Showing underside of a vehicle: How is it done?

D

dgm1947

New member
Hello All,
You see this in many action scenes. The vehicle appears to pass over the head and audience actually sees underside of the passing vehicle. How is this shot? Is camera actually placed in a ditch/trench angled upward while the vehicle passes over it ?

Thanks and regards,
-Darshan
 
I think the camera is in a ditch but it's shooting at a mirror that is angled to make the shot look like its from street level.
 
Believe it or not, a lot of the really dynamic shots you see in car commercials are CG cars. I have friends that work on them, and frequently they're modeling the cars from blueprints before the car is actually released.

One day I piped up "how the hell do they crane down out of the sky and then get under the truck as it drives over? " I think there are way more CG cars in commercials than we would imagine.

That doesn't really help your question as to how to solve the problem of getting that shot (without and efx house) but i thought it was interesting, so i posted.
 
callan said:
Believe it or not, a lot of the really dynamic shots you see in car commercials are CG cars. I have friends that work on them, and frequently they're modeling the cars from blueprints before the car is actually released.
... I think there are way more CG cars in commercials than we would imagine...
Click to expand...

fwiw: chevrolet does not use "total cg-cars" in spots as of yet... they look too cg. though they do apply effects to some of the "live" featured models. (did some work for them, know they've tried but were unhappy w/ results).

but your're right. worked w/ an editor who cut the first trade film/vid on the porsche carrera-gt. live action was shot & then some interior pieces were added b/c they did not exist in the prototype. but w/ a good eye... you can still tell. -> i still enjoy dir. David Fincher's love for it though, i.e. "Fight Club" trash can pull-out shot.

[BACK OnT]----> i'd dig a trench & get a piece of plexy... btw: using a mirror (@ an angle) works sweet for looking up, esp. @ an actor/subject looking down. not sure how the looking up @ a car would be done totally "straight up" w/ a mirror though.
 
It depends.

the easiest way, provided the car is high enough off the ground,
(which most often it is for small video cams like the DVX) is to attach the cam to 3/8 plywood sheet on which sand bags are placed to hold it down as it faces opposite direction car travels and place a mirror in front of it at the proper angle, secured of course. You need to protect the cam and lens of course.

if its in the budget you remote gimbel the mirror.
 
callan said:
Believe it or not, a lot of the really dynamic shots you see in car commercials are CG cars.
Click to expand...

Ever see the "whoosh" and "flip" ads for Autotrader.com (wherein cars whoosh by the ad guy, or flip up outta the ground around him)?

We did those at Digital Domain; the actor was the only 'real' thing in-frame. The cars and the surrounding space were 100% Lightwave.
 
I wonder if Carla Gugina's nude scene in Sin City was CGI.........no, I don't really want to know, I think it's better I just envision it my way when I........excuse me, I need to go now.
 
I have a few possible solutions for your problem.

#1. maybe a trailer?

What about having the car on top of a trailer (similar to this)
smart%20car%20trailer%203.JPG


There's room for your camera right there... you could maybe create some sort of sliding track if you need a tracking shot.



#2. get some real big car jacks and jack up one (or both) sides of the vehicle. If you tilt the vehicle enough to one side you can make ALOT of room for yourself and your camera. If you just need a little bit of room made - you could just use something like these:
car_ramps_jacks.jpg


If you need ALOT of room - you could bring it to a mechanics shop and have them jack it up on a lift for you. I'm not sure if any of the lift would be in the way of your shot (I'm not sure what you're trying to acheive) but I'm sure they wouldn't charge much at all for a few minutes of their time and use of their hydrolic car jack.



#3 maybe use a really jacked up vehicle (like a jeep or some 4 wheel rock crawler or something) to shoot the bottom of. Unless it's modified like crazy it should look close enough to a normal car.



Maybe none of these are feasable in your situation. I know they might be a little ridiculous - but sometimes you have to go to those measures to get the shot you want.. Of course you might want to buy/rent a super wide angle lens if you're cramped on room.

So that's all I have to say I guess. I'm sure there are many other ways to do it.. but that's what came out when I started typing.

Good luck!
-Jeff
 
Dig a hole, line it with a garbage bag, cover it with plexiglass, and shoot. Digital Domain can get away with CG cars, but most people can't pull it off and have it look real (MOST people).

r_dahl said:
i'd dig a trench & get a piece of plexy... btw: using a mirror (@ an angle) works sweet for looking up, esp. @ an actor/subject looking down. not sure how the looking up @ a car would be done totally "straight up" w/ a mirror though.
Click to expand...

If the camera was horizontal and the mirror at 45 degrees?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top