by halhickel » Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:14 pm
Hi, my name is Hal Hickel. I'm an Animation Director at Industrial Light & Magic, been here about 18 years. While the work I do now is CG, I started out as a Stop-Motion animator at Will Vinton Studios in the late '80s, early '90s.
At that time, Vinton's had around 25 Mitchell cameras that were used for shooting Stop-Motion clay animation. I became very familiar with those cameras, and really miss them now. Recently, I finally acquired a Mitchell of my own, purely for nostalgia's sake, and so in researching the camera, have stumbled onto this forum.
While I used the cameras a lot in my work as a clay animator, and became very familiar with their workings, I never really learned a lot about the their history, and about the different models (GC, NC, BNC, etc). The camera I have now is a rackover, with the number 755 stamped on the movement. The off-side door is apparently not the original though, as the badge has the number: 1108, and says "Model D". That number should match the number stamped on the movement, yes? Also, are there other places on the camera body, or in the interior where the serial number would be stamped as well?
Hi, my name is Hal Hickel. I'm an Animation Director at Industrial Light & Magic, been here about 18 years. While the work I do now is CG, I started out as a Stop-Motion animator at Will Vinton Studios in the late '80s, early '90s.
At that time, Vinton's had around 25 Mitchell cameras that were used for shooting Stop-Motion clay animation. I became very familiar with those cameras, and really miss them now. Recently, I finally acquired a Mitchell of my own, purely for nostalgia's sake, and so in researching the camera, have stumbled onto this forum.
While I used the cameras a lot in my work as a clay animator, and became very familiar with their workings, I never really learned a lot about the their history, and about the different models (GC, NC, BNC, etc). The camera I have now is a rackover, with the number 755 stamped on the movement. The off-side door is apparently not the original though, as the badge has the number: 1108, and says "Model D". That number should match the number stamped on the movement, yes? Also, are there other places on the camera body, or in the interior where the serial number would be stamped as well?