Car Rigs

[Brendan mk Uegama]

I'm shooting a low budget horror film and need a car rig to mount on the hood of the car and on both sides. Unfortunately, this is so low in budget we can't afford to rent a propper one. Does anyone have any quick ideas and ways to rig a homemade one?

 

We're shooting on the Panasonic HVX 200, so it's a light weight camera.

 

Thanks.

[Matt Irwin]

For a low cost hood rig, I've used this with great success:

- 1-2 sound blankets over the hood

-2 sheets double plywood, stacked and glued together. (4x3', 5x3', whatever)

-Attach metal loops at the corners and sides of the ply.

-Hook ratchet straps to the loops and attach to the hood, wheel wells, etc.

-Get a hi-hat or lo-hat and screw it onto the plywood. (ball-level works best)

 

Once the plywood is rigged, changing camera positions only takes three screws-- very fast, less complicated than pipe, more secure than suction cups. Add some flat black paint to the plywood and producers won't be the wiser! Works for bigger cams too.

 

As for the door mount, I know a guy that made a surprisingly solid hostess tray for a similar sized camera out of PVC pipe and hardware store brackets... Wish I had some pictures.

[Mikael Gustafsson]

 

Here's something we used in our Super 8 short. It didn't need any drilling or high end machinery, very simple and cheap parts. The most expensive part was the camera tripod mount. It's designed for telezooms on still cameras, sold by Manfrotto (Bogen). The total cost for that thing was approx 70 dollars.

 

We used some very heavy duty fishing line to secure it even further, worked like a charm.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Mikael.

[Rupe Whiteman]

A footnote to car bonnet mounts - I operated on a ident sequence where we were using a (recently restored) 'Mustang 289. We'd story-boarded a series of mounts shots, all over the car, for the days shoot.

 

The first shot was with a bonnet mount. Once the limpet mount was in place, the grip connected straps to the top of the wheel arches/wings. As he tightened these both the wings flexed and it split the paint/filler! - Quite natually the guy who supplied the car nearly passed out and then would not let us touch the car with any more mounts! It fu**ed the whole sequence as it was now a case of compromise and catch up. The grip was not a popular man for the rest of the day and the director has not hired him since. The fact is he should have had a better look at the car before he starting fitting the straps where he did - but also too how was he to know there was a lot of filler mixed in with the metal of the car ? (it did look stunning!).

 

- We ended up strapping the camera to the bonnet of the directors XJ6 and chased the mustang around a multi-story car park. The sequence looked good but it was never going to be the same after it wear pear-shaped on shot 1!

 

... Here 'endeth the lesson!

 

Regards,

 

Rupe Whiteman UK

Edited December 4, 2006 by rupe w