TECHNES Encyclopedia Database

One of the challenges they had to deal with was that, even when the camera was set on a tripod, it could be quite arduous to execute complex movements while cranking. It is important to remember that tilts and pans at the time were typically controlled by two additional cranks. Tripod heads using friction or gyroscopic mechanisms, such as the one developed by Carl Akeley for his wildlife films, did not become widespread until the late 1920s, as we shall see in the next section.^[3]