Fundamental to good Steadicam operating technique is to separate the movement of your body as you move around the rig from the rig itself.¬† Assuming you don’t jerk it around with your hips, taking your hands off the rig and moving around the rig in a circle should be possible, as the extremely low-friction bearings in the arm and gimbal stop most of your motion being transferred into the rig.¬† Not jerking the sled around when changing your own position relative to the rig is essential for changing direction from the camera facing in the same direction as you are, to ‘Don Juan’, where the camera looks over your shoulder.
This impressive video shows how extrordinarily good chickens are at cancelling out the movement of their bodies and keeping their heads in the same place.¬† If they could do the same thing with their arms – well, okay, they’d probably need a few upgrades on the arm front as well – they’d make excellent operators!
