Upwards camera tracking

[SuperbeastPanda]

OK I'm primarily a stills guy moving into shooting my first short this summer, so bear with me here.

This is a movement I see a lot in movies/TV but haven't seen discussed much. Basically the camera tracks up a subject. e.g. if the subject is using a phone in the phone both, in a close up it tracks up vertically from the buttons of the phone to the subjects head/mouth talking.

I've seen the ability to do this on large dollies, but what is the best way to achieve this with currently available equipment on a low budget? Obviously tilting on a tripod would be the easiest but that would change the angle of the camera. I'd like the camera to remain straight on.

 

[morgan_moore]

Nothing is going to beat a proper (chapman) dolly for this move. It's a move that seperate a the big from the little productions.

Poor people would use a crane/jib or a steadicam or gimbal

Each presents its own challenge.

I'd probably use my gimbal on my little jib.

 

[morgan_moore]

There are some "Ped" tripods that have hydraulic boom - big and heavy but a bargain used

 

[legrevedotcom]

You could get it with a small jib like Morgan says... you get what you pay for. Price will trade off for micro jitters, payload max, operability. Low weight is not always good....

If you use a 5D, a Zhiyun Crane 2 has built in focus pulling. That would give you the same, more freedom but taxing on arm strength.

 

[SuperbeastPanda]

Thank you guys!

One of my photography tripods has a center column that moves up and down. I guess that would work in a pinch with a camera/lens with good IS and a steady hand...?

 

[Bern Caughey]

Unless the jib was quite long the resulting arc might be no more useful than simply tilting on sticks.

As Morgan said a proper dolly would be best, but on lesser budgets a FloatCam DC Slider, or Matthews Elevator, could work.

http://www.floatcampro.com

https://products.msegrip.com/products/elevator-counterbalanced-elevation-tower

 

[morgan_moore]

Thank you guys!

One of my photography tripods has a center column that moves up and down. I guess that would work in a pinch with a camera/lens with good IS and a steady hand...?

Most unlikely- I have a really nice solid 1990s manfrotto (when they made actual tripods) and it doesn't do it

 

[SuperbeastPanda]

Most unlikely- I have a really nice solid 1990s manfrotto (when they made actual tripods) and it doesn't do it

I tried this evening and. . . you were right. Pretty bad.

 

[Greg_E]

How about a regular slider positioned vertically clamped to some kind of support? Maybe even a pulley and counterbalance weight to make the camera neutral. There would be no arc from this and it should be cheap unless your camera is really big.

 

[morgan_moore]

The slider pulley counter balance should work.

IMO you would buy a lot of grip to make it function - a small jib or suchlike might be a more versatile investment

 

[Greg_E]

I agree, a jib would be a more versatile purchase.