"cheap way to do a " Overhead shot

[AlejandroGomez]

Hi Guys

 

Really need help on this. First of all I have no idea of gripping so thats why I need a good advice.

 

We need to do a POV. Its a Overhead shot with a Epic Mysterium and a 24mm. The camera needs to tilt down looking to the floor where it will be a pair of shoes, we will throw things at the shoes, like paint, dirt, water...

 

I need advice on how to rig the camera on a safe way, Im gonna make the camera really light, just a photo lens and power up though a DC power Cable, without V-mounts. The camera should be arround 1,70 and 1,80m higher.

 

Any ideas on how to do it? Needs to be really simple and cheap. No Jib, No slider...

 

Thank you in advance

[Satsuki Murashige]

Does the camera need to tilt down in shot? Or can it be locked off?

 

Ideally, you would make a goalpost rig of some kind so that there is no tripod or stand underneath the camera. That could be something like a long speedrail pipe with a right-angle cheese plate in the middle, and two combo stands on the ends. It would help to have a few 3/8-16 mounting points on the camera body so you can stabilize it

 

But if that's still too complex, then I suppose you could do it with a tripod and a false floor to hide the tripod legs. Get four apple boxes and a thick sheet of plywood. Dress the plywood to look like the floor and either have the actor stand on the surface, or if you can get away with prop legs and shoes use that instead. That will simplify camera positioning and you can have the camera lower without having to work around the actor's body.

[Brenton Lee]

Extend your fluid head / tripod out, cantilever it off the right height ladder then use a bit of accessory cord to manipulate the fluid head up or down.

 

Just make sure you sandbag the ladder.

[Hannes Famira]

clamp a wooden plank to any of the steps of a ladder, put your fluid head on the protruding side and put this on top of your fluid head: http://a.co/jjOzGQk

[David Mullen ASC]

Two ladders and a plank?

[Tony Burns]

I don't typically work with speedrail and I don't own any combo stands, but I do have an Avenger D600 boom that works great for this kind of shot between a couple of c-stands, with the stud on the end of boom put into the grip head on the opposite stand. In the middle I'll clamp a mafer with a Manfrotto 208HEX plate and a small fluid head.

[Matt Rozier]

How about a mirror? If you mount a large Perspex mirror to a goalpost rig, you can angle it to get the exact shot you need. Plus from the ground you’ll have much more control over the cam. Not sure if it’ll work with what you need, but just a suggestion. 

[Mark Kenfield]

Rent some Speedrail, two combo stands, three big bens and a hollywood clamp.

- Use two big bens in the combo stands to rig the speedrail overhead

- Rig the third big ben clamp over the subject

-  Use the hollywood clamp on the third big ben to hold your tripod head in place

- Use a broomstick or something similar to operate the tilt on your fluid head from the ground.

Those assorted bits of grip shouldn't cost you more than $50-$70 to rent for the day.
 

[Aapo Lettinen]

one could probably also construct something out of one of those multi-purpose ladders which can be bent to U-shape... that should be a fast alternative if said ladders already exist on set

[Stephen Perera]

hey appo....these are my go to for affordable...great people

https://www.haguecamerasupports.com/product-range

[Adrian Sierkowski]

If you are going to go the goalpost way with speed-rail, depending on how far apart you need the stands, you might want to look into triangle truss makers, still just speed-rail but 3 of them in a truss form. Substantially more stable and less likely to bow. Or use a shot-gun to just double the speed-rail, again, less bowing.

Mirror idea can work, can also be a pain.