Help! Dolly Cam Techniques

A

aligator8

Member
This might be too general of a question, but I thought I would ask anyway since I couldn't find any other posts/threads related to it...

Next week I'm shooting a short film about golf (no laughs please) and just built a dolly w/ track that I'd REALLY like to use in it. This is my first time ever using a dolly, so I was wondering if anyone out there would mind sharing the Do's and Don'ts of shooting with one.

I'm mostly curious about distance, angle, and speed... but please feel free to share any and all thoughts :-)

Thanks for the help!
 
Golf? I just finished working on a russian pop music video. There are plenty of sillier things you could be doing, so no worries. :)

Anyways, if you have track I would suggest getting a level and some wooden wedges to make it all nice and level. A level dolly is a happy dolly. You should also always put something like grip clips or sandbags at the end of the tracks, just to prevent it from going off. Those are my two little insights on dollys. Have fun.
 
Make sure to keep the track leveled which can be a challenge when shooting on grass.

As for style, it really comes down to choice about how you want your film to look. Biggest thing is to have a strong core concept before you start shooting so you have some consistency, which you're clearly addressing just by posting a question.

For some strong use of dolly moves, check out Scorsese, Spielberg, or Mendes films. Watching specifically for dolly moves with the sound off you'll realize how often they're used without most people noticing.

And if you're really interested check out the Hollywood Camera Work DVDs as they help breakdown shots into simple techniques. To get an idea (and help get a couple basic dolly tricks) check out the sample clips... http://www.hollywoodcamerawork.us/mc_sampleclips.html
 
Practice, Practice, Practice.

A Dolly should never be brought out and set up for the first time on set. Figure out the finesse of the system. If it isn't perfectly level, it will jam, make noise, flip, explode. Alright - maybe not explode. But the dolly system is something that needs to really be worked out before going out on set.

The major things are leveling it. Having a dolly grip who can start the unit moving and also stop it well. Easier said then done especially if you have the camera, an operator, and an AC on the rig.

Distance, angle, and speed are all things you need to determine for the specific shot at hand. We can't help you there.

But either way - good luck and have fun with it.
 
Damn that crane goes high. Love those shots.
Practice practice practice like someone said. Its not as easy as it looks. Also test if you can ride with the camera because trying to pull focus, panning and tilting are a real ***** when you have to walk next to the dolly.
CINEVATE's Ballare dolly is great for this.
 
Beat Takeshi said:
Damn that crane goes high. Love those shots.
Practice practice practice like someone said. Its not as easy as it looks. Also test if you can ride with the camera because trying to pull focus, panning and tilting are a real ***** when you have to walk next to the dolly.
CINEVATE's Ballare dolly is great for this.
Click to expand...

Yes it does get up there. Even better is we rode up with the camera.
 
craigbowman said:
Parallax where items are close to camera are important in dolly and crane shots. You can use greenery, someone moving opposite the camera etc.

Examples From a Recent Client Job:

Dolly Greenery

Dolly Opposite Move

Dolly Reveal

Crane Down Light Standard

Crane Down Tree

Crane Up Trees

Crane Up Short Trees and House
Click to expand...

Craigs point is probably is one of the most important in motion. Using foreground objects to show the move and exagrating paralax motion is very important.

You donot have to use foreground objects if you are very close(like if you were right next to the golfer on a hihat and dollied past him when he was hitting the ball.) Otherwise on wide shots try to use trees and other objects that will incorporate and show the camera move.

good luck with your shoot.
 
Thanks everyone - GREAT INFO! I really appreciate the insight.

Though I'm sure it takes months even years to perfect the technique, I'm going to dedicate the next 4 days to learning the ins and outs of my system and will give it a go next week. It sounds like having a level track is key and the rest I'll just have to figure out through trial and error prior to my shoot.

Practice, practice, practice... right? :-)

I'll throw some of my footage up here after next week and let you guys tear it apart with some constructive criticism!
 
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