I met Mr. Cardellini at CineGear this year, what a gentleman. At my previous job, I did the web write-ups for their grip catalogue. I told him that for the cardellini clamp, I wrote: "I find that saying “Cardellini” on set impresses clients, and makes it sound like you learned lighting from an Italian master….." I think he got a little giggle from that.
Wow. Nice to see an inventor benefit from creating something truly useful (and be a genuinely nice guy as well) . They always say "Don't meet your heroes." because it's often disappointing, but Mr. Cardellini seems like an exception. Also nice to see that his 'retirement' gives him more time to be creative... :)
I met Steve at ShowBiz Expo back in the 90's when I published FilmCrew magazine. Great guy who made a tool every grip loves and needs. Thanks for this awesome interview with him. Well done and inspiring.
9:45 WOW that would be great for an industrial sized cardelini. If it were like a foot wide, maybe inch and an eighth, or the size below that, for the shaft. Spinning the nut like that probably not as effective or easy at that scale. Great episode! 👏
Wonderful to hear Steve's story after using his clamps for 20+ years! Thanks for your well-done other gaffing videos too, from a former gaffer: you do us proud!
This could be a great side series in and of itself. Talking to the gear inventors that made our lives easier. Mr. Cardellini is a life saver for gaffers everywhere.
Such a big kid. ❤ So inspiring. Thank you guys for making this video. Working in Europe I think I've never used original cardellini clamps and always wondered why long handled versions can't do quick rotation on the thread through the whole length. Had a feeling it have to go all the way.
Steve - You have always been one of my hero. Really. You made a huge impression on me and the way I socially and safely conducted my shoots. Thank you for your gifts as a remarkable person. Best Regards...
hands down the clamp I use most often (although I suppose the platypus/duck bill may get close). Thanks for making this video and putting a face to the name! I'm glad to hear that he was compensated by Mathews as well. I always wondered about that!
Awesome video. A celebration of American curiosity and entrepreneurship! This is the American dream: make a better product to make our working lives better.
Agreed. We'd been trying to sit down for that interview for almost a year. And in terms of success, I can't think of a more worthy guy. We didn't even get to some of the other accessories like the cardelink and the baby pin adapter that fits on the mini-lini. He's still tinkering away on new projects in the garage. Good stuff.
I love that he took the little change the company did that was knocking off his product and made his own that is so vastly superior, just feels like the perfect engineering revenge! :P
Haha, guess it was bound to happen eventually eh? hahaha. Great ep dude. Totally jealous I couldn't be out there to meet him and get a video much like this. We talked and eventually Grip Tips will have an ep much like this. Not for a while though.
Hi Dave, Yup, I've been trying to make this happen for about 6 months:-) After the transfer happened Steve had more time to share. I figure our episodes have enough difference that people get something out of both approaches.
Wow Luke this is so cool ! what an insight into Steve's Life and his invention ! Really inspired me ! Age is just a number when u inspired to more ! thanks for the wonderful video @Luke Seerveld +Luke Seerveld
Damn, this guy engineers. I and many people I know in the industry here have been calling all of these products "twisters", but they're definitely cardellini clamps.
@@meetthegaffer hah yeah, I had no idea where these names came from, before seeing this. But as mr. Cardellini explains at 5:12 , the French "twister" was just a mediocre modification of the Cardellini clamp. So I have no idea why the name "twister" came to be so common for all of these here in Finland.
Aha the wonderful Cardellini Clamp, the only clamp where you need a second one to release the first one. Seriously though, it's a fab design. The Chinese copies have solved the problem by putting a groove along the back of the thread. An inferior clamp, but they did solve that particular problem (which can be annoying when rigged around delicate surroundings).
i'll echo all the comments of others, but just wanted to also add that this video was so well lit as well! did you do anything to improve the scene? loving everything that you're doing Luke! thank you for making this. much love from van, bc
Hi tarou, Thank you for your comments! I was about to go out of town to shoot interviews for a personal project. I wanted to try out a new travel kit. I'll do an episode on it 'cuz I was really happy with the results. Spoiler Alert! It was just a 2'x1' Aladdin and 2x Dedolight LEDs. For Steve's set-up I just let the window play and added the Aladdin for some wrap and then aimed a 90w Dedo back at him opposite Key for a little scratch. Sometimes working within constraints works in your favor:-) But as a one man band with two cameras you miss things and then they stare you in the face all through the edit!
