Andy W. (he shot FOUND, we are on a trip together right now filming a show for Discovery) and I have been talking a lot lately about how much production value a simple boom up or down in a shot adds to to any production.  I have not used any myself since college, but I am suddenly realizing that smooth vertical moves are completely absent from my current filmmaking vocabulary.  I need a jib, and I need one now.  This design is a good start, but it is not necessarily strong enough for bigger cameras and may not be as stable as would be ideal.  But you cannot argue with a $60 price tag, considering that a somewhat basic jib is a $150/day rental.  Might be worth building one just to see how well it works.  I know I want to start using dolly and boom shots a whole lot more in my own films, this might be the place to start.

Embarrassing personal story time: I tried to build one many years ago but the metal I used was not strong enough and it twisted so badly under the camera’s weight that I almost destroyed the old family video camera.  I never spoke of the disaster to anyone until now.  Sorry mom.