Greg Collier's Tools to Flawless Camera Movements

             In a youtube video I found, Greg Collier shows us all the great tools he thinks are important to great cinematography. He has worked been a cameraman on everything from music videos to documentaries and everything in between. He brings up the value of the steadicam, that has not been any significant changes since it was invented about fifty years ago. He explains how the steadicam basically defies gravity. It completely isolates the camera from human movement and gravity itself. It comes with basically three pieces: a vest, an arm, and a gimble. Being just three pieces does not make it easy to build, in fact building this piece is extremely difficult and must be done with much precision.

   

    Greg brings up the jib next. He starts off by saying, "the jib is what can go above and beyond". It can get a birds eye view with out aerial cinematography and can transition down from an aerial shot down to eye level. It is great for an establishing shot of a large crowd. With in one shot you can go from that large aerial crowd shot down to a single person with ease. Putting your jib on a dolly can also further your options and movements for your shots as well. More advanced jibs like the one Greg shows in the video have remote controlled cameras on the end of their jib that give the cinematographer the ability to pan or tilt.

      Greg Collier says that our camera movements are there to basically energize the shot. Although sometimes less it more, other times just having actors being shot with no movement is not entertaining enough for an audience. As Greg is fan of movements, he is also a fan of solar power. He is one of the only camera men in Los Angeles that has a solar camera cart to charge all of his equipment.This individual cart can produce 75 watts of power on set. Greg's final advice for all cinematographers is to get the shot, make it look good, and make it work for what the script calls for.