jijhh Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 I'm shooting a short that has a bunch of dolly shots, but one of the major locations is the third floor of an apartment building with a steep stairwell and no elevator. A Fisher or even a Chapman seems out of the question, but I'll need something that can carry a camera, operater, and AC. Anyone have any good skateboard dolly recommendations? It must be able to run on standard track. I'm renting in NYC if you have any specific rental houses. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Bennett Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 Anyone have any good skateboard dolly recommendations? It must be able to run on standard track. I'm renting in NYC if you have any specific rental houses. Thanks Too low budget to get the right location? Your key grip or dolly grip should be able to make something perfect for the situation using channel wheels. I do it all of the time. Then, use a short jib arm for booming up and down. As for a specific tiny dolly with a booming arm, I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jijhh Posted October 14, 2006 Author Share Posted October 14, 2006 Too low budget to get the right location? Your key grip or dolly grip should be able to make something perfect for the situation using channel wheels. I do it all of the time. Then, use a short jib arm for booming up and down. As for a specific tiny dolly with a booming arm, I don't know. I have a small part of the budget for locations, but the thing is there's a very specific dolly shot involved that needs a certain apartment layout. The front door must be at the end of a hallway off of which there are two bedrooms, so that a straight dolly down the hall can shoot the front door, and shoot into both rooms. The location I have now is perfect, but halfway down the hall the wood turns to tile, so I have to run on track. Its a harder layout to come across than you'd expect and its not the easiest thing to search for, because I can't really call up apartment owners and ask to come in. As for the dolly, the booming arm isn't a requirement, but a plus. I was thinking just rent a doorway dolly and then find some sort of skateboard wheel adaptor. All in all though, if I could just find a location without tile, it would make all the difference... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Gross Posted October 16, 2006 Share Posted October 16, 2006 At Abel we have a Panther Husky dolly which should do the trick nicely. It is like a super doorway dolly. It can switch between hard wheels, soft tires and track wheels, plus it comes with an adjustable bazooka camera mount. Works great and is vastly lighter than a hydraulic dolly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Brian Wells Posted October 18, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted October 18, 2006 A "Go-Cart" frame might be a good starting point for a homemade doorway dolly with soft tires and two wheel steering. Or, for the same price as renting a "professional" doorway dolly for one day, you can own this wagon: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=37320 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Greenfield Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 I am getting that wagon. In fact I would have gotten it today except that I had to get back. Ill be able to let you know my findings, my main thought is I dont want the tread on the tires to cause vibration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Wallens Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 A Fisher or even a Chapman seems out of the question, Um, why? I was just on a film where we had a Fisher 11 on the 5th floor of a tiny brownstone, no elevator. That is, unless you are doing shots on/around the stairs themself, in which case, I dont see how any dolly could be used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Adam Frisch FSF Posted October 20, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted October 20, 2006 The newest Panther's and Movietech dollies can be split into the center column and the actual base with a quick release. This means that one person could actually carry it up by himself in 2 trips. Not only that - once split like this, the dolly can get into places no other dolly can reach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Haspel Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 The newest Panther's and Movietech dollies can be split into the center column and the actual base with a quick release. This means that one person could actually carry it up by himself in 2 trips. Not only that - once split like this, the dolly can get into places no other dolly can reach. I was gaffing a shoot with the Movietech Magnum dolly some weeks ago, and i must say that altough i'm quite a semi-bear i would rather not want to carry the center column up some stairs alone, since it's got about 80kg (circa 180lbs). The base is a little less bulky, it could technically be carried by one person, but it has still got 60kg (130lbs). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Adam Frisch FSF Posted October 20, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted October 20, 2006 OK, one and half person then :D :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Rosenbloom Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 (edited) If it's not absolutely necessary to do a boom during the shot, why not just put the sticks on a doorway? Even small jobs can usually afford to carry one anyway. How are the floors? You might get away w/ just renting a Chapman vibration isolator (you'll need heavy duty Mitchell base sticks for that.), or you might just run some shelving boards down the hallway (easier for the actors to step over ...). Or you can rent skateboard wheels and drop the doorway in them, if you have to be on track. Either way, you should give the grips a pre-call to load in so they don't have to fight all that stuff around everyone else. Edited October 22, 2006 by Jon Rosenbloom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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