Interior/exterior moving car shots?

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ejdge

Well-known member
I need to shoot someone driving and talking in a car. The camera would cover mainly from the passenger's and back sides, but I'd like to have a head on shot through the windshield.

Any ideas how to do this? I wouldn't mind cheating out some of the shot (except no visual effects). I have no dolly except for a wheelchair but my friend has a truck. I've heard some people suggest towing... is it safe for the car/passengers to tow with a truck? Anything else I should keep in mind? Thanks.
 
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Is it day or night? If it's day I'd recommend a low loader and use a pola to cut down windscreen reflection.

If it's night and you ain't got a budget you can rig some lights to cheat car movement. Do a search on this forum, you'll find some great cheats.
 
This particular shoot is day but I'd like to do some night ones in the future. I don't think I can afford to budget anything like a car/truck/low loader. Any other ideas?

Also by pola do you mean polarizer? Thanks.
 
ejdge said:
Also by pola do you mean polarizer? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes, a Polarizer. If you don't have a budget and the talent has a drivers licence, google "stickipod" or is it "stickypod"??? It's a Plate with suction cups on it and you then mount your camcorder to the plate once you've suctioned to the hood of the car.

There may be even cheaper options out there but I think the pod is one of the cheapest and what I've seen from there website pretty flexible in what you can do with it.

Other forum members may have experience with the stickipod.....If so chip in and lets hear some comments.

Your talent doesn't have to drive fast to give you the feeling of movement especially if your on a long lens. If it's a 2 shot through the windscreen it'll still work very well.

Good Luck, whatever you do.
 
For daytime shots, Ive done this.

1. Setup the stirdiest tripod you can get your hands on. Reinforce it with sandbags on the back of yoru truck.

2. Have the talent and his car follow you around streets that are NOT busy. Keep the shots tight and noone will notice that there aren't any other cars.

3. Mark the route you took, and then hop in the back of the car and record the whole scene from there. This way you'll have two and angles, plus the audio.

For the night shots, here's how you can do it.

1. Write your shotlist so your shots are tight... the trick is to not show outside of the car. A 2 shot of the driver and passenger head-on is very possible, but depends on the car.

2. Make sure you're parked in a very dark area. This lowers the chances of light spill from other sources, unwanted reflections, spill, etc.

3. Set 1 light at about 45 degrees from your car, and put a daylight gel on it. This will serve as your moonlight.

4. Have an in-car light if needed also. Those under-the-counter kitchen light work good for this.

5. Have a strong grip carry a light on a tripod that is boomed high. Have him walk from teh front to the back fo the car, then loop around. This will simulate streetlights. MAKE SURE that he doesn't illuminate what is behind the car.

6. Have another grip stand at the side of the car and rock it gently. This siumlate movement.

7. For a bonus, if you have lights that could pass as headlights, have someone hold them up behind the car, spilling right into your lens, then have them walk off to the right or left. This simulates a car behind pulling away. You may have to practice it a few times and watch on an extrernal monitor to make sure it looks believeable.


Just a few things I've done and seen done. Here are examples of both:
Daytime: http://wilkinsonvisual.com/Videos/PerceptionClips.mov
Nighttime: http://wilkinsonvisual.com/Videos/abaddon.mov
(nighttime driving clip is about halfway through)

good luck, have fun
 
steadicamsteel said:
Other forum members may have experience with the stickipod.....If so chip in and lets hear some comments.
Click to expand...


I've used the stickypod for day and night shots, I'm still amaze how amazing it works for the price. It definitely brought my production value up.

You need to invest in one if you want to get those shots with your kind of budget. I wish I had some footage uploaded so I can show you, but do a search on the forum for stickypod you'll hear some great testaments.
 
Thanks for the info everyone, I think I'll invest in a stickypod. One question though, what's the difference between the propak and original? Which will I need to get the side-car, dash, and windscreen shots? Thanks yet again.
 
Basically the Pro-pack just comes with more accessories and so on, but I'll call the guy who makes it so he can explain to you more, he is realy helpful, but for what you're doing I"d get the pro-pack. The Extensions really come handy, specially for the Side-Car shots.

I assume you're using a DVX right? At first I was so scared to put my camera on there, but believe me it's safe.

And the great thing about the DVX, specially if you shoot in 24p mode, you can be driving 5 miles per hour and on the playback it looks like you're going 20, no joke.

http://www.stickypod.com/osc/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=31
 
That I don't know, if you mean a difference as to would the Stickypod work with it, then call the guy, he'll let you know. the A1-XH isn't that much bigger then the DVX right...
 
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