Ceiling to bed shot... how do I pull it off?

J

JPenna

Member
Hey guys,

So, I'm shooting a short film this Sunday that needs a medium-wide shot of someone laying in a bed (knees to head). Kinda like a bird's eye view.
I need it to fix the camera to the ceiling somehow without running the risk of it falling and hopefully without damaging the ceiling (we just sold the house in this horrible seller's market!).

I figured I'd just have someone who's standing on the bed hold the camera as close to the ceiling as possible then Shake out the camera shake later.
Any other ideas?
 
tmnt said:
Glue actor and bed to ceiling, tilt up.
Click to expand...

Nails work better. No drying time.


Hmm, well the question is, will you even get that big of a shot from the ceiling? It may turn out that you could only do a closeup of the face from that distance.

I would try and set up the matress somewhere you can get high, like say below a balcony of some sort, or in your living room from the stairs, etc... then match the lighting and don't have the shot go past the matress so you can cut from in the room to that shot seamlessly.

As for hanging from the ceiling. :S Not sure. I don't think I'd do that without a rig I trust.

Try standing at the end of the bed (or something sturdier). Prob the only idea that works best.
 
Heres what I'd do, get your tripod, extend as far up as possible, close the legs. Prop them up on a stand on whatever is possible and use the tripod like a monopod.

Or you could put him on this... http://www.xtendandclimb.com/... and pan away. Mounting on the ceiling is almost impossible in a home (non-studio) setting. I guess if you really wanted to and thought it necessary, you could mount a tripod head upside down to the stud. Don't recommend it.

What's your best option, get a really tall platform and go for it.

Or use a jib like advanta-jib to accomplish what you want.
 
ugafan said:
crane.

or two ladders with some wood on top.
Click to expand...

Nice. I was going to suggest a ladder, but the platform idea is even better.

Would you even need ladders?

Couldn't you run some plywood across some chair seats of the right height? Or use some crates?

Let's say you drop the bed off the rails to the floor for a height of something like 2 feet. If you found some sturdy objects that you could place on either side of the bed, couldn't you run some plywood over it, while the actor lay just beneath? Maybe some 2 by 4s under that to support the platform?

Even if you were 6 feet tall, as long as you had 9 foot ceilings, you could mount your tripod and pull it off, couldn't you?

Then you could be as close to directly above the shot as possible, without the use of a crane.

Or just put the plywood on the mattress, just out of frame...have him position his legs around the tripod somehow, and stand there on the plywood and shoot from there.

Hmmm...maybe I should be an engineer. Nah...not really fond of trains.
 
Get a monopod. Clamp it onto a c-stand. Raise the c-stand and extend the monopod out over the bed. Hang a weight on the other end of the monopod to keep it balanced. Screw camera onto monopod.
 
If there's someone you know with a Sticky Pod, you can stick that on the ceiling. Those pads are STRONG and should hold the camera weight.
 
I would try to rent some wall spreaders and just stick a 2x4 across the ceiling and then you can do what ever you want to mount the camera/ lights to it.

The wall spreaders wont even leave a mark on the walls since they are padded.
 
I'll take the super-cheap and quick approach in case you need that as an idea... get a chair or ladder, stand on it at the end of the bed. Have the camera on a tripod or monopod, but just hold the tripod out at a 90 degree angle with the camera pointed down (stretching your arms to help support the tripod/monopod... maybe a second person would help), looking down at the actor. You will have some shake... remove in post with smoothcam filter (or shake 4), or whatever software you have as equivalent.

Of course, the other solutions mentioned above are better, but thats a backup if you can't do any of the above...
 
Or... you could climb into the attic and cut a hole in the ceiling over the bed. When you are done, stick a ceiling fan in the hole.
 
I would hate to be the talent in this shot. We had a wall-buster come down on the last show I was on - don't put talent under those things when it can be avoided.

If you do, nail some safety cleats of 3/4" plywood under each point of contact for added safety. Fill the resulting holes afterward - the putty and paint is cheap insurance.

e
 
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