Friday, November 13, 2009

Jib arm

Any movement within a shot makes the world of a difference on the final product. Just introducing a pan, tilt, dolly or jib arm move will make your film look 10x more professional.

Jib Arm

In cinematography, a jib is a boom device with a camera on one end, and a counterweight and camera controls on the other. It operates like a see-saw, but with the balance point located close to the counterweight, so that the camera end of the arm can move through an extended arc. A jib permits the camera to be moved vertically, horizontally, or a combination of the two. A jib is often mounted on a tripod or similar support.

A jib is useful for getting high shots, or shots which need to move a great distance horizontally or vertically, without the expense and safety issues of putting a camera operator on a crane or laying track for a dolly. A jib can even be mounted on a dolly for shots in which the camera moves over obstacles such as furniture, when a normal dolly shot could not be used.

A jib is somewhat more complicated than a simple lever, since almost always the camera's aim needs to be controlled independently of the swing of the jib arm. This can be done by relatively simple mechanical means or by the use of remotely controlled electric servo motors.

Since the camera operator is often not able to use the camera's controls directly or look through the camera's viewfinder, a jib is often used in conjunction with a remote camera control for focus and zoom and with a portable video monitor.

A device known as a 'hot head', attached to the long end of larger jibs, supports the camera and enables remote pan/tilt functions with focus/zoom control. In this setup, one person usually controls movement of the jib whilst another operates the hot head using a control box.

(wikipedia)

How do you get these cool shots on a tight budget? Here are some videos I have found that will get your ideas flowing. Remeber, people have found ways to make a piece of equiptment work but that doesn't mean thats the only way to make it. Try out different methods and figure out which is the best for you.



Plans For a Jib Arm




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