Next Move Is Yours With This Camera

The biggest problem with home videos since the beginning days of home movies has been the “moving” part.

So long as you stood still and braced the camera, the images looked great. Zoom lenses added the ability to change the perspective, and to show the whole scene or zero in on the details. Video came along, adding the dimension of sound to home movies, which you could then see and hear immediately.

But moving the camera. . . .

That first step was OK. But the second step and all the rest gave your cinema the verite that more resembled an 8.0 earthquake on the Thames than a walk through the Tower of London. Try as you might, you couldn’t walk with the camera and still take a smooth shot.

It became more frustrating when theater movies showed elegant scenes where cameras danced with actors moving from one room to the next, where cameras even moved through open windows. The shots were smooth and even. The word “Steadicam” entered the viewers’ vocabulary as knowledgeable audiences learned the name of the trick device, even as it jogged up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum with Sylvester Stallone.

But if we jogged, our videos looked like historic tapes of the 1971 Sylmar earthquake.

Then again, their Steadicams weighed 50 pounds and cost $40,000. We could live with a lot of bounce for $40,000.

Well, if you want the ultimate camcorder accessory, the crane/dolly/boom that you can pack up and take with you, read on and rejoice. Steadicam has produced a new kid on the block.

The JR (pronounced jay-are ) is a scaled-down version designed specifically for the home video shooters with Rocky’s ambitions. Available since April, it is the answer to any video move you want to make short of literally flying the camera.

Invented by Garrett Brown, creator of the JR’s two big brothers, the new version is sold through its Los Angeles manufacturers, Cinema Products. At $579, it’s not cheap, but it is reasonable. It is light (less than three pounds) and really works . . . with some practice.

But when you’re ready, you’ve got a piece of equipment that will enable you to shoot video that looks as sophisticated and exciting as anything you’d pay to watch on the big screen.

The JR has its own 3 1/2-inch monitor that hangs below the camera and allows the user to watch what he is shooting while watching where he is going.

A brightness control will accommodate almost anything up to virtual blinding sun on the ski slopes. (When the JR is balanced, if you ski well enough, the wild world of sports awaits you.)

One warning: The Steadicam JR is a precision device. It’s not flimsy, but it’s also not meant to be manhandled or abused. Treat it with the respect you give the camera and it will reward you with the ability to produce camera moves on a par with anything you’ve seen anywhere before.

For more information, call Cinema Products at (213) 836-7991.