I'm an indie filmmaker now diving into narrative work, and was wondering what degree of cinematic freedom I can/should hand off to the steadicam operator. Is the operator concentrating only on operating, or can I encourage improvisation? The shots are storyboarded of course, but every time I've allowed room for experimentation on the judgment of the cam operator, it has worked out well.
Whoever executes the shot, especially such dynamic ones, seems to have the best perpsective for capturing the subtle variations of the scene from take to take. In my ideal world, the steadicam operator would take as much liberty in preserving the integrity of the take as he/she would in following the script. When the actors deviate, can I expect the steadicam operator to follow?
