It’s a bit like a big boy’s Meccano set when you take it out of the box, you look at it for a while trying various parts to see if they fit, then when you get the courage to build the beast you find out that 2 people are needed when presenting it to the tripod otherwise you are in serious danger of losing a finger or two!

A Jib arm takes a fair bit of practice.  Alistair, Angela and myself were filming at Barr’s soft drinks just outside Glasgow, part of the shoot involved filming the bottle conveyer line so we assembled the Jib arm, mounting it on a tripod (this needs 2 people) with the tripod on dolly wheels (locked in position). We did various shots in the factory, one of the better ones looking straight down on a macro shot at the bottle tops traveling through shot.

Outside the factory we got one of the employees to walk into shot towards the front revolving door while we did a vertical crane shot from the grass to about 10 feet in the air. Crane shots need 2 people, one to pull the weights at the back and someone to hold the front handle and watch the shot in the LCD viewfinder (Sony EX-1).

The HAGUE PRO – JIB K14 does not come with a carry bag as part of the kit but you are strongly advised to buy one as you will soon lose the bits if you don’t. The up-to-date prices for the Jib are as follows…

• HAGUE PRO – JIB K14 = £499.95 (Fits 100mm/75mm bowl)
• Weights = £39.95
• Padded Transit Bag for Pro-Jib with space for accessories. Size 19 x 22 x 162cm = £149.95

All in a total of £689.85 and you still need tripod legs and dolly wheels !

Was it worth the expense…?  There are some jobs where you need to bring out all the “metal” — it adds that je ne sais quai to certain productions and helps to build up the cost as well.

Find out more at www.b-hague.co.uk