ACADEMY THE ART OFMOTION
MASTER YOUR GIMBAL
Learn to get the very best out of your three-axis gimbal and transform your films SMOOTH OPERATORS
WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH
U sing a stabilised gimbal isn’t transform your films into true cinematic masterpieces. But they can definitely help, if you know how to use them well. Like anything in filmmaking, it takes practice and an understanding of what the motion brings to your shot. When motorised, three-axis gimbals suddenly became available and affordable for the majority of filmmaking professionals, it caused a revolution. No longer was smooth camera movement the going to guarantee the immediate capture of beautifully smooth, motion-packed shots that
ABOVE A boom pole, like the new Manfrotto Gimboom, lets you get really low and perform jib-like moves with ease
sole domain of the highly paid Steadicam operator on big-budget films. All of a sudden, moving shots were everywhere, as filmmakers cast aside the shackles of their sliders, jibs, cranes, dolly tracks and tripods for instant movement in any direction, at any time. Whether they helped tell the story or not was irrelevant – there had to be some movement. Time has moved on, and wise filmmakers realise there simply isn’t a need for movement to take place in every shot. Besides, they take time to set up
correctly and are actually quite heavy to carry and use for any extended period of time. In reality, the best gimbal shots are planned out in advance. There’s perhaps one massive misconception that relates to gimbal usage. While gimbals may correct for movement in pan, tilt and roll, they don’t have the same effect for vertical movement. As such, using a gimbal while walking or negotiating steps gives the footage an unpleasant floating motion. Perfecting the art of walking requires bent
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