15 Cinematic Gimbal Moves for Your Films and Videos

With motorized handheld gimbals being as revolutionary as they are, we’ve put together a list of 15 moves to use in your movies, commercials, music videos, and other projects. Allowing for stabilized motion capture, gimbals have totally changed what can be done on a budget. Gimbals are even being used in press conferences and nature documentaries. Part Two of the popular Planet Earth nature series is shot highly cinematic, and the difference is clearly seen when compared to Part One. The filmmakers behind the series explain that they incorporated gimbal technology into the second production. They built gimbal-stabilized cameras into their helicopters, and they used handheld gimbals on the ground wherever they could.
At a fairly affordable cost, gimbals allow a single operator to do what previously required a huge Steadicam or other heavy equipment, in many cases with multiple assistants.
A gimbal can be used for nearly every shot of your movie, including opening establishing shots. And with many gimbals supporting lens motors, you can also choose to shift focus and zoom in and out during operation.
Let’s get into the list.

1. The Handoff

Your subject is running toward the window of a house. You’re running behind the subject, gimbal in hand. As they climb through the window into the house, a second operator stands waiting for you by the window, on the inside. As you come near, you hand off the gimbal, and the second operator then continues on indoors. What you get is continuous, smooth motion in an unbroken chain. The same can be done running up hills and other locations