crew Shooting in a Moving Car

Question for all:

I am working on a short that requires most of the dialogue to take place in a moving car.

We don't have much budget, how possible is this?

We are concerned about sound, the quality of the shots we can capture, and spending creative energy on troubleshooting (haha) car set up issues.

Location is upstate NYC, November, suburban local roads mainly- in the early morning.

DPS-We will obviously get a small camera and appropriate mounts, scout the roads, etc...but what else should we be considering? Is this even possible?

Is lighting going to be impossible to control?

SOUND FOLK- aside from lavs, turning off air, and avoiding busy streets- what else do we need to consider?

Any advice you can offer (ALL DEPARTMENTS CHIME IN PLEASE!) is so appreciated!

Thank you!
 
We had a LOT of inside the car shots in my road trip movie DETOURS. The DP was variously in the front seat & either side of the back seat with the camera. We also got some really great shots using hostess trays attached to the outside of the car, looking in the window. The most expensive/complicated was the one day we used a process trailer for one day, which is more expensive and honestly the hostess trays were great.

We had lav mics on the two actors and used a boom as well when we could (but often couldn't). You can hear the engine & road noise but our post-production sound guy did a great job with it.

Because the actors are actually driving (except the one day with the process trailer), the director had them rehearse in advance while driving. This really paid off because they were so comfortable with the script & acting while driving they were able to improv when unexpected things happened and stay in character. If that's possible for you to do, I definitely recommend it.

Lighting was what it was - in other words, no real control.

As I often say, you can check out the movie on IMDbTV, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Plex, Xumo.....

And here's the bts about the process trailer:
 
S
We had a LOT of inside the car shots in my road trip movie DETOURS. The DP was variously in the front seat & either side of the back seat with the camera. We also got some really great shots using hostess trays attached to the outside of the car, looking in the window. The most expensive/complicated was the one day we used a process trailer for one day, which is more expensive and honestly the hostess trays were great.

We had lav mics on the two actors and used a boom as well when we could (but often couldn't). You can hear the engine & road noise but our post-production sound guy did a great job with it.

Because the actors are actually driving (except the one day with the process trailer), the director had them rehearse in advance while driving. This really paid off because they were so comfortable with the script & acting while driving they were able to improv when unexpected things happened and stay in character. If that's possible for you to do, I definitely recommend it.

Lighting was what it was - in other words, no real control.

As I often say, you can check out the movie on IMDbTV, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Plex, Xumo.....

And here's the bts about the process trailer:
so helpful! Thank you!
 
I worked on a feature that had excellent, almost pristine sound in a moving vehicle. To my surprise it was shot in a garage. The side windows were misted up a bit, and lighting that mimicked a moving car was projected from the outside. A couple of PAs with a long steel pole on a fulcrum gave the car a little motion - bumps, curves, etc. Once I added the engine sounds and the road ambience (passing telephone poles, etc.) it was completely convincing.

In an actual moving car, in addition to the lavs, you way want to hide mics in other locations, such as the visors, cup holders and a dozen other spots just out of camera range. However, you or your PSM seem to have a grasp of things, so I won't elaborate any further unless you have specific questions.
 
Best advice I can give is to use a car with a sunroof and then open the sunroof to let light in. most cars you can do this with a glass window in the ceiling and avoid wind noises
 
Last edited:
large_Driving_BEFORE-min.png

car-auto-interior-green-screen-086425259_prevstill.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top