Do they make a giant boom stand for filmmaking?

G

Gang_Green

Active member
For most of my shoots- commercials, some films, we dont really need a boom person to hold up the boom pole. If we had a large enough boom stand - that had an arm on it that extended like 13 feet maybe - that would cover 80% of anything we shot. So we would not need to hire a boom pole person. Dose anyone know if a product like this exists?
 
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You can save a lot of money on one of those perambulators there - about $18k new will save you $30/hour for a decent sound guy. Uh, but you still need an operator for that thing - that be a comfy vinyl seat on the back there.

BTW, if you ever run across two of these, in black, with the 20th Century Fox logo stamped into the metal on the back of the arm, they're both mine. Stolen in 1992.

:furious3:

e
 
overlandfilms said:
. Uh, but you still need an operator for that thing
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Naw, the DP or director can just crank it out over the action, set it, and forget it. :D

How were your dollies stolen? Was a whole G&E truck taken or just the dollies? I can't imagine how one would sell a hot dollie....perhaps they knew ebay would be available in 6 years.

I am belatedly sorry for lost. :(
 
You can get boom pole holders for pretty cheap. They attach to light stands and... hold the boom pole. Get yourself a 13' boom pole, a holder, a sturdy light stand and some sand bags.

K-tek makes one as do some other companies, though I hear you can use a fishing pole holder with a little bit of effort.
 
yes, ofcourse - it would be interview type situation - or commercials where they just stand there and talk. - ect.
 
I have used a C-stand with a grip head (I think this is officially called a gobo head, but I could be wrong) and a cantellini (sp?) clamp, but as Oleg said, if the folks move at all during the scene , you're SOL. Also, the clamps do tend to scratch your boom pole (doesn't effect operation, just doesn't look as pretty.)

Phil
 
I have a "boom buddy" on a C stand and have used it at maybe 9' extended. I think around the 10' mark, keeping the whole thing stable on a stand would be really tricky. Even with a lot of dirt and counterbalancing, I wouldn't want that thing over my head unattended. Then again, I have seen some crazy lighting rigs over the talent's heads that scared the crap out of me.

Of course most shots that you can't get closer then 13' have way too much headroom anyways. Lav those puppies up.

If you are talking more of a medium to even medium wide shot, 9' of boom will usually get your there.

And as already stated; people move, even when seated, and go off axis. Be sure of what you are getting yourself into.

Good luck
 
i occasionally use a mic stand to hold an overhead hyper (oktava or schoeps when i have one)... the wider pickup helps me get around the "moving" problem quite a bit, but at the end of the day, this is a lazy mans solution, booming is almost always better.

it does work, but the only time i ever do it is with seated, static performances/interviews..
 
ironically, ive used the technique more for short films that for interviews - with films the performance is usually more focussed (in terms of not moving around, speaking in one direction only) than in interviews (where the subjects invariably seem to be itching to leave)
 
I use the C-Stand method with one of those expensive fish pole holders:

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all the time. No problem. Put a large sand bag on the stand base and it won't go anywhere. A mafer clamp:

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will work in a c-stand grip head as will the Cartilini clamp:

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Be careful not to over tighten the clamps as they can split the fiber pole.

And this only really works if the "talent" is sitting for an interview.

Most of the large show interviews I do are two booms on c-stands overhead, no lavs. Most of the smaller interviews I do, for tv shows and infomercials, etc., I also use the C-Stand method. The only time I actually boom one is if they are going to stand and move around.

I can't see this working very well for movies and films unless the scene is one that doesn't move and you put it directly overhead and inbetween the two or more non-moving people.
 
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