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Any Ideas on filming car scenes?


Dorian Quell

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We have a shoot coming up the week after christmas. We are filming our whole film in that week. It's not a long film and doesnt require much.

 

We have quite a few car scenes in the film and I don't have special equipment for filming in cars. There are about 3 scenes inside the car and i don't want the shots to look all to the same and bore.

 

Any ideas? Suggestions?

 

We were thinking doing like stranger than paradise did and film mostly from the back seat.

 

The film is digital and in color by the way and is about 40 tto 50 minutes long.

Edited by Dorian Quell
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You asked for ideas so here's a quick one. I recently watched a car sequence that I really enjoyed. The actors faces were rarely featured but it was heavily dialog driven. In stead of cutting on the dialog between faces the cuts were pov (out the window, into the side mirror, exterior shot of car (obviously just someone holding the camera out the window shooting at the front tire),etc. It was very cool the audio was perfect so the story didnt suffer. I wish I could remember what the film was, sorry.

 

But it will save you valuable time and keep from being more of the same.

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Uhh... <_<

 

it's not all in the car Mike.

 

------------------------------------------------------------

 

Thanks for the tips, I had actually thought about doing that with filming pov shots, looking out the window and not. The scenes (and the movie in whole) is pretty dialogue driven.

 

All the scenes are during the day, overcast cold weather.

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it's not all in the car Mike.

 

------------------------------------------------------------

 

Thanks for the tips, I had actually thought about doing that with filming pov shots, looking out the window and not. The scenes (and the movie in whole) is pretty dialogue driven.

 

All the scenes are during the day, overcast cold weather.

 

 

I think he's wondering why a film that is nearly an hour isn't a long film and why it doesn't require much. Why don't you approach each project like it's the most important thing to you right then? DOn't shrug it off like it's nothing. Sure it's fun (I love doing it too) but take it seriously and do the best work you can do.

 

...and I apologize if I put words into your mouth, Michael. :unsure:

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it's not all in the car Mike.

 

It just seemed contradictory to say it's not a long film and doesn't require much, and then say it's 40 to 50 minutes long. To me, 40-50 minutes is "long" unless you're comparing it to a 2 hour feature, and even the simplest production approach does still require a lot to pull off a film of that length. Just staying focused and organized for that much material and that many days can be a challenge.

 

I ran across a picture of a half-assed car mount I did awhile back, and thought it might be relavent or at least amusing. The shot was improvised at the time, and we were traveling at slow speeds on a private road. Definitely don't try this on public streets! The Chevy Avalanche was made for shooting, as it's very roomy and convertible.

post-366-1103707392.jpg

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I'm sorry if i can across half-assed or anything. I assure you im not about this film.

 

I've really worked hard on the script and getting everything I need. But truthfully there isn't anything that seems to be great challenge in making this one. I know i know once i start all that will change. There's only two main characters and no big difficult scenes. It's dialogue driven so what i mostly worried about is the acting and the sound. I am completely focused though on the filming and other techs tho. Thank you all for your concern and your advice though. THis forum has been great for me. I deeply respect you all.

 

Mike- That car mount isnt a very bad idea, but yeah on public streets would be too dangerous. Unfortunately these scenes are on public streets and our car isn't convertible. I remember that shot in breathless. I had actually wanted to get a convertible bug for this movie. Breathless and Allen's Manhattan gave me some good ideas. Also stranger than Paradise like i said earlier.

 

I plan mostly on improvising some shots outside of the windows with my key shot being behind the actors in the back seat. Whatever else i can pull off also.

 

Thanks again.

 

-Jordan.

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Just to be clear, my "half-assed" remark was meant as a swipe at myself only. Looking at the picture, it just looks really silly!

 

If you're shooting with a digital camera, I presume you mean a small consumer or pro-sumer version. With a small lightweight camera you can quickly and easily set up lots of interesting car shots.

 

And when I said "focused" I was referring to the ability to think clearly, resolve problems, AND judge the merits of the material you're getting -- while you're shooting. I don't doubt that you're focused, motivated, and concerned in preproduction. When the ball gets rolling though...

 

I still feel a 40-50 minute film is a big undertaking, no matter how simple the production techniques. If you're doing it largely by yourself or with a couple other people as your entire crew, then your attention is seriously divided among all the small details. And if you have a large enough crew to manage all departments, then mobilizing and focusing that many people by itself takes time (this is why there are 1st AD's). There's just no getting around the scope of a film that length.

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Hi !

 

For shooting thru the windshiels, you can use a limped that you fix on a manfrotto suction cup. You stick it on the car cap/hood . It's very cheap.

 

For shooting profile you have offsets that you put on the car door. On the right one to shoot the left seat and the opposite.

 

Some grips have their own.

 

You can make good back shots from rear putting your camera on a sand bag. and some shots handheld inside too. You can also think of having shots on your acting car from another car's pov, forth and rear...

 

I think you need a grip anyhow.

 

It's a very common setup. If you want to have a look at what it looks like here's a link to a film I directed with my students - It's in french, don't bother, it's not the purpose, and please don't be too critical it's done by 2 students (1 cameraman, 1 editor, they just had a bit of help from other students and I never pretend to be a director, it's just that I teach in a technical school and the students don't direct the films so we teacher do, with no pretention at all).

 

Hope it can help.

 

http://l.andrieux.free.fr/Videos/Jours.mov

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Forgot to mention that shooting thru a windshield requires a polarizer filter, that I unfortunatly didn't have on the film I poster.

 

If you want to talk about the lighting too...?

 

(I think you should first carefully check the streets you shoot in as to always be counterday, as to have the buildings in the shade in the background, it helps a lot)

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I guess your shoot is probably over by now but this is for future reference.

You know Bill Bennett ASC shoots beautiful car scenes for commercials. He

prefers film. He's on the dvd "The Difference" by Kodak. Maybe you can con-

tact ASC and see if he's written anything about shooting cars. He says on the

dvd that he prefers film on car shoots due less time for set ups. I'm a newbie

stubent cinematographer, so I'm just quoting dvd.

 

Greg Gross

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