Crane Movements Basics ?

robbie75vr

robbie75vr

Active member
I would like to start using a small crane (I was considering this one) with my documentary videos (mainly tourism/nature/locations), can someone suggest me a good thread or video or book to learn the basic movements ?

Thanks
 
I bought one a while back from cobracrane. I can't really think of any specific videos that teach how to use them, because in reality the concept is really simple. It's just a matter of getting the hang of it. I don't know about the one you linked, but on mine the tripod tilt controls the tilt of the camera, so basically you can move the crane up, down, left, and right with your right hand and tilt the camera independently using your left hand on the tripod head. Not sure if that makes sense or not. Also, you'll want a really really sturdy tripod.
 
Check out the hollywood camera work dvds, while a little pricey, they'll tell you every single camera move possible on sticks, dolly, and a crane. Very helpful stuff.
 
I've been a jib operator for a number of years now. Common moves:

  • Relationship Shots - Starting (or finishing) a move CLOSE ON a subject / object and moving to (from) a WIDE SHOT to tie the subject into a larger scene.
  • Reveals - From behind a foreground object / obstruction to reveal a large sense of scale. This effect can be accomplished to very good effect in reverse. Hundreds of TROOPS are engaged in battle on a large, war-torn field as we CRANE DOWN to an EXTREME CLOSE-UP on one shell-shocked SOLDIER hiding behind a low wall.
  • Sweeps - Compound moves of any kind, sometimes called "sprays", where you simply pass over a subject, panning the jib arm while simultaneously contradicting this move with the remote head. These are often TRACKING SHOTS, with the camera coming in from a WIDE SHOT on the subject to a CLOSER ON SHOT and exiting out again from the PASS to a REVERSE WIDE SHOT.
  • Overhead / Underslung Shot - Straight-down on the subject, sometimes with CRANE-UP / CRANE-DOWN and rotation within the shot.
Practice as much as you can on stationary objects as well as moving ones. Get your WIDE chops first and then work your way toward compound moves with several axis of motion. You will find that you will be able to hide some of your worse moves within very slight zooms. For down-and-dirty quick stuff that cannot be blocked, little tricks like the zoom can hide imperfect moves to good effect.
 
RyanT said:
Check out the hollywood camera work dvds, while a little pricey, they'll tell you every single camera move possible on sticks, dolly, and a crane. Very helpful stuff.
Click to expand...

This is the best advice you can get. In fact get the whole blocking and staging set.
 
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