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| - A device that stabilizes a hand-held camera so that the operator can move freely without jiggling the camera. The Steadicam liberated camera operators from dollies and tracks -- the camera could move anywhere that the operator could walk. The Steadicam was first used by its inventor, Garrett Brown, in the film Rocky (most obviously in Rocky's run up the art museum steps, but also in the fight scenes). Brown eventually won both an Oscar and an Emmy for his invention.
- Before the camera stabilizing system, a director had two choices for moving (or "tracking") shots:
* The camera could be mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled mount that rolls on tracks or leveled boards. However, this is time consuming to set up and impractical in many situations.
* The camera operator could hold the camera in his hands. This allows greater speed and flexibility, but even the most skilled operator cannot entirely prevent the camera from shaking. Hand-held footage has therefore traditionally been considered suitable mostly for documentaries, news, reportage work, live action, unrehearsable footage, or as a special effect to evoke an atmosphere of authentic immediacy or cinéma vérité during dramatic sequences.
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| abstract
| - Before the camera stabilizing system, a director had two choices for moving (or "tracking") shots:
* The camera could be mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled mount that rolls on tracks or leveled boards. However, this is time consuming to set up and impractical in many situations.
* The camera operator could hold the camera in his hands. This allows greater speed and flexibility, but even the most skilled operator cannot entirely prevent the camera from shaking. Hand-held footage has therefore traditionally been considered suitable mostly for documentaries, news, reportage work, live action, unrehearsable footage, or as a special effect to evoke an atmosphere of authentic immediacy or cinéma vérité during dramatic sequences. While these cinematic techniques are still common, the Steadicam has added another dimension to motion picture cinematography and videography. A Steadicam essentially combines the stabilized steady footage of a conventional tripod mount with the fluid motion of a dolly shot and the flexibility of hand-held camera work. While smoothly following the operator's broad movements, the Steadicam's armature absorbs any jerks, bumps, and shakes. The Steadicam was introduced to the industry in 1975 by inventor and cameraman Garrett Brown, who originally named the invention the "Brown Stabilizer". After completing the first working prototype, Brown shot a ten-minute demo reel of the revolutionary moves this new device could produce. This reel was seen by numerous directors, including Stanley Kubrick and John G. Avildsen. The Steadicam was subsequently licensed to and manufactured by Cinema Products Corporation, which later diversified the brand into a consumer line for DV cameras. The Steadicam was first used in the Best Picture-nominated Woody Guthrie biopic Bound for Glory (1976), debuting with a shot that compounded the Steadicam's innovation: cinematographer Haskell Wexler had Brown start the shot on a fully elevated platform crane which jibbed down, and when it reached the ground, Brown stepped off and walked the camera through the set. This technically audacious and previously impossible shot created considerable interest in how it had been accomplished, and impressed the Academy enough for Wexler to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography that year. It was then used in extensive running and chase scenes on the streets of New York City in Marathon Man (1976), which was actually released two months before Bound for Glory. It landed a notable third credit in Avildsen's Best Picture-winning Rocky (1976), where it was an integral part of the film's Philadelphia street jogging/training sequences and the run up the Art Museum's flight of stairs, as well as the fight scenes (where it can even be plainly seen in operation at the ringside during some wide shots of the final fight). Garrett Brown was the Steadicam operator on all of these. The Shining (1980) pushed Brown's innovations even further, when Kubrick requested that the camera shoot from barely above the floor. This prompted the innovation of a "low mode" bracket to mount the top of a camera to the bottom of an inverted post, which substantially increased the creative angles of the system, which previously could not go much lower than the operator's waist height. This low-mode concept remains the most important extension to the system since its inception. A Steadicam rig was also employed during the filming of Return of the Jedi (1983), in conjunction with two gyroscopes for extra stabilization, to film the background plates for the speeder bike chase. Brown walked through a redwood forest, with the camera running at a speed of one frame per second. The end result, when projected at 24 frames per second, gave the impression of flying through the air at perilous speeds. In the Michael Crichton film Runaway (1984), a Steadicam rig was used to simulate the point of view of a futuristic smart bullet in flight while targeting specific individuals by their heat signature.
- A device that stabilizes a hand-held camera so that the operator can move freely without jiggling the camera. The Steadicam liberated camera operators from dollies and tracks -- the camera could move anywhere that the operator could walk. The Steadicam was first used by its inventor, Garrett Brown, in the film Rocky (most obviously in Rocky's run up the art museum steps, but also in the fight scenes). Brown eventually won both an Oscar and an Emmy for his invention. A Steadicam rig for a motion picture camera is very heavy and attaches to the operator's torso with straps; the operator "wears" the camera. Smaller versions (such as the Steadicam JR) are available for video production, and these are often light enough to hold with one hand.
* Used extensively in Curb Your Enthusiasm.
* Also, Firefly, and even in effects shots.
* According to the DVD commentary, in a lot of scenes the camera operator was operating without a steadicam harness, but was so good at operating handheld that it looked like he was using one.
* Supposedly, the reason the shaking effect looks so real is that they could actually rock the Serenity sets back and forth. Steadicam cares not.
* While we're at it, Battlestar Galactica, too.
* Steadicam harnesses were repurposed for the Smart Guns in Aliens.
* Used to great effect in Das Boot, where it enabled camera operators to work within the confines of a real-size replica U-Boat and produce tracking shots following crew members through bulkheads and around pipes.
* Used extensively in The Shining, for an example Danny riding his bike through the corridors.
* Rumour has it that Kubrick, due to his legendary perfectionism, kept screwing up shots by reaching in to adjust the camera. The operator, Garrett Brown, allegedly got him to stop by conducting a conversation - staged where he knew Kubrick would overhear it - in which he claimed to have punched out Sylvester Stallone for doing the same thing on Rocky.
* The Steadicam long take is a staple of ER's visual style.
* Steadicam is the sine qua non of the Walk and Talk, and hence are indispensable whenever Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme are on the other side of the camera. Sports Night and The West Wing were particularly notorious.
* Scream has a scene which starts with a establishing crane shot, which then descends down to ground level and proceeds to follow the walking cast without a cut. This was done by having the Steadicam operator simply standing on a platform and stepping off when the crane reached the ground.
* WALL-E was meticulously animated to contrast Steadicam-like shots aboard the Axiom with Jittercam-esque shots on Earth to add another layer of Technology vs. Nature to the film.
* In Goodfellas director Martin Scorsese uses a steadicam for a three minute shot that follows Henry Hill and his girlfriend as they enter though the back door of the Copacapana restaurant, through the kitchen and up to the bar, stopping to meet patrons all the way.
* The Steadicam operator Peter Robertson reportedly collapsed after filming the epic Oner on the Dunkirk beaches in Atonement.
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