2 Cam Shoot: Steadicam and Still Cam, How Do you make it work

lhmaloney

lhmaloney

Well-known member
Ok guys, so I have 2 cam operators, one of them has the basic tripod blah blah, and another has a steadicam. My question is how do you mix in the tripod shots if a steadicam always has some movement, or what if the operator has to go into the shot of the second cam. Anybody got any advice on how to make it work. Also with the steadicam, its difficult to have a boom operator obviously, however if thats ur main cam, how do u make the sound work. Thanks in advance guys:dankk2::dankk2::dankk2:
 
I was doing booming for a steady cam shot. Not that hard if you know what your doing. What I did was got a clip and basically made a pully for the XLR cord and kept it tight but if I had to get farther away from the operator it would pull out as much as I needed. Just remember that the operator usually only shoots from one shoulder so you have his other shoulder to hide behind so you and the boom arent in the shot.
 
As the op from Lairhair's shoot, I will say that going cabled was the only real thing I could do on the day of the shoot, but wireless is the only practical solution for audio on a Steadicam. I was only able to make being cabled work with a mess of adapters and very interference-prone cable, so it's not something I'd recommend at all. It's easy enough to rent a wireless kit for the mic (and, in different circumstances, that's how I would have done it)

But, assuming that that's not an issue, the method for booming was to keep the boom op right behind my right shoulder (since I fly the rig with the sled on my left side - regular). It's very difficult to end up shooting behind my right shoulder, so that's a general "safe zone", where the op won't ever be in my shot. Beyond that, just cooperation between the boom op and the Steadicam op is what you need to keep the boom and mic out of the shot.
 
you may also want to run the cable from the camera down the arm and hook it to the vest before running to the fishpole, make sure there is slack at all the pivot and bend points, and also make sure the cable doesnt get pinched . you may also want to have a cable wrangler in the mix so nether the cap op or boom op trips up,

its the same as any moving camera be it hand held or sholder, you just have to be more carfull not to pull on the camera.


good luck
Jason Miller
 
If you have access to wireless lavalier mics that means you don't need to have the boom next to the talent, which opens up your options hugely. Steadicam from a distance zoomed somewhat in can work really well, and leave the shot clear for the tripod as well. It needs to be planned, and takes a decent operator, but all the best stuff usually does :D
 
Makes sense, I notice everyone's addressing the audio anyone have anything concerning mixing static with steadicam shots
 
You can cut between the two fairly seamlessly if you have different framing. Also when movement pauses, changes tempo or direction, dialogue stops, new character walk ons, all sorts of things. Watch some episodes of West Wing, Steadicam is blended in so well you hardly notice, unless your watching closely, as the characters and the dialogue catch you. If you make the action the focus, people ignore minor changes in motion.
 
I did a shoot with two RedOnes not so long ago, me on steadicam and another one on sticks. We were filming a couple dancing and I was going round them. Obviously, I was in shot some of the time, but the other Red had such a tight shot on the dancers most of the time, it was usable.

I think the best thing to do is to keep a very tight shot with the static camera so when you do cut to it, there is still a lot of movment in frame. It would look odd cutting from a very dynamic shot to a very static one, so if you keep nice adn tight most of the frame is moving to hide the cut as much as possible...
 
hoarp001 said:
I did a shoot with two RedOnes not so long ago, me on steadicam and another one on sticks. We were filming a couple dancing and I was going round them. Obviously, I was in shot some of the time, but the other Red had such a tight shot on the dancers most of the time, it was usable.

I think the best thing to do is to keep a very tight shot with the static camera so when you do cut to it, there is still a lot of movment in frame. It would look odd cutting from a very dynamic shot to a very static one, so if you keep nice adn tight most of the frame is moving to hide the cut as much as possible...
Click to expand...

This is what I was going to do with the static camera is use it primarily for close up or tighter shots, mainly because, the camera that will be on the steadicam has a 35 adapter, meaning it should have a very decent shallow depth of field, where as the static cam does not have one, however I can maintain that shallow depth of field because the cam op can adjust the focus to get it.
 
Classical cinematographic rules (outlined in the 5 C's of Cinematography) generally look down upon the mixing of still footage with moving shots unless they follow a rather standard tempo. Mascelli pretty much makes the distinction that moving subjects follow a standard tempo while static subjects do not. Thus you can intercut footage shot from two cameras of a subject walking but not of a man sitting in a chair unless you cut at the end of a camera move (a static shot) to a static shot.

This is classical cinematography though so I'm sure you can take creative license and create some results that work. I wouldn't stray far from the conventions though.

Another thing you need to take into account when working with two cameras (especially if one is moving) is you have to very closely follow lines of action and screen continuity or risk confusing your audience. Also I wouldn't recommend doing close ups with the static camera since you probably would want to save it for establishing shots that not only provide you with a safety net in case the steady cam footage fails but also allow your audience to reorient themselves better than with a moving shot.
 
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