Jib Shot

A jib swings the camera on an arm, so height and lateral position change together in one smooth curve. The result reads as a single gesture rather than as two moves added up.

It is the move that gets a shot into a space cheaply. A jib arm covers ground a dolly cannot reach, over furniture, across a table, out above a drop.

The camera sits on the end of a balanced arm and the operator swings it. Height and direction change together, because the arm travels through an arc rather than along a line.

A jib arm is short compared with a crane, so the moves are smaller and faster. That is the practical difference between the two names.

Both ends need naming. Where the arm starts, where it finishes, and what the frame holds at each end. A swing with one end described drifts.

Use it to enter or leave a scene with momentum, to move over an obstacle in a small space, and to get a change of height without a full crane.

Skip it when the shot should be still. A jib move draws attention to itself, and on a quiet beat that attention is the wrong kind.

Crane Up is a pure rise on a long arm and usually covers a lot of height. A jib is shorter, and its moves combine a modest rise with a sideways swing.

The test is the path. Straight up is a crane. A curve that gains height while it travels sideways is a jib.

The model gives a straight vertical rise, losing the sideways component that makes it a jib. Say the camera swings on an arm and travels sideways as it changes height.

The second failure is a move with no ends. Name the start frame and the finish frame, because an arc without either drifts and stops nowhere.