BTS Look At The Closing Steadicam Shot in "Hugo"

In case you missed "Hugo", the Oscar winning film from last year, the last cut of the movie is about 2 minutes long, and is seemingly a single steadicam shot. In this behind the scenes video, we see the point of view from a small wide angle camera mounted on top of the steadicam itself, and you can see how something like this is pulled off. You can even hear Larry McConkey take a sigh of relief when he finishes the move. Hit the jump for the scene from the movie.

As someone who has done steadicam work, operating a heavy rig for even just a few small clips can be very taxing and take tremendous effort and balance from your entire body to do right. Much respect to working pros doing shots like this, as smooth as this.

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Mike Wilkinson is an award-winning video director with his company Wilkinson Visual, currently based out of Lexington, Kentucky. Mike has been working in production for over 10 years as a shooter, editor, and producer. His passion lies in outdoor adventures, documentary filmmaking, photography, and locally-sourced food and beer.

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12 Comments

GoPro posted a link to this as well yesterday, I believe they said it was a Go Pro attached to the camera on the steadicam.

That's why the best directors always thank their crew. What an amazing behind the scenes.

 I like the bit where the wall moves backwards to allow the camera move around the back of the girl in the corner of the room.

I also noticed the boom hanging above the camera pulling some move without getting in the shot. Kudo's for him aswell

Right around the 1:13 mark .... the wall is moved so the camera can get behind the actress ....  cool.

maybe make the cameras lighter?

Fantastic! Nice to see even pros with pro steadicam rigs blurts out a sigh of relief after a smooth run.:) It never gets easy.

That was awesome! Inspiration indeed. love the moving wall. So simple but effective. Though I was really impressed by the boom grip. They had to avoid people, camera, the lights and avoid getting in frame! The lead into the shot for the 3d comp was amazing too.

Hey guys, since you're doing a scene of impressive shots and camera work, how about this one (shown to me by Cinema class teacher): From the movie El Secreto de sus Ojos (the secret in their eyes), Argentinian movie:

The scene: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtB117zNC2E
The making of: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9owcTtx1Dl4

too bad you can't set a white balance on the go-pro. ;) really impressed with the boom operator!!

Incredible!