Solid Shoulder Mount: DIY Under $30

[polfilmblog]

Some may have surmised how notoriously cheap I am -- in the words of Robert Rodriguez: "Don't pay for anything."

So what I have in my garage are scraps of WOOD and woodworking tools, drills, table saw, mitre saw, etc.

Some may question the genius of this design, until they understand.

MATERIALS:

piece of 2x4 for the front
several 2x2 redwood pieces
some flat 1" or 3/4" looking pine to make a base plate
some pipe to use as handles
a few shaped steel pieces, you'll see in the pictures
bolts:
a long 1/4" 20 thread for the camera tripod mount plus wingnuts and washers
3" bolts, washers, with locknuts to attach the rear shoulder piece and weight
2 12" bolts with washers and wingnuts to attach the removable baseplate to the permanent baseplate (allows the camera and attached lens to be removed easily)
a lumbar pillow that I found in a bin and some small metal pieces to act as washers when you screw the pillow fabric to the wood...

​

This is one of those misc. metal pieces I had laying around:

The purpose of this is to support the anamorphic lens I'm getting, which makes this an anamorphic bliss shoulder mount. I also added a section of vacuum cleaner belt bolted down (from the 99 cent store) to keep the lens from moving (not pictured).

My handles were an extra piece of pipe that goes in a shower rack. I also added padded bicycle grips to finish them off.

The real beauty, and my contribution to this whole concept, is the 45 degree support. It's light, out of the way, and strong.

I repeatedly adjusted lengths and trimmed it as I went, so that it wasn't too large and cumbersome. Remember: don't cut too short. Start long and adjust down in increments.

There you go. Footage after I get the lens setup.

 

[polfilmblog]

Additional pics...

 

[polfilmblog]

I got real lucky having this L shaped metal support piece. Note the mitred joint, done on a table saw. I mitred the pieces for better stability.

One can of spray paint, and it looks a lot better. I also went for the matching silver/black weight that is 2 1/2 pounds, and keeps it pretty stable. The long length of the thing gives more stability as well.

The removable option also has an adjustability, with a long slot to slide the camera back and forth. This allows different lenses and filters, as well as a large anamorphic.

 

[knightly]

Nice, you may want to consider repainting in a matte black rather than a gloss black to halt any possibility of reflections on set interrupting your lighting continuity.

I like the design and the methodology! It's the same types of solutions I use when making camera rigs and whatnot!

 

[polfilmblog]

Yeah, I shouldn't have grabbed the cheapest paint. My bad.

 

[knightly]

I get mine at a place that has leftover stuff from places closing - $0.99/can.

 

[polfilmblog]

As promised -- the anamorphic lens test.

Still waiting on the correct adapter to attach, but this quick and dirty O-Ring worked well enough to prove it can work.

http://vimeo.com/22827000

Anamorphic framing is hard, especially on a shoulder mount, with a moving subject. And don't even get me started on focus issues...