3 Techniques For Shooting With A Handheld Camera

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Let’s go over three different techniques filmmakers can use to shoot handheld footage.
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0:00 Introduction
0:39 1. Shoulder Mounted Camera
2:23 2. Easyrig
4:48 3. Bungee Rig
7:18 Squarespace
8:15 Handheld Tips
13:44 Conclusion
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[@flyingo]

Back in my day, the 1980s and early 90s, the use of the SteadiCam revolutionized camera stabilization and quickly became the #1 piece of gear in filmmaking and videography. Created by Garret Brown in 1975, it won many top awards and was desired by every serious camera operator in the business.

[@benjamindover4337]

Now it's been replaced by a $50 piece of plastic made in china.

[@flipnap2112]

ill never forget "Halloween" and the first Steadicam work Id ever seen. I was blown away.

[@mandrivka]

thank you for including 20 days in Mariupol footage in.

[@spooky_leftist]

Wheelchair is the poor mans rickshaw, I've used it on one of my films

[@flipnap2112]

yes indeed. ive even sat on my friends car hood or out the passenger door. we get by with what we can and it looks just as good ha ha

[@TJA86]

perfect timing. gives me some more ideas for a film I'm shooting in August!

[@andrew_maccoll]

Always good watching your videos man thank you

[@fernandooliveiralino]

Cool video as always. Thank you.

[@SLevinCinema]

11:30 - As an AC I, respectfully, gotta say seeing an Op grab the battery to operate makes me cringe with nervous energy. It's what's powering the whole rig and if something gives way then you're likely to cause the camera to power off incorrectly, possible during a take. I'd never teach someone to operate this way and instead suggest the "tommy gun" style with the hand grips (like you showed just before), moving the pan handle to just behind the battery if on a tripod, or simply attaching a grip to the back beyond the battery. And really the only kind of battery you could get away with this is a 3-pin "gold mount" that locks securely. A V-lock, which is pictured in your video, is much more likely to slip off and therefore an even worse idea as you mentioned.

[@Kamil_Konrad_Kowalczyk]

i like sundays with new content 👍

[@juiceboyxd9310]

So cool

[@benugdsen75]

I bought an Easyrig with their new STABIL arm that somewhat negates the up/down movement. I love it and I use it a lot. Especially for concerts, live events and long workshops.

[@flipnap2112]

along with the ninja walk it does a pretty good job.

[@antoinepetrov]

Damn putting La Chimera on the thumbnail is a great trick to make me click.

[@billem16]

What about the cine saddle for us poor people

[@theowlfromduolingo7982]

Good point but imo a cine saddle is rather a tripod alternative with a handheld feel

[@midwestdocumentarycenterin1680]

Thank you for another outstanding video. Building on the comment of @billem16. Does footage shot with a Cinesaddle or similar device have a distinct look/feel and/or strength/weakness? Or is it simply - as 12:17 would suggest - another element used to reduce shakes, bumps and bounces?

[@asianstudios2992]

I would eventually suggest using a Steadicam and not balancing it correctly to give it a smoother walking hand held shot, even the zeegee system works well with it

[@TinLeadHammer]

You crack me up with IBIS being a modern solution. In fact it has been available for camcorder users for 35 years. In-camera stabilization is one of the reasons traditional film cameras gave way to electronic video recording.

[@kamkri3]

Don't you mean Electronic stabilisation?

[@TinLeadHammer]

@@kamkri3 Electronic image stabilization (EIS) has traditionally been implemented by using an oversized sensor fixed in place. Optical - or rather opto-mechanical - image stabilization (OIS) employs internal lenses moving on a sort of a gyroscope or a gimbal. With interchangeable lenses you can have in-lens OIS and in-body EIS. It seems that the moving sensor on the Burano is a mechanical solution instead of using extra pixels on the edges of the fixed in-place sensor.

[@flipnap2112]

unfortunately most prosumer cams have horrible rolling shutter and most of these methods are impossible to get without jelly or horrible artifacting. although some sensors are pretty fast, and others have amazing post stabilization that almost completely removes rolling shutter (at the expense of crop).

[@rohithkumar2086]

SIL, TAL, PB on clap board = means ? can anyone explain. From Indian Film making clap boards

[@entelequiaproducciones]

Best tip of all: Workout. As an camera operator you should be strong and healthy so you can deal with the hard physical work on a shooting. (imagine you're a fat ass and someone must to transport you in rails or wheelchair kinda gear). Don't forget that filmaking is a team work and you should empathize with everyone around.

[@Kauahdhdhd]

Real

[@emiliog.4432]

Hard to beat a steadi Cam.

[@benjamindover4337]

Ronin 4d beats it.

[@TraeBeneck]

​@@benjamindover4337Can't put an Alexa on a 4D tho, can ya

[@Fedorevsky]

@@benjamindover4337 A well operated Steadycam looks much more natural, a Ronin or other gimbal makes it look like you filmed it with a drone flying low. Works for certain scenarios but usually just looks weird with a digital smoothness to the movement.

