Camera always moving

J

JustAGuy

New member
Is there a book or website that might explain in a little detail what to watch out for when
shooting in a style that the camera is always moving with decently fast editing?
(Dolly, steadycam, jib, etc)

Think Michael Bay style.

Without editing the entire scene in your head before hand, are there proper ways to shoot
in order to guarantee shots being able to be cut together, such as camera movement should always
move in the same direction (left to right), camera movement should move in reverse directions, etc.

I realize this question might sound silly, or the expected response is with experience you just know...
but that's what I'm trying to learn.

I've been studying finished work but I'm interested in how it went down on set to make it not a nightmare in post.

Thanks.
 
JustAGuy said:
Is there a book or website that might explain in a little detail what to watch out for when
shooting in a style that the camera is always moving with decently fast editing?
(Dolly, steadycam, jib, etc)

Think Michael Bay style.

Without editing the entire scene in your head before hand, are there proper ways to shoot
in order to guarantee shots being able to be cut together, such as camera movement should always
move in the same direction (left to right), camera movement should move in reverse directions, etc.

I realize this question might sound silly, or the expected response is with experience you just know...
but that's what I'm trying to learn.

I've been studying finished work but I'm interested in how it went down on set to make it not a nightmare in post.

Thanks.
Click to expand...


First I map out blocking, and write what happens in the scene beat by beat.

Then after I've mapped this out, I look at that diagram to see multiple ways to get coverage without crossing the line (unless I mean to).

I try to always cover changes in blocking at least two different ways. For instance I'd never cover a character moving ONLY with one steadicam or dolly move...what if that move doesn't work?

Get inserts and cutaways.

Make sure to get people to enter and exit frame.
 
It might help to watch some of the behind the scenes extras on movies that have that style. The tv show 'The Shield' had a very kinetic shooting style; and some of the behind the scenes extras talked about it in some detail. For that show they had 2 camera operators (either on the shoulder or with a steadicam); they shot on the fly and didnt really do any traditional style blocking. If you look closely at that show you will notice that a lot of the shots dont match on the cut, but it didn't matter as the fast paced cuts and constant movement masked any small continuity problems.

Frank Darabont (the director of very traditionally framed cinematic movies such as The Shawshank Redemption) liked the style of The Shield so much that he came on board to direct one episode. He later hired the 2 cameramen to shoot his horror movie 'The Mist'; this he filmed in the style of 'The Shield'. The behind the scenes of that movie talked about the style in some detail, and noted the increased importance of the editor to match it all together (because it was not blocked in the traditional sense).
 
Yikes!!! I watched "The Shield" for about ten minutes once and could never watch it again. That "Kinetic style" got on my nerves so bad I could not stand it. That, and the fact that they had police officers with their badges on the right side of their uniform shirts. I wore a badge for many years as a Paramedic and badges are always worn on the left side of a uniform, over the heart. I am a fan of motivated camera movement and think that movement for movement's sake takes an audience out of the film (in most instances, hand held shots that are supposed to replicate news footage or amateur film can get away with it). The "Hollywood Camera Works" videos are very highly regarded.
 
David G. Smith said:
Yikes!!! I watched "The Shield" for about ten minutes once and could never watch it again. That "Kinetic style" got on my nerves so bad I could not stand it. That, and the fact that they had police officers with their badges on the right side of their uniform shirts. I wore a badge for many years as a Paramedic and badges are always worn on the left side of a uniform, over the heart. I am a fan of motivated camera movement and think that movement for movement's sake takes an audience out of the film (in most instances, hand held shots that are supposed to replicate news footage or amateur film can get away with it). The "Hollywood Camera Works" videos are very highly regarded.
Click to expand...

I think the LAPD don't allow people to wear their uniform (unless there is some agreement made) - the uniform is considered 'intellectual property' of the department. As 'The Shield' was inspired by the embarrassing events that took place in the LAPD Rampart division, I highly doubt the LAPD would have been very helpful to the show, so the costume department would have had to make certain alterations to the uniform in order not to infringe on the intellectual property. The badge might be an aspect of that.

As to the kinetic motion - yeah, it took a bit of getting used to, but it gave the show a very gritty documentary feel, and put you right there in the action (the camera would leap out of cars and follow the officers on foot chases etc). The show was shot in 16mm, which further heightened the documentary feel.

I would recomend you give the show another try - I bought the box edition on amazon a while back; its great value for money (considering the hours of viewing you get from it).
 
I recently pursued this exact same strategy!

Steadycam + Jib +Tracks and Bob's your auntie!
That's the easy part though.

The big pain in the ass is lighting and focus pulling.

If you are going to be moving around a lot, you are either going to need to be planning like never before or using locations that provide nice production value in every direction.

I'm a bit of a lazy film maker so I prefer to choose my locations with camera movement and easy lighting scenarios in mind.

I advise you to do some tests with a band of your choice and make a cool music video to hone your skills.
What I did with this video was cheat the lighting issue by shooting at an ice-rink (Lights bounce off the ice) and I did my best to shoot at a slight upward angle so that the background always had roof supports and lights in it.

Made a lot of mistakes but I learned plenty and knew exactly what gear I needed for the next project. My next attempt will be with the same kind of movement but with moody lighting.

 
Wilbur Eddings said:
I recently pursued this exact same strategy!

Steadycam + Jib +Tracks and Bob's your auntie!
That's the easy part though.

The big pain in the ass is lighting and focus pulling.

If you are going to be moving around a lot, you are either going to need to be planning like never before or using locations that provide nice production value in every direction.

I'm a bit of a lazy film maker so I prefer to choose my locations with camera movement and easy lighting scenarios in mind.

I advise you to do some tests with a band of your choice and make a cool music video to hone your skills.
What I did with this video was cheat the lighting issue by shooting at an ice-rink (Lights bounce off the ice) and I did my best to shoot at a slight upward angle so that the background always had roof supports and lights in it.

Made a lot of mistakes but I learned plenty and knew exactly what gear I needed for the next project. My next attempt will be with the same kind of movement but with moody lighting.

Click to expand...

Nice video, great color (and props for manning the Steadicam on ice :happy:) but IMO, shooting handheld(?) on an upward angle proved to be a little too shaky. Even if that was the type of movement you were looking for, I would have included more jib shots, as well as an establishing shot.
 
JT_Productions said:
Nice video, great color (and props for manning the Steadicam on ice :happy:) but IMO, shooting handheld(?) on an upward angle proved to be a little too shaky. Even if that was the type of movement you were looking for, I would have included more jib shots, as well as an establishing shot.
Click to expand...

Yeah, as I mentioned, made a lot of mistakes --> Ordered a nice circular track system as a result and now saving up for a supertechno :).

To have continuous movement on a music vid is one thing but 90 minutes of it is quite another!
Also not a fan of the shaky cam effect, I really like the stable image moving smoothly in any direction other than a zoom or pan...
 
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