I will be doing one of those shots where I (cameraman) will be on the side of the road, focusing on an oncoming car. As the car gets closer, I will pan so that the passenger becomes a tight close up, and then continue to pan as the car drives away. Anybody who's ever tried this shot knows it's extremely difficult as you have to exponentially speed up the pan as the subject gets closer. It's very important that my close-up is in the center of the frame as I will probably slow the shot down in post. Anybody have any advice to make this shot easier?
quick pan (easier than last one - I think)
- Thread starter c.g._eads
- Start date
kyle_noad100
Active member
Re: quick pan (easier than last one - I think)
maybe do it slightly slower than you intend the shot to be, then speed up in post? - that could look a bit fake, like in the Steven Segal/Jean Claude Van Damme movies when they speed up the fight scenes to make it look "cooler" :-/
other than that all you can really do is try, try, try.
sorry for this post not actually being of any help what so ever.
Kyle
maybe do it slightly slower than you intend the shot to be, then speed up in post? - that could look a bit fake, like in the Steven Segal/Jean Claude Van Damme movies when they speed up the fight scenes to make it look "cooler" :-/
other than that all you can really do is try, try, try.
sorry for this post not actually being of any help what so ever.
Kyle
Re: quick pan (easier than last one - I think)
[quote author=scharky link=board=Events;num=1104832762;start=0#2 date=01/04/05 at 02:43:09]I would also consider shooting 30p, assuming that this is going to be in a 24fps timeline. you then have a few extra frames to mess around with when slowing down your footage.[/quote]
Maybe even try 60i, although the resulting slow-mo will be lower resolution.
[quote author=scharky link=board=Events;num=1104832762;start=0#2 date=01/04/05 at 02:43:09]I would also consider shooting 30p, assuming that this is going to be in a 24fps timeline. you then have a few extra frames to mess around with when slowing down your footage.[/quote]
Maybe even try 60i, although the resulting slow-mo will be lower resolution.
Shooter
Veteran
Re: quick pan (easier than last one - I think)
It is practice but trust your hand eye co ordination. Do not get carried away by trying ( thinking) to hard about "smooth panning". Be aggressive and focus on the task. The brain is target oriented and will fixate on what you look at. ( eg keep your eye on the ball)
Hope this helps.
It is practice but trust your hand eye co ordination. Do not get carried away by trying ( thinking) to hard about "smooth panning". Be aggressive and focus on the task. The brain is target oriented and will fixate on what you look at. ( eg keep your eye on the ball)
Hope this helps.
Rich Lee
I shoot Pirates.
Re: quick pan (easier than last one - I think)
will there be any other cars on the road? if so, then use the suggested methods
if this car is the ONLY car on the road, and there are not other people on the road or sidewalk or where ever you are then try this..
camera on a tripod.
have the car go half the speed that you want it to be in the shot. do as many takes as needed so that it gets the CU that you want.
then in post. use something like reelsmart twixtor to speed the shot up. twixtor will add motion blur to footage its speeding up. this will help it look less fake...you can also use twixtor to do speed ramps, so that as the car gets into the sweet spot of the CU...you can ramp the speed back down....then as it goes out of the CU ramp the speed back up...twixtor will take care of the motion blur. if you try to do this with the defualt fcp or ae or premiere blurs...it will look cheese. need a more pro app to get the effect to work.
anyway, just an option.
will there be any other cars on the road? if so, then use the suggested methods
if this car is the ONLY car on the road, and there are not other people on the road or sidewalk or where ever you are then try this..
camera on a tripod.
have the car go half the speed that you want it to be in the shot. do as many takes as needed so that it gets the CU that you want.
then in post. use something like reelsmart twixtor to speed the shot up. twixtor will add motion blur to footage its speeding up. this will help it look less fake...you can also use twixtor to do speed ramps, so that as the car gets into the sweet spot of the CU...you can ramp the speed back down....then as it goes out of the CU ramp the speed back up...twixtor will take care of the motion blur. if you try to do this with the defualt fcp or ae or premiere blurs...it will look cheese. need a more pro app to get the effect to work.
anyway, just an option.
pookie_old
Veteran
Re: quick pan (easier than last one - I think)
[quote author=10s link=board=Events;num=1104832762;start=0#3 date=01/04/05 at 11:31:30]Advice: Practice[/quote]
Like he said.
[quote author=10s link=board=Events;num=1104832762;start=0#3 date=01/04/05 at 11:31:30]Advice: Practice[/quote]
Like he said.
GenJerDan
Veteran
Re: quick pan (easier than last one - I think)
NB: just theorizing
If I were to need to do this, I think I'd try something like this:
Attach a longish piece of wood (1x2 or smaller) to the tripod head...probably not to the handle, since most have a bend to them...sight along it and use it to pan.
A long extension will give finer control to the pan (or should).
Obviously, it would still take a bit of practice, but I think the "bigger" movements you'd be making at the end of the pole would be easier to control than littler ones right up at the camera.
But, like I said above, just theorizing here.
Dan
NB: just theorizing
If I were to need to do this, I think I'd try something like this:
Attach a longish piece of wood (1x2 or smaller) to the tripod head...probably not to the handle, since most have a bend to them...sight along it and use it to pan.
A long extension will give finer control to the pan (or should).
Obviously, it would still take a bit of practice, but I think the "bigger" movements you'd be making at the end of the pole would be easier to control than littler ones right up at the camera.
But, like I said above, just theorizing here.
Dan
XCheck
Veteran
Re: quick pan (easier than last one - I think)
If you use the flip out screen, imagine is has a tic-tac-toe grid on it (like finding composition for the rule of thirds - golden section). Mask everything other than the central rectangle - that way, you will only see about 1/9th of the original frame. Use that to keep the subject in the centre.
Also, as GenJerDan said, use a longer handle (or an extension). That way your panning will be smoother.
It still takes practice, though...
If you use the flip out screen, imagine is has a tic-tac-toe grid on it (like finding composition for the rule of thirds - golden section). Mask everything other than the central rectangle - that way, you will only see about 1/9th of the original frame. Use that to keep the subject in the centre.
Also, as GenJerDan said, use a longer handle (or an extension). That way your panning will be smoother.
It still takes practice, though...