What A Steadicam Operator Does On Set: Crew Breakdown

INTRODUCTION

A long time ago, in a world far before low cost gimbals were a thing, there were only a handful of options when it came to moving cameras with a cinematic stability.

You could put a camera on a dolly. You could put a camera on a crane. Which are both great options, but what about if you wanted to do this shot? How do you chase a character over uneven ground, through twists and turns, at a low angle for an extended, stabilised take? 

The answer was with a piece of stabilising equipment invented by Garrett Brown, called the Steadicam, that could attach a camera to an operator, giving filmmakers the mobility of a handheld camera combined with a cinematic stability.

This created the new crew position on a film set of Steadicam Operator. So, in this Crew Breakdown video, let’s go over what their role is, what their average day on set looks like, and a couple tips that they use to be the best in their field.   

ROLE

“I liked handheld. I did not like the way it looked - then or now. And so what I needed was a way to disconnect the camera from the person.” - Garrett Brown, Steadicam Inventor

Before going over what the role of the Steadicam operator is, let’s take a basic look at how a Steadicam works. 

A Steadicam is basically a perfectly balanced, weighted gimbal attached to the camera operator’s body that isolates the camera from the operator’s movement. This allows the camera to be moved around precisely with smooth, stabilised motion.

It can be broken down into three basic sections: the vest, the arm and the sled. The sled includes a flat top stage which the camera sits on and a post which connects the bottom section with a monitor mount and a battery base. 

The top stage with camera and the bottom stage with the monitor and the batteries are positioned so the weight of the camera is counterbalanced and even. Like balancing a sword on a finger.

Having two ends which are perfectly balanced both adds weight, and therefore more stability to the rig, and puts the centre of gravity exactly at the operator’s grip, so that they can use their hand to adjust how the camera moves with delicate adjustments. 

This hefty weight is supported by a gimbal attached to the post, which attaches to an arm, which then attaches to a vest worn by the operator. The rig’s substantial weight, perfect balance and gimbal allows the operator to manoeuvre the camera around with a floating stability using the motion of their body and deft touches with their grip. 

A Steadicam is therefore a great option to move a camera through tight spaces, over uneven terrain, or do flowing, 360 degrees of movement around actors in long takes. 

It’s generally seen as providing more organic motion and the ability to do hard stops with precision better than 3-axis gimbals - which have a drifting motion to them before they come to a resting stop.

The role of the Steadicam operator is an interesting one, as it requires both a deep technical knowledge and proficiency as well as a creative flair and theoretical knowledge on how to move the camera and frame shots to tell a story.

Sometimes, but not always, a Steadicam op will also work as the primary camera operator (or the B-camera operator), operating shots from a tripod head, wheels and performing any Steadicam shots that are required.

Their job includes helping to build and balance the camera on the Steadicam rig, discussing a shot with the DP and director and then executing it - often adjusting between takes until the perfect take is in the can.          

AVERAGE DAY ON SET

Before the shoot begins, the Steadicam operator will show up to the gear check at the rental house where the camera team tests and assembles the gear. As different jobs will use different cameras and lenses, which come in different weights and sizes, it’s crucial that the camera is properly built and balanced during testing.

Nothing would be worse than building the camera on the day, without a gear check, only to realise that the lens is too front heavy to balance on the Steadicam. 

On the day of shooting, the operator will grab a shooting schedule or communicate with the 1st AD to determine what Steadicam shots need to be done and therefore when the camera needs to be built for Steadicam. Sometimes most of the day can be spent doing Steadicam, but usually it will only be reserved for a few shots, in different scenes or setups, spread throughout the day.

If there is a particularly tricky shot, or a choreographed long take that has been pre-planned, the operator may meet with the DP during pre-production, prior to shooting, and walk through the shot to work out how best to pull it off.

When it comes time for Steadicam, the first thing to be done is to build the camera. This is done by the 1st AC or focus puller who will strip the camera of excess weight, configure the necessary accessories, such as the transmitter or focus motors in the same place as they did during the gear check and attach the Steadicam’s sliding base plate to the bottom of the camera.

It is then handed off to the operator who will slide the camera onto the top stage and test it to make sure it is properly balanced on the gimbal. They’ll then throw on the vest, go up with the camera and run through a rehearsal or a rough blocking with the director, actors and DP to work out the movement. 

When they’re ready they’ll go for a take. The director and DP will watch a feed of the image transmitted on a monitor and give feedback on things like the speed of the motion, the framing or suggesting a new movement. 

The camera team will often hand a wireless iris control to the DP, that they can then use to change the aperture on the lens remotely if there are any changes in light.

Between takes when the camera isn’t needed, the operator will take the weight of the Steadicam off by placing it on a stand.

This is the core of their job. However, since the requirements of different shots can vary hugely depending on the situation, each shot may offer a different challenge when it comes to operating. Sometimes this may be the physical challenge of operating a heavy setup, other times it may be a matter of synchronising the timing of the movement with the actor and focus puller or the shot itself may require particularly nimble operation. 

The Steadicam operator has to be able to cooly and calmly adapt to each situation to provide the creative team with the kind of shot that they imagine under the pressures of a time limit.

TIPS

To become a Steadicam Operator you can’t just show up on set and learn as you go. The reason it is such a niche profession is that it takes lots of training, knowledge, practice and experience to be hired for high end film jobs. 

It’s also expensive. 

Typically, Steadicam operators buy their own Steadicam, which is a pricey piece of gear, attend Steadicam workshops where they are trained how to operate it, and are then able to rent out their expertise and their rig out to productions on jobs.

In recent years Arri also introduced the Trinity, which is similar to a Steadicam with a 3-axis camera stabiliser that allows the camera to move on the roll axis, and self balancing features which allows the camera to be moved from low mode to high mode during a shot and the post to be extended for extra reach.

With a traditional Steadicam, operators need to decide before a shot begins whether to shoot in the more common high-mode, or if the camera needs to be close to the ground with the post flipped around and used in low-mode.

Another option sometimes used is to hard mount the arm of the Steadicam on a moving vehicle. The operator then sits next to the rig to operate the camera without having to hold the full weight of it. 

An early example of this was worked out by Garrett Brown on The Shining for the famous hallway tracking shots. They hard mounted the Steadicam arm to a wheelchair which could then be pushed through the hotel corridors in either high mode, or inches from the ground in low mode.   

Since a Steadicam rig with a cinema camera is extremely heavy, operators try to minimise the amount of time that they carry the rig in order to save their stamina for shooting. Any time the camera isn’t going for a take they’ll use a stand to rest the rig, or have a grip standing close by so that they can hand the post off to them as soon as cut is called. 

Communicating with the AD to make sure that the camera only goes up at the last possible moment, and isn’t waiting there for ages while make-up does final checks and the director stands in to give notes, is another good way of minimising time holding the rig. 

Since the camera is set to balance perfectly, if there are big gusts of wind the camera can be shaken and experience turbulence. Therefore it’s good to make sure the grip department is carrying a ‘wind block’. This is a sheet of mesh material attached to a frame that is held by grips between the source of the wind and the camera in order to minimise turbulence.

Another crew member that the Steadicam operator needs to communicate with is the focus puller. Since on an average shoot day the camera will usually need to alternate between studio builds and Steadicam builds the 1st AC and the Steadicam operator should come up with the easiest possible method to change between these configurations that’ll save the production the most time. Because, on a film set more than anywhere else, time is money.