Review by The American Cinematographers Magazine for Jan 2010 By Jim Hemphill

Online, January 16, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Review by The American Cinematographers Magazine for Jan 2010 By Jim Hemphill
Dollies, Cranes & Camera Heads
by Michael G. Uva
Reviewed by Jim Hemphill

Michael G. Uva's Dollies, Cranes & Camera Heads is the veteran key grip's latest book, following his Focal Press tomes The Grip Book and Uva's Rigging Guide for Studio & Location. Like those publications, it draws on the author's decades of experience to pack a bounty of useful information into a relatively small package. The book's 359 pages contain detailed specifications for more than 100 cranes, dollies, accessories and remote, fluid and gear heads, with photos, graphs and Web-site information for further research. Uva frames these entries with an introduction and a selection of valuable "tricks of the trade" taken from The Grip Book, making this a great one-stop source for grips, best boys and other members of the camera department.

The book opens with an introduction that provides a series of helpful definitions and some tips on the advantages and disadvantages of various pieces of equipment. Some of this information is fairly basic and designed more for students and amateur filmmakers than professionals. The work includes a brief glossary, an essay by filmmaker Ron Dexter on operating a camera using cranes and dollies and extended sections on specific types of camera stabilizers from sandbags to Steadicams. Uva wraps his introduction up with some theory on the ways stabilizing systems work and the ways to get the most out of them. Although this section of the book could have used another pass from an editor because there are more than a few spelling and grammatical errors, its core concepts will be helpful to beginning camera operators and directors of photography.

From the introduction, Uva moves on to the bulk of the book, presenting an invaluable reference guide to the market's most prevalent cranes, dollies and heads, as well as myriad accessories. For each piece of equipment, the book lists elevation measurements, weight limits for flooring, the dimensions of the equipment, what the equipment can carry and at what weight, along with many other essential specifications. Uva also provides mailing addresses, phone numbers and Web sites for the companies that make and sell the equipment; this information is included in the entries themselves as well as in a handy separate reference section devoted to manufacturers. The book is exceptionally thorough and well illustrated, with multiple still photographs, sketches and tables for each entry, along with precise explanations of the reasons certain pieces of equipment are well suited to particular tasks.

The book presents its figures in both metric and standard measurements and includes sections on motion-control mounts and aerial-photography equipment. The information is straightforward and elegantly laid out on the page, making the book a handy tool for everyone from those who choose the equipment to those who purchase it to those who operate it. The organization of material occasionally seems haphazard, but the book's table of contents and index make it relatively easy to access information quickly, and the collection of Web links and phone numbers is indispensable. Uva's personal tips gleaned from years on set will be of service not only to novice operators and grips, but also to aspiring directors thinking about how to utilize dollies, cranes and other stabilizers to creatively frame their shots. More experienced filmmakers can skip the book's more subjective sections and tips but will find the hundreds of pages on individual tools to be of immense value. In short, keeping a copy of Michael Uva's Dollies, Cranes & Camera Heads close at hand during both prep and production is a good way to be sure of finding the correct tool for the needs of each shoot.