Movement in shots is now considered a fairly normal expectation on any film shoot.
By movement we’re referring to camera movement and it’s one of the best ways to bring high-end production standards to filming.
To achieve camera movement used to require expensive gear and time consuming setups using cranes, steadi cams and dollies but the breakthrough came with inexpensive sliders, then came the game changing use of drones and as an off shoot of that came the hand held gimbal.
Originally the gimbals were used to stabilise the cameras on drones, but it quickly became apparent they were just as good when used as a hand held camera stabilising device.
Westmedia was an early adopter of both a lightweight rail system and a (UAV) drone after seeing them at NAB Show back in 2013 (One of the premiere National Broadcast Associations Electronic Media Shows).
We now use a number of different rail systems and have a Movi5 Gimbal Stabiliser that gets a lot of use on just about every shoot we do.
Techniques to offer camera movement are a rapidly expanding market and are something that will be standard in every cameraman’s kit. Stay tuned for the myriad of other suppliers coming to the market with sliders and handheld gimbals in the next year.