which phase of movie making was earliest to adopt the use of digital techniques?

The cameraman rides on a seat attached to the dolly, and the whole unit is pushed with great accuracy by a dolly grip. Modern dollies are essentially heavy sleds on four wheels that can move in any direction, with a hydraulic lift system for the camera. Many smooth, hard concrete surfaces can be used with the dolly alone, but most of the time a track made from round metal tubes, much like a railroad track, is necessary to get the smooth tracking shots we're all used to. The key to making smooth shots is the weight of the unit and the surface that the dolly rides on. But today you'll likely find one of two manufacturer's names on the side - J.L. The camera dolly you'd find on today's movie set is much like the early dollies, heavy and stable.

Putting the camera on wheels seems like a no-brainer now, but for more than a decade in filmmaking's early years the camera was stuck in one spot. In fact, it would be another seven years before the first tracking shot was used in a popular movie. Segundo de Chomón probably didn't realize what a difference he'd made when, in 1907, he invented the camera dolly. In the end, a cameraman was able to follow Rocky Balboa up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and track Jack Nicholson through a snowy maze in 'The Shining.' Thanks to Brown, filmmaking would never be the same. A system of counterweights distributes the weight of the camera and allows for - wait for it - a steady shot. The camera is mounted, via the gimbal, onto a flexible 'iso-elastic' arm that's attached to the vest. To operate a Steadicam, the operator essentially wears the camera on the front of what looks like a bullet-proof vest. Through a lot of trial and error, Brown invented a system that used weight distribution and a rotating gimbal to smooth out hand-held shots. What Garrett wanted was a technology that allowed for the smoothness of a dolly, with the freedom of the hand-held technique.Įnter the Steadicam. Before the Steadicam, the only way to move a camera was either by mounting it on a dolly, or by holding it over your shoulder. In 1976, cameraman innovator Garret Brown had a problem to solve: how to make a hand-held shot appear smooth and fluid rather than shaky.

Which phase of movie making was earliest to adopt the use of digital techniques?