Overhead Camera Rigging Ideas?

Chiskon

Active member
Dvxusers,

I'm setting up one of those cliche corporate drawing videos that narrate a voice-over in a month with a c100.

To prevent the artist from blocking the drawing with her shoulder, head, etc. I'm going to rig an overhead shot that needs to be steady for 7 minutes at a time.

So far what I am thinking is two combo stands with a pipe mount with a short pipe sideways.
At the ends of those mount a cheeseborough for more pipes to make a dolly rail setup.
Then the part I'm unsure about...maybe ratchet tie down a plank to the bottom of the two pipes and drill on a hi hat upside down for the camera?
Plus safety cables, sandbags, etc.

Another idea I ran across was using two ladders with one plank tied down going across with a hi hat in the middle.

If you were setting this up, how would you rig your camera?

thanks,
Matthew
 
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Do you need to dolly from the top or just lock something off?
I've had good luck adapting 1/4" mounts on a cage to baby spuds and then putting that into mafers, etc., but that's always been for a safety-chained rig that was up for less than a day. If you want to make adjustments, I think the upside-down hi-hat makes the most sense.
 
Jib is the simplest solution, but maybe not the most cost effective. If this shoot is in the Bay Area, I may be able to help you out with rentals. Definitely could put together a very simple menace arm or goal post setup with speedrail flanges that connect to a cheese plate. From there you can just bolt the camera on.
 
If your C100 is pretty much bare but you have a 1/4" tap on top, then the easy way to do this is with a couple of 1/4 20 to baby pin adapters (http://www.filmtools.com/lindcraft-baby-pin-with-1-4-20-stainless-steel-male-thread.html). Just attach one to the bottom of your camera, one to the top, and you can use a couple of C-Stands with booms and grip-heads to get the camera overhead in any position you like.

If your camera doesn't have multiple mounting points, you can use one of the aforementioned adapters on the bottom of the camera, and a baby pin to hot shoe adapter (http://www.filmtools.com/filmtools-hot-shoe-adapter-with-3.html) on top. In this case you'll want to be extra sure to use a safety chain.
 
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