Tip for a moving scene

F

FedeSearch

Hi everyone,
I'm a noob of film making (so this should be the right section for my question) and I would like your help to understand which is the best way to do a moving scene.
My friends and I are trying to do a short film for our marketing class and we have a Panasonic HDC-SD90.
One of the scenes features a person while running.
We want to follow the subject keeping always the same distance from him. Thus, we need to run along with him.
The problem is that, holding the camera while running, we cannot prevent the image from shaking.

Do you know if it's possible to solve this problem without spending a fortune on expensive equipment?

Thanks a lot for the help!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Can either of you drive? If so you could drive alongside / in front of the subject and drive slowly. That's what I did for a shot in me latest short, literally have me and the camera hanging out of the sun roof shooting a tracking shot. If you do it on a quiet street, then it wouldnt be too much of a hassle.

XIUgH.png
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
We can drive but, since we are student living in a different city than the one of our families, none of us have a car :\

Any other suggestion? Or do you know if there is any piece of equipment that we can built at home?

Thanks a lot for the answer!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
First of all, thanks to everyone for the answers!

Second, @Dreadylocks the stickman draw is amazing! Do you have any video of you or anyone building it?

It would be so much fun to actually do it.
The tripod doesn't seem really easy to run with but we will give it a shoot.

In the mean while, any other suggestion?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I've never tried it. It's just an idea I had when I read your question. If you do end up using it let me know how it turns out :)

A couple other thoughts I had after drawing that:

-It would probably be smoother if you (the camera puller) don't actually move with the camera, but stand stationary at one end with a longer cord and just pull from there.

-Attach the cord you're pulling to the pvc pipe, not the camera strap as shown in the picture.

Good luck with the shoot :D
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
What about a bicycle with you sitting on the back paniere rack with stunt pegs for your feet:

http://www.pedalpushersonline.com/images/tubus_02.jpg


There are plenty of steadicam DIY's on youtube, this one seems decent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NDsEFy5Iww


Other than that, I've seen a trolley used on a feature like this one:

http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/395006/2047721/0/1143429185/HAND_TROLLY.jpg

just stand on it and have someone push you leaning back, maybe not for running though.


Or a wheelchair, a skateboard (with quite wheels), a shopping trolly (good louck using wild audio though!),
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A wheelchair could work. I would personally try Dreadylocks idea simply for the fun it looks.
If neither of those grabs you, could you not ask around other friends for a car to borrow? Or, and this could be either too expensive or against health and safety regulation, book a taxi and request one with a sunroof?
Good luck.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Dreadylocks said:
DIYZipLine.bmp
Click to expand...

The creativity at this place never ceases to amaze me. Awesome.

gibbo said:
Or a wheelchair, a skateboard (with quite wheels), a shopping trolly (good louck using wild audio though!),
Click to expand...

I know many skaters do this to record other skaters (they even sell "filming wheels" for boards) but I have never gotten good results, and I have tried several different ways recently. YMMV.

justinisfilming said:
You could try this. :)

https://vimeo.com/36206229
Click to expand...

That's really cool, Justin. BTW, what music is that in the background of the test footage?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
There are two potential issues that I see with the zip line method. First is that there is no tilt stability, so you would have to hang a weight off of the bottom of the camera. That brings us to the second likely problem being that two people are not going to be able to pull the zip line tight enough to prevent the camera from sagging in the middle (it will get easier to pull from the beginning until the middle and harder after the middle until the end). You will also have the camera dipping then raising as it is pulled. Add to that the friction of the PVC as it slides along the rope may cause a build up of static electricity.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top