Getting the depth of the gorge

Kiarash Sadigh · August 6, 2008

I'm shooting this documentary and we're recreating certain scenes. The story is about a famous canadian journalist who mysteriously died and his body was found at the bottom of this 40-feet gorge, on a flat rock by the river side. Some say he was pushed, so that's why this scene has such importance to the story

I have scouted the gorge and seen the exact spot. There is a protective fence about 10 feet away from the edge and we're going to remove it for the shoot. Also, we are going to recreate his fall a few times and each time a bit differently, things like throwing a dummy, POV etc.

My question is about the POV shot.... Here is the shot I have in mind: the camera travels across the ground towards the edge, at the height of 8 to 12 inches, for about 4 to five feet looking straight ahead and then goes over the edge and then tilts down to see the depth of the gorge....

Logistically I am thinking of laying tracks down to about 6 feet of the edge...then have a jib on the dolly so that the jib's arm is sticking out of the front of the dolly for about 8 feet...this will send the arm for about 2 feet over the edge by the time we hit the end of the tracks.

My fear is not being able to convey the depth and power of the height....what if I shoot this and end up having a bland wide shot looking 40 feet down at nothing....where the audience can't pick up where to look

I'm shooting with HVX200, feeling that 60 FPS will give me the most freedom and am thinking about a fish eye adaptor...this doc is meant for broadcast and not big screen

I would love to know about your experience, what do you think is the best way to shoot this, considering a low budget doc, how can I bring the thrill of the height into this?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated...

David Auner aac · August 6, 2008

I'm shooting with HVX200, feeling that 60 FPS will give me the most freedom and am thinking about a fish eye adaptor...this doc is meant for broadcast and not big screen
I would love to know about your experience, what do you think is the best way to shoot this, considering a low budget doc, how can I bring the thrill of the height into this?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated...

Hi Kiarash!

Please post topics in the appropriate sub forums. Thanks!

I'd say that a wide angle lens will be you best bet. Are you set on the HVX200 by budget reasons? Maybe you could rent a HPX-500 just for the day and do the shoot with a 4.7 wide angle?

Regards, Dave