I love movies and television as an art form. One of the reasons I enjoy watching DVDs is for the behind-the-scenes material: commentaries, documentaries, film diaries, etc. Not only do these resources give insight into the art of filmmaking, but they’re a way of paying tribute to the hundreds of artists and craftsmen who work to bring a film or television series to life.
Apart from huge innovations like computer graphics and the move from traditional film to digital media, I think one of the most influential inventions that has changed the way films and TV shows are presented is the Steadicam. Invented in the 1970s by cameraman Garett Brown, the Steadicam consists of a camera attached to the cameraman’s body via a harness and series of articulated arms, bearings and counterweights. This system allows the camera operator to move naturally through a set while the camera remains steady. The camera operator’s natural body movements — which would normally be translated to film as motion-sickness-inducing shakes and bumps — are dampened and filtered out of the system.
Today, I found a site called Steadishots.org a library of film clips that not only showcases the skill of Steadicam operators, but also demonstrates a technique used in many films that is often over-looked by viewers: the long continuous one-take shot.
When a director decides to film a scene in one continuous shot, Steadicams are often used because of the portability of the camera system and the natural smoothness of the shot. Scenes like this require a huge amount of planning, practice and expert timing from the entire cast and crew involved. Since the scene is filmed in one take, with no edits or alternate camera angles, the slightest mistake can require repeating hours of work. Actors and extras must know their lines and know their places for every second of the shot. Camera operators must memorize a path through the chaos of set, weaving their ways around actors, props and set pieces.
The unfortunate thing about these amazing bits of filmmaking is that when they’re done right, they’re so natural that viewers may not even notice them. So it’s nice to know that a site like Steadishots.org exists, to showcase these works of art.
One of my favorite Steadicam shots is from one of my favorite movies in recent years, Serenity based on the short-lived TV series Firefly. Directed by Joss Whedon,Serenity features a one-take scene which introduces the crew. The shot can be found here. The video clip actually contains two separate one-take shots. At the halfway mark, when one character turns a corner, there’s a very well-hidden edit which combines two long takes into one continuous shot. The reason for this take was because the two sets used for filming were meant to be connected by the hallway, but the size of the sets made this impractical. Still, even considering that there are two long takes in this scene, they’re both impressive; especially considering that Mark Emery Moore, the Steadicam operator, had to weave his way in and around the actors in a cramped spaceship hallway, ducking under pipes and awkwardly angled walls, climbing backwards down stairs and hitting the right marks at the right time, all the while keeping the camera pointed at the appropriate actors.