September 17, 2006

Well as most of you know, I'm an amateur videographer and I thought I would build something that would add a little cinematic touch to some of the shots I've done with my camera. So I built myself a jib.

"A jib? What is a jib?" Well, a jib is basically a seesaw contraption that lets you smoothly pan across, up and down on an object. You have this long pole on a tripod, then you put the camera on one end and a weight on the other end as a counter balance. You've seen the shots and will recognize the movement. You can buy them for about $200 - $300 bucks but as I did with my steadicam - I decided to build one. I didn't use the plans from the book I bought because it was a little more expensive and time consuming, so I did some research and purchased some other plans online. For about $40 bucks and parts from Home Depot, I built this one. My buddies Matthew and Al lent me their heavy duty tripods because I was afraid mine wouldn't hold up. Last thing I wanted was for my camera to come crashing down! Later I'm going to add a small monitor I picked up online so I don't have to "crane" my neck looking at the video display on my camera. Now that I know how this one works - I may build the more expensive one later.

So I went outside and without much trouble, I had me some "actors" help me capture some test footage with this jib. You can view the movie by hovering your mouse over empty black space in between the pictures and a play button will appear for you to click. You can mute the sound but I think the music makes the video. I have my wife to thank for the music selection - it's in her blood.