Ideas on How to Film a scene from a COIN Prespective

[ruipsousa]

Hey, i am a Director, Editor amd FX guy and i am now in a new project...There's a scene of a coin travelling trough peoples hands (like the Bullet in LORD OF WAR or The FedEX in CAST AWAY). The coin moves from peoples hands to purses, to boxes, to bags with falling and etc..

I do know that some things have to be done in 3D but i am trying to figure a Way on how to attach a coin to the camera so that When Somebody Pick the coin the camera (Or Micro Camera follows all the Way)

Just think of it all the time like this print http://veerle.duoh.com/images/uploads/Lord-of-War3.png.. with the coin instead of the Bullet...

What is your idea on how to do it... I am all open to good ideas and hope u can help... Any question just aks..

thank you... Rui

 

[Tinalera]

I know one can buy those little cameras, the size of a pen cap. Maybe you could hook it to a camera, stick it beside the coin (of course, one is going to have to carry whatever the camera is attached to.)

 

[wheatgrinder]

POV of the coin might be easier..

Or just focus on the transactions.. who needs to see a coin in a pocket for 10 mins..

Do the snorricam thing on the containers, then the hands .. how many interesting ways can you pass a coin between two people...

Sequence might go like this..

CU of coin in one of those "penny's for everybody" dishes at a 711.
A hand looms in blocks the frame, the camera pulls out, as we snorricam the hand as it moves towards the cash register.
The coin drops from the hand in slowmo and lands on the edge of the cash register drawer, and bounces to the floor..we track the coin as it rolls on its edge out the open door.. where it comes to a halt in front of a dirty bare foot. A grubby hand reaches down and picks it up...snorricam again on the hand... as it travels to the ... and so forth..


I think you need to ask "what" your trying to say with the coin? Transactions good, bad, etc..

 

[ruipsousa]

Let's say it's nothing like u imagined.. lol.. sorry... that 5 to 7 minutes scene will be filmed in continuity with no cuts.. and the coin goes trow a lot of shit and dirty places.. at the end a baby picks the coin and put it in his mouth... but like i said.. i want to film always in the perspective of the coin moving from hand to hand.. from register to the flor.. from the flor to the Sewer... to a junki... to an uggly lacking theet old lady ... to the garbadge and etc etc etc... until the end it stops at a babys hand that puts it in his mouth... but like i said... ALWAYS in the prespective of the coin...

 

[Buddy Greenfield]

I don’t know about the quality factor, but maybe you could use a palmcorder or something small that has a zoom AND a tripod mounting thread, then just make a simple bracket that fastens to the cameras mounting thread and extends forward and up in front of the camera so the coin would be held right in front of the lens.

To attach the coin to a bracket I guess you could just drill right through it at its edge (edge that is kept out of frame) so it can be “Bolted” to the bracket with enough hold to be able to pick up the camera by the coin.

Problems would be the coin sitting flat on a surface, maybe shadows of the camera and bracket getting in the shot, and shakiness/motion blur if you are zoomed in.

It will be interesting to see how you do it.


-Thanks-

 

[wheatgrinder]

well, if its the perspective of the coin.. just make a big fake coin.. duct tape your cam to it and move it around.. done..

 

[ruipsousa]

yeahh... i like the idea above about the mini camera,...

the problem of the big coin is that i actually want to see people picking up the coin... put it in purses .. checking the coin and etc etc... do u sujest something with the big coin giving the impression that people pick it?..

a lot is going to be done in 3D but there are some moments were people actualy pick the coin and turns it towards their face...

another solution i thoug was only to see the coin on transitions from balcony to hand.. hand to metal plate.. metal plate to hand.. etc etc.. once someone pick the coin.. they pick it like it was in front of the coin and the cmaera moves a little bit forward and hten is just hte actors pointing hte camera towards them and the things i want... But this is a last Resort...

i really want to try to see the coin ALL the time...

but hey.. thanks for the great ideas already

 

[wheatgrinder]

Stick to your vision, you can do it!

Forget about the "how" for a bit, and just imagine what you want to see. Turn that into a few story boards, the technical problems will suggest solutions for themselves.

If your adding the coin post, then just track the imaginary coin in your shots.. for the shots with people picking up.. how about a round green disk that you can just replace in post with the same 3d model? For those shots, make it easier on your self by having a fixed shot (no cam movement) its much easier to motion track and comp a shot like that.