shooting in a moving car at night

[sarah kolasky]

i am shooting a film which includes a scene with two people talking and driving in a car at night.

 

the director wants a two-shot through the front windshield, with minimal background shown, since we will be shooting in a parking lot (which is not the actual location in the script). i am using an Arri SR-II camera with 500T stock, which will later be de-saturated to black and white.

 

we've decided to use mini kino-flos to light the interior of the car, but our problem is how to safely attach the car to the truck/minivan that will be pulling it. we're students, so we have no extra money to buy or rent a professional rig to attach the two vehicles together.

 

does anyone have any suggestions on how we can safely shoot this without spending a lot of money? (we are shooting in toronto, so if anyone knows of rental places that might give us a deal on a rig, those contacts would be appreciated as well.)

 

thanks very much,

sarah

[Jeremy]

We were doing something very similar several months ago for a short film. We ended up raising the camera, so we didn't see as much out the back window, and shot the actors through the windshield. We parked the car in the parking lot of the director's apartment complex. We then cut down tree branches and had different PAs hold them as high as they could and walk the length of the car, so it looked like they were driving under trees.

 

We were shooting at golden hour, so we shot a 1K through the back window, and at previously blocked-out times, we'd have the actor turn the steering wheel, like he was making a turn, and we'd have a PA move and reposition the 1K (trans: setting sun) in time with his "turning". It turned out pretty well.

 

We also did the same thing with night shots in the same car. He did the tree branch thing again, only this time we had more lights that would be panned at different intervals to replicate driving past real sources on the road (street lights, etc.), and we had several lights that would move slightly behind the car, to replicate car headlights following our actors' car.

 

You can see still frames on our website: http://www.throughaglass.com/projects/t45stills.html

 

We found this much more efficient and economical than rigging the car and towing it. Hope this helps. Let us know how it turns out.

[Jeremy]

As a side note, you probably shouldn't put the same post in all sorts of different areas on the board. After a long day, I tend to get confused when I read the same thing over and over again.

 

Again, hope it turns out well.

[Rik Andino]

If you're looking for a cheap way to rig the car to be pulled around

There really isn't...but...

 

If you know someone with a Pick-up or SUV you can beg them to help you

Buying one is outta the question :)

I recommend the Pick-up truck because it has a open back you can shoot from

I really like the Ford F900...wish I had 30K

But any Pick-up will do...as long as they can haul at least a few tons

 

So next you rent a trailer hitch at someplace that deals with moving & storage

Uhaul is a good place to go (but I dunno if there are any in Canada)

Get something that'll accomodate the car...

It should cost you about $100 bucks to rent it per day

 

You hitch it to the Pick-up Truck and make sure the car is secure...

And there you go you can haul your picture car anywhere...

 

I'd do a search on this forum for more tips on shooting a car scene

There are lots of them

 

Anyways Good Luck

[Mark A. Rapp]

If it's a night shot, put the car in your garage and do a poor man's process. You'll save time and resources, and have much better control over the audio as well.

 

Check out the DVD extras on FRAILTY. They do a nice step-by-step on their process shots in the car.