Steadicam operators handle the Steadicam during filming, reducing camera shake and ensuring scenes are captured correctly. They wear a harness to support the weight of the camera and use the built-in monitor to frame shots and track movement. The Steadicam was developed in the 1970s and requires practice and training to use effectively.
Steadicam operators are responsible for physically handling a Steadicam during a shoot, ensuring that scenes are filmed properly, and dealing with the physical requirements of using the Steadicam. A Steadicam is a type of camera often used in filmmaking that allows the freedom of movement afforded by a handheld camera, while greatly reducing camera shake through an integrated gimbal and counterbalanced design. Steadicam operators wear a harness that is attached to the Steadicam itself by a body armor or arm; they also use the Steadicam’s built-in monitor to ensure shots are framed correctly and to track actors’ movements or the action in a scene.
The responsibilities of Steadicam operators are similar to those of other camera operators, but are specifically geared towards the effective use of a Steadicam. The Steadicam is a camera developed in the 1970s by Garrett Brown, a cameraman in the US film industry. The basic design features a camera mounted on a vertical bar, at the bottom of which there is a counterweight next to the camera’s power supply and a monitor to view the image captured by the camera. This camera and counterweight include a gimbal, which helps counteract small camera movements to reduce shake.
As the camera setup, referred to as a “sled”, is quite heavy, Steadicam operators wear a safety belt to which the sled is connected by a harness. This harness supports most of the sled’s weight, which puts a lot of physical strain on the operator’s body. Learning to move effectively using the harness and holding the sled is one of the biggest challenges for many Steadicam operators and requires a lot of practice and training.
Steadicam operators can’t support the weight of the camera holding it, but put one hand on the sled itself to move it as needed. Since the camera’s actual viewfinder is often in a position that cannot be seen by the operator, Steadicam operators must be able to watch the monitor at the base of the sled to ensure a scene is captured correctly. In addition to watching what’s happening on the monitor, operators also have to navigate around the movie set, following the actors and keeping up with the action in a scene, without finding other equipment or anything else. All of this coordination plus ensuring that any specific requirements set by the cinematographer for a scene are also met during Steadicam operation.
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