Movie Making Manual/Cinematography/Moving the camera

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This Module is part of the Cinematography section of the Movie Making Manual

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Contents

[edit] Preface: The operator is more important than the equipment

It's easy to think that, just because you've hired some sexy piece of grip equipment, you'll automatically get great camera moves. This isn't the case! You also need an experienced operator. It is possible to hire grip equipment for relatively little money but do not fall into the trap of using an inexperienced operator because, often, you'll make a better film if you keep your shots simple rather than use an inexperienced operator on an exotic bit of grip equipment. There's little worse than a SteadiCam ® shot which makes the audience sea-sick or a Jimmy Jib ® shot which looks like it was operated by a Mechano ® robot.

[edit] Handheld

There are several options for handheld:

  • Put the camera on a beanbag for extra weight.
  • Give the camera to the actor so they can point it at their own face - good for intimate and hectic running scenes!
  • A handheld and slightly shaking camera can give extra intensity to action sequences and can also give a documentary-drama-like feel to a movie.

[edit] Dolly

A dolly mounted on circular track. More stills photos

[edit] Using a wheelchair as a dolly

Wheelchairs can be had for as little as 20 UK pounds on eBay. The camera operator sits in the chair and is pushed along by a grip. This can produce some very steady motion but it only works in ideal contitions (i.e. very level ground).

[edit] Jimmy Jib

The Jib or Jimmy Jib is essentially a camera mounted on a crane arm. It is rested upon a stable platform which is often a dolly device. At the base of the jib arm, weights provide a counter balance to the camera allowing the operator to create streamlined movements without exerting unnecessary force. At the base of the Jib arm the operator controls pan, tilt, zoom and focus. In his/her control panel the operator views the camera's digital output via a monitor - when shooting in film the monitor will show the image from the gate.

Jibs are often used in live television as they are versatile enough to cover a wide area with a single camera from a wide variety of depth and angle. The Director of Photography (DP) may employ the use of the jib to achieve smooth movements from high to low or vice versa.

[edit] Crane

[edit] Remote heads

  • Jibs, cranes and remote control aircraft usually include some form of remote control head. These allow three extra degrees of freedom: tilt, pan and rotate

[edit] Vehicle mounts

[edit] Stabilisation systems for strapping a camera to a walking operator

It is possible to hire a steadicam and operator for very little money. It's very tempting to take advantage of such an offer. However, a stabiliser (such as a SteadiCam ®) requires a lot of skill to get right. An inexperienced operator will produce WORSE images than you could get from a handheld / dolly shot. Before hiring an operator, always try to get as much information as possible - a showreel would be ideal.

[edit] SteadiCam ®

[edit] GlideCam ®

[edit] Build your own stabiliser

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/other/make_magazine.ars/2

http://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/steady/steady.html

http://www.alaniss.net

[edit] Using a tripod to stabilise camera movement

A low-cost way to stabilise camera movement is to use the basic tripod as a makeshift steadicam. Attach the camera to the tripod as usual, collapse and fold the legs together - (experiment with extending the legs a bit to increase stabilisation) and attach a small weight to the bottom of the legs. 2 or 3 pounds will be plenty as it doesn't need much. Some tripods are a bit heavier and may not require any additional weight at all. The idea here is to hold the rig so that the camera is above your hand and the weighted legs are far below. You want the camera to be able to swivel around freely. Loosening up all of the adjustment handles may help keep things a bit smoother.

This is a very quick and very inexpensive way to stabilise camera movement. Once you get the feel for this rig, you should be able to film a scene at a dead run up and down a flight or two of stairs with a dramatic reduction in "hand-shake".

[edit] Suspension cables

  • SpiderCam ® - made by CCS in Austria by a guy named Jens Petersen. Just the system for a day's use is around 6500 euros, a prep-day for at least 5 hours up till 2 days is 3000 euro's (very rough ball-park figures)
  • SkyCam ®
  • CableCam ® - (LA)

[edit] Suppliers

[edit] Remote control aircraft

[edit] Helium balloon

One method of getting an aerial shot is tying your camera to a bunch of helium baloons, which then floats above the scene that is to be filmed. The disadvantages of this include that the camera often will face the wrong way, and that too many baloons may cause the camera to drift away with the wind.

[edit] Motion Control and Tracking

Motion control is when the camera movement is able to be exactly duplicated, using lots of motors and software.

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