Wheelchair Mount?

L

Ldogg

Active member
Hello everybody. I've got a situation here.
On July 22, I am filming a documentary about a road trip across America. Myself along with 10 friends are taking our friend Darius, a fifteen year old with Muscular Dystrophy who has never left his home town, across the country to see the sights. Our mission is to get his wheelchair pimped on MTV's Pimp my ride! The goal of the documentary is to bring mainstream attention to quality of life/medical treatment for MD, and visually document the challenges and successes of wheelchair travel in America. Not to be that guy.....but the full details can be found at Dariusgoeswest.com.

We are shooting with two DVX100a's, however my question pertains to a smaller camera. We want to mount a small 3-CCD camera to Darius's wheelchair permanently. He is very excited about his wheelchair being a solid dolly, and among other things I am excited about a small camera rolling close to constantly to capture his perspective of the trip. To make sure I'm being clear, our 2 DVX's will be covering all along with each new sight being captured on the "Darius Cam" (the small 3ccd attached to the wheelchair).

My question is.... 1) Can someone recommend a small camera suited for the job. In plot It will be understood that this camera is not as good as the DVX, but will be forgiven because of it's content and consistent perspective. (basically a BIG lipstick)

2) (Main question) How would you guys mount this thing sturdily and efficiently. I'm thinking combinations of poles and clamp to the chair. Unfortunately I'm not very handy however and was wondering if anything like this is already made. I do know some handy folks though if that changes your answer. It would be optimal if it was constructed such that we could rotate the connecting arm in multiple directions (capture wheel shot, fingers on joystick foreground, ext...) You know what I mean?

Thanks
 
Sounds interesting! What's your budget for the mounted cam? The GS400 might be a good compromise between quality and cost.
 
Sounds like a great project. What you need is a Bogen/Avenger Super Clamp to mount to the chair and Bogen Magic Arm to attach to the Super Clamp. The Magic Arm is an articulated arm that can be adjusted to any position. I'm pretty sure you can get the Magic Arm with a camera plate included, if not, you'll also need a Bogen camera plate.

Edit: Here's exactly what you need--a kit that includes the Super Clamp, Magic Arm , and a camera platform.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...s&Q=&sku=325440&is=REG&addedTroughType=search
 
If I were you, I'd use the wheel chair cam for his reactions and the handhelds for the scenery... it's gonna be difficult to achieve useable shots on a fixed camera, just because he may not point the wheel chair in the direction of what he's looking at.
 
Thanks Barry! That is exactly what I was invisioning! I will order it tomorrow.

As far as the budget for the cam....I will also know that tomorrow. We are supposed to hear back from a fair sized grant that we applied for so keep your fingers crossed.

Just for conversation lets say that the we could get any small sized 3ccd though. What is the ideal camera for the job. The thing is, is that the wheelchair is already VERY wide, so something as big as another DVX is out of the question. I need something I can just press record on and rely on alot of auto features (all the manual attention will be given to the DVXs). For our most controlled situations (not many) I would appreciate the ability to work manually as well.

And Dj, i think your exactly right on the reactions call. However, since halfway through the film the wheelchair will take on kind of a personality of its own (after it is accessorized) I also want to document passer by's looks (or not looks) at the chair from the "Darius Cam" perspective. Basically it will be a resolution/footage gimick with a very serious purpose...if that makes any sense!
 
Panasonic PV-GS120 isn't too bad for a 3CCD camera at around $600. Very compact. Horrible in anything but broad daylight because of its' microscopic 1/6" CCD's.

I would personally outfit a camera with a wide angle lens converter, a polarizer, and maybe a 0.6 Grad ND to maximize exposure range which is fairly limited on these smaller kind of consumer cameras we use for POV applications. I'm not sure how to advise on attaching the filters short of gaffer tape. :shocked:
 
Gaffer tape filters! Now we are talking! I like your line of thinking. I would certainly like to get the most out of this camera. Could you tell me what POV application means?

I checked out the GS400 and it looks the part for sure at 1.4lbs. I think that is in the priceline too. Wells, You bring up an interesting point about daylight and filters ext...
This is kind of a last minute add on to our project and honestly I haven't put a lot of thought into the possibilities of it.
Any suggestions out there on how to soup up a consumer camera? Audio is not an issue, but lowest light reception (gain off) and enhancing image are the main priorities.

Thanks for the replies.
 
1 CCD Camera with RGB Filter

1 CCD Camera with RGB Filter

For the "Darius Cam" you might consider a 1 CCD camera that uses RGB filters. Although I have no personal experience with this, I have seen it reported several times that in good light this type of camera can produce nearly the same quality video as a 3 CCD camera. I believe the higher end of the Canon Optura line utilizes this approach. Maybe some Sonys as well.

For more info see the Optura Watchdog site at DVInfo.net. You can also do a search on "RGB filter" which will return posts like this.
 
The Canon ZR series puts out a good consumer camera, something you might want to check out. They are fairly inexpensive depending on what model. Good luck and it is AWESOME what you guys are doing. Too bad the closest you are coming to me is St. Louis or else I could offer more help.
 
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