Haven't noticed that.... but haven't taken the time to meter it either, I'm embarrassed to say! I'll look into it. Since I've gotten them a few weeks ago they've come out on nearly every job.
Hey Luke! I have a question about the Mathellini clamps. I have a 3" center jaw and noticed that the baby pin is slightly shorter than the baby pin on a Matthews C stand (2-3/16" vs 2-9/16"). This means that when you put a Matthews grip head on it, the hole for the cotter pin isn't exposed, rendering it useless. Furthermore, the inset knurled section completely misses the screw on the grip head. In general Matthews seems to design their gear very thoughtfully but I can.'t help but feel this is a massive oversight. I know different manufacturers have slightly different specifications so I would understand if an American or Kupo or Avenger head didn't fit completely perfectly in a Mathellini but it doesn't make any sense to me that two products that are commonly used together and manufactured by the same company wouldn't be completely compatible. Is there a functional reason to have the baby pin shorter that I'm unaware of? Do grips just avoid using center jaw clamps all together when rigging a light with the baby pin pointed down? Do the original Cardellini clamps also have this slightly shorter pin?
Hi Jeff, I don’t have insight into the manufacturing decisions, but the fact that a pin is a little shorter, misaligning the indent for the fastening knob or not allowing use of the cotter pin hole, has not stopped most people from using them. You just safety your unit another way, like with an aircraft cable safety or trick line or sash. There are a lot worse incompatibilities out there within and between product lines, but the cool thing about gripping is becoming a master Jerry Rigger:) Bitch to the offending product maker and then embrace the chaos and create your own harmony!
@@meetthegaffer Thanks for the hasty reply! Admittedly my grievances are probably just an expression of my obsessive compulsive tendencies rather than a "real world" problem (I've never actually had a grip head slip on a Mathellini) but I guess that's what happens when I'm locked in quarantine with a bunch of grip and electric gear with no work and too much time, ha.I sincerely appreciate your response though. I have watched virtually all of your videos over the years and have learned far more about G&E than any other resource other than physically being on set. 95% of free instructional/informational videos about video and film production (at least on RUclips) just regurgitate the same super basic info without ever going deeper. Your professional perspective is so refreshing and your humble demeanor is something us younger folks should take note of. You're not the hero we deserve but you're the hero we need!
If you want a better hero than me, check out Andrew Lock’s Gaffer & Gear channel. He goes into incredible detail and is much more technically astute than I am. That said, I appreciate the kind words and will do my best to continue... until the large grip sings:)
@@meetthegaffer Yes I've watched several of his videos as well, definitely a knowledgeable guy. Your channel, his channel, and the "Grip Tips" channel are the only 3 I've found dedicated to G & E although Shane Hurlbut's channel also has some useful info related to lighting as well. Any others I should check out? Oh and one more gear-specific question for you (actually two)...Is Modern Studio Equipment as robust as Matthews? Some of their gear, specifically their grid clamps are far cheaper than Matthews but they seem to have a good reputation despite me not seeing them mentioned very often. My other question is about C clamps/speed C's. Most have that U channel on the ends, but the Matthews Speed C has flat circular contacts. I presume the U channel style is less likely to move once it's dug into the cribbing...any situation in which the other style would be preferable?
Burnie’s Apple Box is another channel to try. A number of the camera ones are great, like Cooke’s and anything Deakins does. Aputure’s videos are very easy to consume as well. As far as quality grip gear, I find different aspects in each that I like. I try to be as agnostic, or perhaps I could say ecumenical, as possible, so American, Modern, Matthews, or Norms are all quality brands. As far as the speed C’s are concerned, I have both kinds and like them each for different reasons. The u-channel one, like you say, have a great bite, but sometime you don’t need or want the bite regardless whether you plan to use cribbing. The both work well! Hope that helps.
@@meetthegaffer OKAY! Good to know. Mr. Cardellini made a thing that we all use on nearly every shoot, large or small. And he's so obviously such a sweet guy. So... I was pretty irritated by that part of the story!
@@zoanyway Yes, Steve is a gem. His inventions have enriched our industry. Manufacturers do not always play nice, and that’s a shame. In the end, the Cardellini family of products has earned its place in the pantheon of must have film tools. That’s pretty cool.
