Mostly it's about getting the balance and set up of the camera exactly right.
The position of the EVF is very critical. I spend a LOT of time in pre with my assistants having what I call a "fitting" to make sure they position everything where I want it.
One thing I've found with a lot of rigs for RED cameras is that the center of gravity end's up being very high. Often with a lot of the Harley bar type dual handles, the center of the lens end's up being ABOVE where your eye is. The lens is shooting a perspective HIGHER than what your eye would see. The camera sits tall on your shoulder and it then will want to roll side to side, because it's top heavy.
With every camera, I want the center of gravity to be as low as possible, and the camera to be balanced so that I can take my hand of the camera and it will just sit on my shoulder. I like to freak my assistants out by testing this regularly. The overall weight doesn't matter but how it sits on shoulder really does. I find the trap with a lot of hand held rigs that use the harley bar double fists in front of you like you're doing a chin up lull you into a false sense of security. It feels solid, but it's actually hard to operate like that for an extended period of time. You're pivoting the weight up, or lifting it up, because most cameras these days are front heavy.
So you're in effect lifting the front of the camera up to just simply hold the shot. I try to start with the shoulder carrying the weight of the camera, with a low center of gravity so it tends to just want to hang there, and then you're just lightly "steering" the camera instead of muscling the shot. You should be able to almost take your hands off the camera and have it sit on your shoulder.
I also don't like what I call the elbows on the table pose those rigs force you into. I actually use a single right hand grip from wood made by Shootingmachine.net and I rig it so that that might right hand is actually IN LINE and UNDERNEATh the center line of lens. So my right hand it in the same optical axis to the action as the lens is.
My left hand then rests on the rails or mattebox to help steer. If i need to tilt down it can also move to underneath the lens for extra stability, plus i can also correct the exposure or focus as we shoot. It also means my elbows aren't sticking out, and I keep them tucked into my chest.
Sometimes, if the camera can't be re-balanced or you have a very front heavy rig, I will use a cinesaddle that I wear like a sling,. Basically it's a big bean bag you put over your shoulder. i've also seen operators get a backpack and wear it frontways (backwards) and fill it with soft rubber. These bag rigs help you (silently) rest you or even prop your elbows o help with lifting the camera.
If you get your handles right, the balance right and the evf position right, then get rid of all the accessories you can or put them as low as possible (undersling your on-board for example) then you're half way there.
Learn to operate with both eyes open. You can keep an eye on where you're walking and other "bogeys" that might cause you grief if you can have both eyes open and looking. It also helps a lot with signaling to your focus pullers and boom swingers. A surprising amount can be communicated through the way you raise an eyebrow
I find a lot of other assistance rigs limit you in other ways. I have loved Easy rigs, but they too are a trap. They are great for endurance. If you want stand somewhere and hold a camera a long time. They suck though if you want to move while you're using them. It basically becomes a big pendulum, and you take a step and there's a delay as the camera and rig follow you, you feel the sway of the pendulum trying to move the camera after you've stepped
It's not the right forum to show as an example, but I did a series recently that was a 6 x 1 hour show and the whole show was shot handheld with Alexa Studio's. We had only two shots that were locked off (for VFX) and the rest was all hand held. We had a MOVI and Sony F55 (for global shutter match) and I also had an Easy rig with a serene arm as well, but mostly we just shouldered the cameras.
This sequence was shot very quickly, in about an hour and is all hand held. 2 x Alexa Studios with nice lightweight MK3 Superspeeds.
https://vimeo.com/154004536
Here's a photo of the actor from this scene holding my camera. Notice the handle position is right under the lens and also the center of the lens is well below where his right eye is. IN fact the middle of the lens is about where his mouth is. That mattbox is rotated offset so it looks not balanced but you'll notice the actual body is sitting square.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnbrawley/17844863839/in/album-72157649998822323/
JB
You can replace the beads with cut up bits of foam.
My grips call it a silent sack
JB
