shooting handheld and/or tripod

when i go handheld i might as well just put a tripod underneath it. i have a very steady hand, but go for the style i want by walking back and forth. it keeps the actor in the foreground while the background seems to be moving. it works for me.
 
The one thing that I want to add to this whole conversation is that handheld shooting is too often knocked by a particular type of filmmaker who considers it to be "Trendy" or an attempt to be "edgy". While I agree that shows like NYPD Blue, and others (Open Water included) tend to abuse handheld, or intentionally shake the camera for no reason, it is also important to remember that cinematographers fought for years to be able to move the camera handheld. They worked tirelessly with camera manufacturers so that in the post war era, we could have documentary films, we could have cinema verite. To knock handheld photography simply on the basis that it is handheld, I think does a great injustice to the Italian Neorealist filmmakers who embraced it, and all of the great films of the 70's that began using the Arri2C simply because you could shoot 35mm handheld, and get the hell away from the studio system.

Sorry for the rant, but I think that it is important to remember what those who came before fought for. We should cherish all of the hard work they did, not thumb our collective noses at it.

Once again, sorry for the rant.
 
I, for one, often prefer handheld - I don't think The Bourne Identity would be nearly as visceral an experience shot on smooth steadicam or dolly systems. Same for Saving Private Ryan. Although I don't think handheld would have improved Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps.

I'm not sure anything would have saved that film.
 
Has anyone offered the suggestion of a figrig or steadicam? These will both give you hand-held feel you're speaking of in some movies. It's got plenty of movement, but it will really help smooth the hand-held look. It will also let you shoot longer. Less strain on your wrist. I think either one of these would be great for you. Maybe a mixture of both for different shots.

You can very very easily make both of these support "systems" VERY cheap. I'm talkin under $20 for each one.

Fig Rig - original: http://services.manfrotto.com/figrig/
Fig Rig - DIY: http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showpost.php?p=321412&postcount=17

steadicam - original: http://www.steadicam.com/handheldSteadicamJR.html
steadicam - DIY: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/steadycam/

Hope this helps!
-Jeff
 
profnoxin said:
While I agree that shows like NYPD Blue, and others (Open Water included) tend to abuse handheld...
Click to expand...

To be far, it wouldv'e been hard to shoot open water from a tripod or dolly:laugh:

IMO good handhled emulates documentary shooting - ie, no deliberate shaking the camera or zoom adjustments - documentary cameramen try to hold the camera as steady as possible and occasionally wobbly if, for example, a bomb goes off next to them.
 
A nice trick I've picked up, appropriate to certain projects that need a sort of almost artificial urgency to them, is to shoot on a detachable head tripod, but loosen the head all the way and operate the tripod entirely from underneath. You still end up with an interesting sort of sway and loose movement, but it's ultimately constrained. Like I said, not for every project, but try it out.

Additionally, note that the amount of movement you can get away with changes along with your aspect ratio. If you're shooting 4:3 you can do more shakeycam safely than you can at 16:9, and by the time you get to 2.35 you're very limited in the sort of handheld stylizing you can do. As the frame gets wider movements become exaggerated.
 
I've never regretted taking the time to put the camera on a tripod,----even when I thought I could get away without it.
I have many times regretted not using a tripod.
As a second choice always the DV RigPro.
For the really skilled,--a camera stabalization device.
But they are NOT as easy to use as you might imagine.
That's why there are specialists that do nothing else.
Tripod is best,---almost always. They've been used by film makers for more than a century.
 
A lot of Woody Allen's "Manhatten Murder Mystery" was shot handheld.
And some of those shots are quite long indeed.
But as Barry says about "24" you don't seem to notice.
And that I think is the sort of result you get with the DVX mounted on a DV RigPro.
A kind of handheld look,---without being too (((shakey)))
I kinda like it for live events, 'cause the slight camera movement adds enegry.
But with none of the distraction.
Then again, it's an artistic call.
I'm sure the first cameraman who took a film camera off a trippod and shot handheld was considered an idiot.
Now there are just more of us.
 
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