"Hi, I'm Steve Cardellini" #Chills
I met Mr. Cardellini at CineGear this year, what a gentleman. At my previous job, I did the web write-ups for their grip catalogue. I told him that for the cardellini clamp, I wrote: "I find that saying “Cardellini” on set impresses clients, and makes it sound like you learned lighting from an Italian master….." I think he got a little giggle from that.
ahaha amazing
What’s a web write up ? Where did u learn that skill ?
I only learned the other day that one of my fav piece of gear was named after this man.
Wow. Nice to see an inventor benefit from creating something truly useful (and be a genuinely nice guy as well) . They always say "Don't meet your heroes." because it's often disappointing, but Mr. Cardellini seems like an exception. Also nice to see that his 'retirement' gives him more time to be creative... :)
Great episode. When I learned how recently cardellinis were invented I wondered if maybe Steve had some relation to Linda cardellini 😂
Great success story!
This is about so much more than the clamps. What a guy. Thank you, Luke.
A gentleman and a scholar. He has such an amazing attitude, even to those that have done wrong or would have done wrong by him.
This is by far my favorite episode.
😀
I met Steve at ShowBiz Expo back in the 90's when I published FilmCrew magazine. Great guy who made a tool every grip loves and needs.
Thanks for this awesome interview with him. Well done and inspiring.
9:45 WOW that would be great for an industrial sized cardelini. If it were like a foot wide, maybe inch and an eighth, or the size below that, for the shaft. Spinning the nut like that probably not as effective or easy at that scale. Great episode! 👏
And thank you for the candlestick as well. I was on that job where the Brute Arc fell off the condor when the combo stand failed. :-0
Wonderful to hear Steve's story after using his clamps for 20+ years! Thanks for your well-done other gaffing videos too, from a former gaffer: you do us proud!
+Torsion7, Right on! Solid guy and clamp:-) Appreciate the kind words.
Thank you for inventing one of my favorite pieces of film equipment. Great video too.
Great episode.. very interesting and inspiring. I'd have never guessed that Cardellini clamps were such a recent invention.
And by the most level headed guy on the planet. Thanks for watching, Will!
What a lovely gentleman He is, Hats off to you for such wonderful inventions.
Love and Blessings from Mumbai, India.
Well done! Enjoy the rest of your life. Thank you for your fantastic contribution to the profession! 👏🏾🙏🏾
Fantastic, thanks for sharing. C
This could be a great side series in and of itself. Talking to the gear inventors that made our lives easier. Mr. Cardellini is a life saver for gaffers everywhere.
Absolutely. Steve was the obvious place to start because he’s local and a colleague. One could spend a good chunk of time in LA collecting stories:)
An excellent story!!!
This guy is AMAZING. Thanks for the awesome look at Steve's creative history. GENIUS!
Indeed! And humble to boot:)
Such a big kid. ❤ So inspiring.
Thank you guys for making this video. Working in Europe I think I've never used original cardellini clamps and always wondered why long handled versions can't do quick rotation on the thread through the whole length. Had a feeling it have to go all the way.
What a nice guy, seems like he deserves every success.
Indeed.
Steve - You have always been one of my hero. Really. You made a huge impression on me and the way I socially and safely conducted my shoots. Thank you for your gifts as a remarkable person. Best Regards...
hands down the clamp I use most often (although I suppose the platypus/duck bill may get close). Thanks for making this video and putting a face to the name!
I'm glad to hear that he was compensated by Mathews as well. I always wondered about that!
I would have to agree. Even when I could use a mafer clamp, I tend to grab the cardellini.
licensed by Steve, yeah, they didin't pull a copy cat. products.msegrip.com/products/matthellini-clamps
Luke, this episode is special! Thank you for it and for all you videos again! I like details about inventor/entrepreneur life as well.
Inspirational and very Informative. Thank you for keeping manufacturing here in United States.
the great man thank you for your smart invention
This was an awesome interview. thank you for this
Great episode. Well done Mr. Seerveld.
I’m glad you liked it.
Respect Steve! all the best
I enjoyed this so much. thank you for sharing this.
Great video! I'd love to see that condor mount in action
This is great! Inspiring.
Awesome video. A celebration of American curiosity and entrepreneurship! This is the American dream: make a better product to make our working lives better.
Agreed. We'd been trying to sit down for that interview for almost a year. And in terms of success, I can't think of a more worthy guy. We didn't even get to some of the other accessories like the cardelink and the baby pin adapter that fits on the mini-lini. He's still tinkering away on new projects in the garage. Good stuff.
