how to get shot of camera going straight up

M

matthewd5

Veteran
i need to shoot a scene where someone is lying in bed flat on their back. the scene starts with an extremely close-up shot of just their eyes and part of their face.

the camera has to go stragiht up while being centered on their face until it goes up far enough to see them lying in bed with someone next to them.

sounds simple enough but when i use my jib/crane etc. the camera moves a little bit because of the arc pattern the crane takes as it goes through its curved path.

what is the best way to have a straight up trajectory?

matthew
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

You could position it above them and use the zoom instead of moving the camera...
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

orrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......attach ur self to a rope and get some one to pull you up really high. lol ;D
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up


thanks for the useful suggeston barry, i thought of that one but i guess that is a last resort. hate zoom.

and no thanks for the person with the stupid reply about the rope. i hate totally useless stupid replies that just waste time.

matthew
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

But the rope idea isn't necessarily bad, if you can find a way to steady the cam (like a weight).

Focus pulling. That might be an issue.
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

Matthew5, this is in theory. Use either a track dolly or a dolly on pneumatic wheels. Errect your jib on the dolly, compose your shot with the jib on a 90 degree angle. As you are pulling back have someone slowly push the dolly towards the subject, therefore compensating for the arch of the pull back. Its a tricky shot and but it may work.
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

Use two pulleys rigged about 12 - 16" apart from a piece of 1 x 3" pine about 6' long - better create a hog-trough or t-whaler by screwing two of these together down the length. This would be suspended by two well-bagged c-stands over the pillows - one stand on each side of the bed.

Using a single length of airplane cable, with the "u" at the foot of the bed and the two dead ends attached to your camera via another board and 1/4" thumb screw into the tripod mount on the DVX.

You'll need to counterbalance the underside of the camera to account for the vertically-repositioned center of gravity.

A simple rig with easily variable height - might want to attach a Crosby clamp on the operator's side of each pulley to keep the rig from falling on your talent and resting while setting up.

e
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

Oh, and Matthew... you might be platinum, but I think you were a little harsh on the guy who suggested rope. My slightly more articulated wire rope idea was close to what he meant to suggest.

Lots of better minds than us have tackled the zero arc parallel telescope shot challenge. You can either get creative (like we are here) or spring for the one device that will do what you want without having a rig in the shot, and thats a TechnoCrane.

Back to the suggestion of wire rope - you can buy the braided stuff with a plastic insulating sleeve on it at your local Home Depot or Lowes for very little. It will travel through the pulleys or blocks much more smoothly than the unshielded stuff.

Good luck!

e

Just my $.02

e
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

..barry's original suggestion about zoom would probably be easiest, and its not going to look much different if you physically move the camera anywayfor a straight on shot like that.   sides if you move the cam. your going to have to worry about changing focus while doign the move unless its slow enough for focus assist and you have a 100A. in that case if you want to move the cam i would suggest simply putting your crane on some wheels and track so you can adjust for the arc as you raise the camera. with a little practise it should work just fine.
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

Thought I'd jump in for my very first post. You could always put the bed/matress vertical against the wall...have the actors standing up against it and then dolly back with any device you have...should be smooth as glass. A slight angle will allow them to "lean" onto the bed. Saw it in a making of feature somewhere....hope that helps. Crazy Czech out.
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

I am thinking the DOLLY/JIB-CRANE shot will work; practice practice practice.
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

I thinks craxy wins the think out of the box award.  Turns the shot into a simple dolly.  And it gives you the exact same effect.  Nice.

Or you could rent a super expensive fisher or mathews dolly, use a ubangee,  and simply ped up.  
But bed against the wall seems smarter.
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

I concur! ;)

catchme.JPG


e
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

That's because Crazy Czech are the most creative people on the planet. Didn't you guys know that?

(I just wonder why he chose the US flag. Probably hyphenated schizophrenic like myself...)

The 'bed against the wall' will sure work - just make sure you apply a lot of hair spray on the leading lady's hair ;).

This is actually a problem of classical mechanics - I used to solve a lot of these back in unversity as exercise. The easiest way to translate/copy movement is using a pantograph (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pantograph, http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Pantograph). That allows copying one arm's movement to another. If the first arm is attached to a vertical path, the second arm (with the camera) would exactly copy that path somewhere else - above your character's head. However, I don't know if they make pantographs of that size/robustness.

Actually, if this is in a studio, you can probably get one of those pantograph elevator devices, just attach a boom with a camera at the end, and turn it on!

Another solution would be to devise a 'point leader' where a peg attached somewhere along the jib arm moves through a flexible shaft that translates horizontal dolly movement to vertical camera movement.
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

Thanks for groovin' on the bed/wall solution. I'm actually born in Czecho, grew up in Canada and have lived in Los Angeles for the last ten years. Schizo-delusion-maximus is my affliction....Jerry is right. Just got my 100a last week and still blissed out. I believe i have read EVERY post over the last three months and finally posted today.

I have a trailer of a short i just finished editing for a director out here that was shot on 100a. "Saw"-esque scenario with a man and woman chained to chairs back to back in a room...no windows, one door. If I can figure out how to upload look for "13 hours" (final running time 15 min! don't be alarmed) in the CLIPS section.

Looking forward to much more knowledge passing and brainwave tweaking.

Gotta go find my meds....

Vashi.
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

He he... Vashi! That's Vasek, Venca, Vaclav, Venda,...?

Speaking of Czechs - where has tuliptrees been?
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

Vaclav technically. Mom called me Vasiku (vashikoo)...so Vashi by default. But i have been called worse. Ahoj Jardo! Do toho!
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

i like the idea of the bed against the wall.

if it weren't in a home i would build a rig with pulleys and have the camera raised from both sides evenly.

i guess i could use zooom. just as a last resort.

matthew
 
Re: how to get shot of camera going straight up

two 2x4 long planks, greased in between, attach camera to one and slide it vertical. perhaps a triangular base and guides to keep the wood pieces together.
 
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