a kid and
didn't want to let me shoot anything. I sort of sat on the bench for most
of the night, until they finally came to a shot they couldn't figure out
What do you like
least about your job?
"The thing I like the
least about my job is
that sometimes the poli-
tics get in the way.
And, I sweat a lot."--
David Emmerichs
What do you love most
about your job?
"The things that I like best about my job
are the places I get to go, the people I get to
work with, and the things I get to do. For
instance, on Armageddon, I was on the
space shuttle launching pad a few days before
the ship was in orbit . . . running around in
the temples in Cambodia [for Lara Croft:
Tomb Raider] . . . As a civilian, where
else do you get to do that kind of stuff?"
--David Emmerichs
VOICES OF
EXPERIENCE
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