Another question

[DeterminedFilmmaker]

You might notice that I've been posting in this section a lot recently, it's because I know very little in this area. Anyway...

I was thinking of some other shots. Now what would be the best way to have the camera "move through" branches. I was thinking I could have the camera mounted on a dolly/jib and then move it close to the branches. Then zoom it in using After Effects in post? Or is there a more practical way of going about it?

The branches would be quite small, not giant logs. Bear in mind that the branch never takes up the whole frame.

Thanks

 

[clang]

Presuming it's not practical to literally dolly through real branches without getting them tangled in your camera You may be able to shoot a still of the branches against a greenscreen, then zoom through it (including blur) in post, combining it with a real zoom on the background action.

 

[DeterminedFilmmaker]

Presuming it's not practical to literally dolly through real branches without getting them tangled in your camera You may be able to shoot a still of the branches against a greenscreen, then zoom through it (including blur) in post, combining it with a real zoom on the background action.

Ok, the camera would be about 10-15 feet off the ground. Would the technique still work as well?

 

[Michael Carter]

You can do a lot of stuff like this using After Effects' 3D camera; you get the parallax that sells shots like this. From there it all comes down to your eye - keying and grading all the layers so they become cohesive; and using motion plates vs. stills as much as possible. Tree branches are only still when there's absolutely no wind, after all.

If you're going to shoot stills against green, shoot motion whenever its called for.