Great episode! i was just talking to a DP about him yesterday!
Lovely little vid. Legend.
I love that he took the little change the company did that was knocking off his product and made his own that is so vastly superior, just feels like the perfect engineering revenge! :P
:)
Haha, guess it was bound to happen eventually eh? hahaha. Great ep dude. Totally jealous I couldn't be out there to meet him and get a video much like this. We talked and eventually Grip Tips will have an ep much like this. Not for a while though.
Hi Dave, Yup, I've been trying to make this happen for about 6 months:-) After the transfer happened Steve had more time to share. I figure our episodes have enough difference that people get something out of both approaches.
Luke Seerveld oh yea absolutely! Such nice dude
great episode!!
Truly american entrepreneurship. Hard work always pays off.
what a great and inspiring story, awesome episode! keep them coming!!!
Thank you, rgesualdo!
When Matthews puts out stuff like the Matthellini are they screwing him out of cash? Or does he get a check for those?
+soulbrothanumbuh3, He has an agreement with them and gets a piece of the proceeds. It’s all good!
What a great content, Luke! Thank you!
Great clip! thank you :)
Wow Luke this is so cool ! what an insight into Steve's Life and his invention ! Really inspired me ! Age is just a number when u inspired to more ! thanks for the wonderful video @Luke Seerveld +Luke Seerveld
It's good to have solid, approachable role models! All the best with what you plan to achieve, Nicholas!
I'd like to give an extra thumbs up for you making them in the USA and I'm not even American.
LOL!
wow we NEED the condor mount in europe :o, really nice talk :D thank you so much for this
I’m sure someone would be willing to send you one... for a few Euros:)
This is amazing
Very interesting.
Wow that was very cooooooooooool
Damn, this guy engineers. I and many people I know in the industry here have been calling all of these products "twisters", but they're definitely cardellini clamps.
Ha, ha! Twisters! I like it. He would enjoy that:)
@@meetthegaffer hah yeah, I had no idea where these names came from, before seeing this. But as mr. Cardellini explains at 5:12 , the French "twister" was just a mediocre modification of the Cardellini clamp. So I have no idea why the name "twister" came to be so common for all of these here in Finland.
amazing!!
Aha the wonderful Cardellini Clamp, the only clamp where you need a second one to release the first one. Seriously though, it's a fab design. The Chinese copies have solved the problem by putting a groove along the back of the thread. An inferior clamp, but they did solve that particular problem (which can be annoying when rigged around delicate surroundings).
Cool info... thank you!
love this
i'll echo all the comments of others, but just wanted to also add that this video was so well lit as well! did you do anything to improve the scene? loving everything that you're doing Luke! thank you for making this. much love from van, bc
Hi tarou, Thank you for your comments! I was about to go out of town to shoot interviews for a personal project. I wanted to try out a new travel kit. I'll do an episode on it 'cuz I was really happy with the results. Spoiler Alert! It was just a 2'x1' Aladdin and 2x Dedolight LEDs. For Steve's set-up I just let the window play and added the Aladdin for some wrap and then aimed a 90w Dedo back at him opposite Key for a little scratch. Sometimes working within constraints works in your favor:-) But as a one man band with two cameras you miss things and then they stare you in the face all through the edit!
Luke Seerveld - Please let us know if the 90w Dedo has a green cast like my Dedo 45w dled4.1.
I'm tired of dealing with it.
Haven't noticed that.... but haven't taken the time to meter it either, I'm embarrassed to say! I'll look into it. Since I've gotten them a few weeks ago they've come out on nearly every job.
Luke Seerveld - I guess you would have noticed. I glad to hear this.
Local 16. Was the candlestick named after the baseball park?
Good question!
legendary
Hey Luke! I have a question about the Mathellini clamps. I have a 3" center jaw and noticed that the baby pin is slightly shorter than the baby pin on a Matthews C stand (2-3/16" vs 2-9/16"). This means that when you put a Matthews grip head on it, the hole for the cotter pin isn't exposed, rendering it useless. Furthermore, the inset knurled section completely misses the screw on the grip head. In general Matthews seems to design their gear very thoughtfully but I can.'t help but feel this is a massive oversight. I know different manufacturers have slightly different specifications so I would understand if an American or Kupo or Avenger head didn't fit completely perfectly in a Mathellini but it doesn't make any sense to me that two products that are commonly used together and manufactured by the same company wouldn't be completely compatible. Is there a functional reason to have the baby pin shorter that I'm unaware of? Do grips just avoid using center jaw clamps all together when rigging a light with the baby pin pointed down? Do the original Cardellini clamps also have this slightly shorter pin?
