How to Use Merlin positions for smooth steadicam shots

There are a lot of famous steadicam shots where the camera floats just ahead of the actors as they walk along having a conversation. (See just about any episode of "The West Wing" or "Battlestar Galactica.") Perhaps you imagined the cameraman walking backwards, carefully stepping over door frames or other obstacles in order to get this tricky shot. But as you'll see in this video, it's actually a much simpler matter of using a device called a Steadicam Merlin, so the operator can see where he's going while keeping the action in the frame.