Wheelchair Dolly

Jeremy Ordan

Jeremy Ordan

Major Contributor
Yesterday we shot day two of our three day shoot for this new short film I'm working on. It was an extremely long (20+ hours) day and I'm still recovering physically and mentally from it.

Originally I had planned to rent a pro dolly for the shoot with circular track. When I got to the rental house this rig was just too big for my needs (plus with my location now charging me a lot more than we originally agreed), so I passed. I then worked on fixing up my DIY dolly, but that just led to me bleeding and slamming my Tbar through the platform in anger.

Ultimately I ended up getting a wheelchair for the shoot figuring if Lyons could use one and if it was good enough for RR, then why not.

Well beside my entire crew fighting to play in the wheelchair and it being the best toy on set it was very usefull. I want to know if anyone has ever taken the wheelchair dolly concept a step beyond and mounted a monopod to it?

I've been looking at them on Ebay all night (I had to return the borrowed one today), but I think if I mount a monopod onto the unit then it becomes a great dolly substitute. Anyone else try this?

-Jeremy
 
I have. I took the geared column fron a cheap tripod and mounted to one of the armsrests by screwing a piece of pipe on that the column could slide into. It works, but only on smooth surfaces. Otherwise it's a bit bumpy. It's also a bit limiting because I can't move it very much. I have been toying with an articulating arm (Like those on radio station microphones) that I can mount on it that will give it some stability, but allow a lot more freedom of movement. It's not exactly on the top of my to-do list though. If I come up with something I will let you know.
 
I thought I would suggest another DIY dolly base.. and that is a two-wheel dolly, turned on its side. One could modify it with a plywood base, two more wheels (if it is the upright, box-carrying type).. or buy it already on its side with four wheels. All items, as are most GREAT (tongue in cheek) good DIY projects, AVAILABLE FROM LOWES-DEPOT!!


Any thoughts? I would think this would be good for a smooth floor.
 
Our church is getting ready for their rummage sale, and there is a wheel chair stacked in the junk - er a- merchandise. Maybe I'll buy it!
 
I loved using the wheelchair and found it to be an awesome tool and I only wish that I had discovered it years before.

-Jeremy
 
briceman said:
If you place cardboard on the ground while rolling the wheelchair, it'll help with the bumps.
Click to expand...


Did you mean PLYWOOD ? Cardboard would create big issues with audio.
 
I've used it and I think the look is a hell of a lot more intriguing than a regular super-smooth dolly. It's interesting when there is no blocking whatsoever and you tell everyone to just move however -- it's like the cameraman, the grips, and the actors all go nuts and you can get stuff that you'd never even believe (and a lot of crap that you can probably believe), but really crazy little moves. Try it, it really loosens up the cast and crew as well and is a good technique to get everyone acquainted to one another's styles quickly.
 
oh yeah, and why don't you just steal one from a hospital or school? They have more than enough. Stick it to all those sick people and disabled kids.
 
Did you mean PLYWOOD ? Cardboard would create big issues with audio.
Click to expand...

everyone is always complaining about noise...is ADR out of the question or something? :)

anyway if you didn't use cardboard (which i wouldn't - seems you'd be replacing it way too often) you go to your hardware store and buy those interlocking mats...

Mats

i use these all the time
 
Last edited:
After looking at the wheelchair, it is kinda old, and the "tires" have a large bump where the rubber meets as it wraps around the wheel. I'll just take ngrapha3's advise, I guess. :D
 
Our fellow DVXuser member khendrix2 DP'd a an award winning feature last year. It's about wheelchair rugby players. He did a bit of POV shooting during a game while he was in the chair. It looked really good. How many bruises he got is anyone's guess. But he got GREAT footage.
 
Thanks Jim! I think that our producer, who was pushing the wheelchair, got the most bruises! That was my favorite part of the whole shoot! The footage really puts you "in the game". I was amazed at how fast paced the game was. The incredible wheelchair athletes that we worked with were fantastic.

Anyway, the name of the movie is "The Goal" and if anyone is interested in getting a copy, please visit www.thegoal-movie.com. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit the disabled community.
 
A two wheeled wheelbarrow also works well. I had had the idea to use a wheelchair as I use one for my computer chair (if handicapped ppl can spend their whole lives in one i figured it would be a comfy comp chair). But i found the hard wheels they use on them are jus not very good for rolling on uneven surfaces, also at speed the front wheels tend to get the "shopping cart" effect and wobble uncontrollably. I found that a local hardware store had a nice wheel barrow with large pneumatic tires on it. I took off the bucket part and mounted a cheap plastic seat to it, then i used a pipe and mounted it to the wheelbarrow base, it had a bend in it at the top with a cheap tripod head attatched on top. Let out a little air from the tires and you now have a solid dolly that rolls very easily and smooth on most terrain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top