Hi Jeff, I don’t have insight into the manufacturing decisions, but the fact that a pin is a little shorter, misaligning the indent for the fastening knob or not allowing use of the cotter pin hole, has not stopped most people from using them. You just safety your unit another way, like with an aircraft cable safety or trick line or sash. There are a lot worse incompatibilities out there within and between product lines, but the cool thing about gripping is becoming a master Jerry Rigger:) Bitch to the offending product maker and then embrace the chaos and create your own harmony!
@@meetthegaffer Thanks for the hasty reply! Admittedly my grievances are probably just an expression of my obsessive compulsive tendencies rather than a "real world" problem (I've never actually had a grip head slip on a Mathellini) but I guess that's what happens when I'm locked in quarantine with a bunch of grip and electric gear with no work and too much time, ha.I sincerely appreciate your response though. I have watched virtually all of your videos over the years and have learned far more about G&E than any other resource other than physically being on set. 95% of free instructional/informational videos about video and film production (at least on RUclips) just regurgitate the same super basic info without ever going deeper. Your professional perspective is so refreshing and your humble demeanor is something us younger folks should take note of. You're not the hero we deserve but you're the hero we need!
If you want a better hero than me, check out Andrew Lock’s Gaffer & Gear channel. He goes into incredible detail and is much more technically astute than I am. That said, I appreciate the kind words and will do my best to continue... until the large grip sings:)
@@meetthegaffer Yes I've watched several of his videos as well, definitely a knowledgeable guy. Your channel, his channel, and the "Grip Tips" channel are the only 3 I've found dedicated to G & E although Shane Hurlbut's channel also has some useful info related to lighting as well. Any others I should check out? Oh and one more gear-specific question for you (actually two)...Is Modern Studio Equipment as robust as Matthews? Some of their gear, specifically their grid clamps are far cheaper than Matthews but they seem to have a good reputation despite me not seeing them mentioned very often. My other question is about C clamps/speed C's. Most have that U channel on the ends, but the Matthews Speed C has flat circular contacts. I presume the U channel style is less likely to move once it's dug into the cribbing...any situation in which the other style would be preferable?
Burnie’s Apple Box is another channel to try. A number of the camera ones are great, like Cooke’s and anything Deakins does. Aputure’s videos are very easy to consume as well.
As far as quality grip gear, I find different aspects in each that I like. I try to be as agnostic, or perhaps I could say ecumenical, as possible, so American, Modern, Matthews, or Norms are all quality brands.
As far as the speed C’s are concerned, I have both kinds and like them each for different reasons. The u-channel one, like you say, have a great bite, but sometime you don’t need or want the bite regardless whether you plan to use cribbing. The both work well!
Hope that helps.
I cannot like this enough.
+John Lanford, I'm glad! Great guy with awesome products.
i dont work on sets but is it possible that the on set jargon has no Family names except for Steve's?
Well, there are Fisher and Chapman dollies...
WOW 🙏🏽
Clap Clap Clap Clap!
Well there goes any business I'll ever give Modern Studio Equipment. :-(
Nah, that was the former owner. We’ve all moved on! Modern makes some solid items you cannot easily find elsewhere.
@@meetthegaffer OKAY! Good to know. Mr. Cardellini made a thing that we all use on nearly every shoot, large or small. And he's so obviously such a sweet guy. So... I was pretty irritated by that part of the story!
@@zoanyway Yes, Steve is a gem. His inventions have enriched our industry. Manufacturers do not always play nice, and that’s a shame. In the end, the Cardellini family of products has earned its place in the pantheon of must have film tools. That’s pretty cool.
So Matthews copied his design and called it a Mathellini?
Hi Redd, Yes, but with permission! They have an agreement, so both are benefiting:-)
Nice! Keep up the good work! Learning a lot from this channel
Modern Studios was the one who did it without permission.
Previous owner.
Shame on Modern Studio! Are they still selling that thing? I’d stop ordering from them if they’re still doing crap like that.
That was a long time ago and was an issue with the previous owner.