[@ForlornCreature]

I heard the best handheld technique is to use a shoulder rig to create more image compression :) (Please fix or take down your crop factor video it has a tonne of misinformation)

[@theowlfromduolingo7982]

What do you mean by “misinformation”

[@ForlornCreature]

@@theowlfromduolingo7982 just repeating incorrect information about the effect of large format lenses on compression, read all the comments on that video if you want to know more.

[@theowlfromduolingo7982]

@@ForlornCreature oh ok I think I haven’t watched it so far.

[@KenDavis-uo8kq]

@@ForlornCreaturelarge format lenses? Do you mean lenses with a large image circle? Or do you mean the effect of compression with longer focal lengths? Or… are you referring to the effect of the circle of confusion area on smaller sensors?

[@milovarquiel]

An American Rickshaw!!!

[@bngr_bngr]

I hated the fake motion/camera movement in the show NYPD Blue. It looked so fake.

[@benjamindover4337]

I also don't like that

[@flipnap2112]

ill never forget the first time I picked up on it, I couldn't unsee it. made me sick to my stomach. talk about abusing a technique.. sheesh

[@GatesRick]

How about putting a gimbal on a shoulder rig, a la "The Creator"?

[@benjamindover4337]

Ronin 4d

[@flipnap2112]

@@benjamindover4337 dude.. are you a Ronin 4d salesman?

[@benjamindover4337]

@@flipnap2112 actually I'm hoping another company will copy their innovations

[@bmkhalidhasan]

FACT: If you do not prepare the light and set well and do not compose shots from hero angles, the handheld shot will look super amature like a birthday video shot with camcorder.

[@hodoyoku]

And all we need is Ronin 4d. Ronin 4d makes everything cinematic even without the light.

[@TraeBeneck]

​@@hodoyokuThere isn't a camera on the planet that can magically make anything poorly lit look cinematic. That's undermining like the entire point of cinematography

[@hodoyoku]

@@TraeBeneck Yes, I know. But they believe Ronin 4d and gimbal are magic.

[@Saltpeanutss]

A birthday video shot with a camcorder can be beautiful too.

[@bmkhalidhasan]

@@Saltpeanutss it will be aesthetic. And it will look aesthetic when you intentionally shoot according to screen play. But when you are making a feature film, you have to compose a standard shots. I'm talking about this scenario.

[@benjamindover4337]

A lot of times you see people using easy-rigs and it's like, why not just use a lighter camera? Not a single television viewer could ever tell the difference between the image of a kitted out Alexa and a post 2016 DSLR. And really, the Ronin 4D replaces all of these insane contraptions.

[@rauldude5698]

Heavy camera give less micro jitters because they have more inertia. For most cinematographers using cameras without stabilization, A heavier rig makes a big difference

[@TraeBeneck]

Weight is one of the biggest factors to getting rid of micro jitters that ruin most DSLR handheld shots, but more than that cinema cameras offer professional tools that industry sets require. Video transmission, manual focus, bigger batteries, etc all adds up. If Hollywood could get away with using Ronin 4D's and Sony A7S's, they obviously would since they cut corners anywhere they could, but there are meany reasons why they haven't

[@eruannster]

I'm going to be contrarian here and just say it: I don't like handheld shots 95% of the time. They are fine for making a specific type of shot, like someone is being chased, or for creating the illusion of being in a crowd and stuff like that. But outside of very specific circumstances, get a tripod, use a steadicam, gimbal, rig it to literally anything and give us a smooth shot. One of my biggest peeves is in some shows when you have, say, two characters talking in a cafe or something, and you can see the cameraman is just swaying the camera all over the place and the handheld makes zero sense and adds nothing. Just put the camera on a tripod! For fucks sake! Hell, even for a fight scene I much prefer a smooth, stabilized shot that lets you see the performers do their stunt work. (Of course, this also means that you have good stunt performers, or the illusion fails.)

[@DavidCowie2022]

In "First Man" and "Chernobyl" the camera wasn't swaying all over the place, it was just drifting around slightly, and once I saw it, I couldn't stop seeing it. If I'm sitting or standing somewhere, then I'm not conscious of my view drifting around - it feels rock solid - so it feels really unrealistic if the camera does this this.

[@eruannster]

@@DavidCowie2022 Yeah. And don't get me wrong, there are scenes where it makes sense for handheld. Maybe it's a stressful meeting in a crowd or something. But there are so many shows and movies where it just looks like they just couldn't be arsed to grab a tripod.

[@dovids6757]

First

[@RespiroOfficial]

Who cares

[@Nathan.Willan]

斯坦尼康 淘汰他们

[@imagenerdery]

Could you possibly talk any slower and with more emphasis on every word as if you're speaking to hearing impaired children?