The best low budget tricks to mimic high end pro stuff

Blackout

Blackout

Veteran
Ok guys.... let's hear your best low budget tricks to mimic high end camera moves.

I have several more music video shoots coming up that are mostly 'style over substance' sort of things and I want to incorporate some more camera movement.

So please share with me your best tricks such as, instead of expensive tracks to dolly the camera, for the GH1 do you use:

a> skateboard
b> wheelchair
c> baby carriage
d> one of those radio flyer wagons
e>pvc pipe and some home made wheels?

For a crane shot, I have been doing something slightly dangerous but it has produced some very interesting shots. I have a 20 foot boom pole. I literally turn the blimp sideways, mount a sturdy bag slung onto the edge of the boom and taped / locked for safety, and I mount the GH1 in the bag with a hole cut it it that is only big enough to let the lens through, not the camera body. Set focus to infinity and I can do some really weird shots that people wonder how I get.


Best cheap or diy steadicam rig?


Ect... Ect...
 
I use a manfrotto mono pod for 'crane shots', fully extended you can whisk it around and get some nice stuff (keep the lens wide though!). Its also good turned upside down with the camera attached for steadycam style moves inches above the floor. Flip the shot in post obviously!
 
i bought a 50$ "linear bearing" off of ebay from some surplus house and mounted it between two cheapie tripods and got myself a 4' slider.

I also used a large wheeled furniture dolly to push around a camera operator during a music video. it worked pretty well for tracking shots, much better than we had expected.
 
I have a skate board with a tripod head mounted on it.

$9.99 at K mart and a cheap $19.99 tripod.

Great for travelling Dolly shots or for running vertically up/down a wall.
 
In the past tried both skateboard and wheel chair but to mixed results.

Done dolly tracks by pushing scooters, furniture carts, etc. Now just using one of those ones that comes free with a tripod.

A good idea to smooth out movement is to carry a roll of old carpet around, put that on the ground to run the dolly over.

I'm currently planning to build a flexi dolly.


As far as crane shots go the size of the GH1 makes lots of formerly impossible things achievable. I built a crane by buying 2 aluminium telescopic window cleaners. Drilling holes in them, attaching them to wood with bolts so that they are paralel, and then clamping the wood to a light stand.
 
I have the crane thing down pretty well and have gotten some ridiculous shots with my 20 foot boom pole... little scary hanging my GH1 18 feet off the side of a rooftop building in NYC but wowee...

It's the tracking shots I am looking for mostly. There are smooth wooden floors in the location... so I don't know how good a skateboard would work or if it would introduce light bumps... perhaps the skateboard/carpet tripod combo...
 
I'm in the process of building this one. I just need to determine if 1" will work for the tracks or if I have to use 2"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pvfj0Q_MDs&NR=1

... and that seems to come down to how I get the skate board wheels onto the 2" pieces, mainly if I use 2 nuts between the wheel and the pvc or just a few washers.

Anyway, it's an easy build, and the track can be modular 4' pieces and made longer by joining them together with small 6" pieces of wood, wrapped with tape and slid inside of the pvc.

Using this pvc track method takes care of the problem with non smooth locations.
I also suspect it would work without the track on a smooth floor.
 
Buy a bean bag:D
You can use these things for so many shots. The bean bag dolly is pretty good for low level shots providing there is a smooth surface. All you need is a bean bag and a broom. Just push the camera around the floor like you were curling.
 
be careful with the PVC track. make sure you use the largest and most stiff piece you can still use. PVC will give slightly even under light pressure and you'll have strange undulations when you watch your footage after a dolly shot.
 
Svart said:
be careful with the PVC track. make sure you use the largest and most stiff piece you can still use. PVC will give slightly even under light pressure and you'll have strange undulations when you watch your footage after a dolly shot.
Click to expand...


Ahhh ... good tip. So that's the reason to use 2" as opposed to 1".

Thanks,

s
 
A neat trick I learned online (somewhere) is to lean your tripod over on two legs to get a pseudo dolly shot. I found it only really works straight on as the changes in elevation when moving horizontal look odd - unless that's what you want of course.
 
I built a version of the IKEA Ivar dolly.

Super smooth and for portability I bought two of the shorter Ivar sides and connected them with hinges so I can fold the track up and fit it in the trunk of my car.
 
I used the 2" PVC and works really great. I also found that keeping the sections at no more than 8' would mimize the bending and movement, but then I went and kept it at 6' sections as they are easier to transport. I have enough track to do like 42' dolly move and the interlocking sections fit reallyr eally well. I believe the key to having a smooth dolly on PVC is to have offset wheels and plenty of them. I have 16 wheels on mine and it's like butter....
 
I have a bean bag and have done some great stuff with it, and a bag of rice.... I am weary of he pvc dolly as it still looks shaky to me....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top