"Move that Camera!"
This months meeting is on Sunday Nov 12 from 2 to 4 pm. Below is the announcement for the meeting that will appear in the Film Co-op's weekly newsletter. We have a topic for this months workshop: "Move that Camera!" and it's about every conceivable way to get moving shots in your production - whether its a low budget indy or just some family video in the back yard.
You've seen the expensive camera stabilizers that cost from $200 to $$thousands. But there are articles on-line for home made ones that work pretty well - a huge improvment over hand held camera movement. Last year, Sri brought one he made and it worked really well. On the web, you'll find that design if you google "$14 camera stabilizer" (ok, the web site is http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/steadycam/ ) But have you heard of the "Fig Rig" - invented by director Michael Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) and sold by Manfrotto for a few hundred $$. There's a PVC pipe version your can built for less than $10. I'll bring mine to the workshop.
Also, do you think you need something fancy to do a dolly shot for your production? Stanley brought his garden cart to the workshop to help shoot scenes for Tina's short film and that worked really well, but there are other ways. In the Filmmaking Workshop for Kids, we used a small handtruck rolling over an 8ft folding table (the concrete floor was too bumpy). But I'm working on one that rolls along the rails of a ladder laid over a couple of saw horses. So far it looks promising. It also works for "pedestal" shots. I call it the "LadderCam." I'll bring that.
And if you want to tackle the "crane" shot - I built a small one for less than $50 - believe me, one look and you'll see how I did it.
Study the designs, shoot a few moments on your camera to compare with hand held shooting. Maybe you'll be inspired to build your own or improve upon these designs. One thing is for sure, you will gain some new shot ideas for your next production. But we'll also talk about ways to improve the stability of handheld shots. So join us, share your ideas and practical experience.
You've seen the expensive camera stabilizers that cost from $200 to $$thousands. But there are articles on-line for home made ones that work pretty well - a huge improvment over hand held camera movement. Last year, Sri brought one he made and it worked really well. On the web, you'll find that design if you google "$14 camera stabilizer" (ok, the web site is http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/steadycam/ ) But have you heard of the "Fig Rig" - invented by director Michael Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) and sold by Manfrotto for a few hundred $$. There's a PVC pipe version your can built for less than $10. I'll bring mine to the workshop.
Also, do you think you need something fancy to do a dolly shot for your production? Stanley brought his garden cart to the workshop to help shoot scenes for Tina's short film and that worked really well, but there are other ways. In the Filmmaking Workshop for Kids, we used a small handtruck rolling over an 8ft folding table (the concrete floor was too bumpy). But I'm working on one that rolls along the rails of a ladder laid over a couple of saw horses. So far it looks promising. It also works for "pedestal" shots. I call it the "LadderCam." I'll bring that.
And if you want to tackle the "crane" shot - I built a small one for less than $50 - believe me, one look and you'll see how I did it.
Study the designs, shoot a few moments on your camera to compare with hand held shooting. Maybe you'll be inspired to build your own or improve upon these designs. One thing is for sure, you will gain some new shot ideas for your next production. But we'll also talk about ways to improve the stability of handheld shots. So join us, share your ideas and practical experience.
posted by filmcoopblog at 6:02 PM
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