The Steadicam® Operator's Handbook

Your role as storyteller

play the part

As strange as this may sound, as a Steadicam operator, you are playing a kind of pan in the film. In every frame, a choice is made: what to include and what to leave out of the shot. Each time you make a framing choice, you are determining how the story is told.

The camera is moving, now you have more choices to make. How does the camera move through space? Is it slow and methodical? Is it quick and full of energy? Are the pans rapid or slow?

Let's examine one scene shot two different ways:

The script says, “Two boys are playing. One of them, Julio, notices something off screen. He stops playing, goes into the house, and gets a gun off the kitchen table.” Dull script.

Version #1

The director says to you. ...