Filming in a car

[Pavan Deep]

I am planning to film two people talking as one of them drives. I have been thinking about it for a while but haven't actually done it yet. I am planning on using a Nizo Compact Super 8 camera. I will use a polorizing filter.

 

I think it would be good for the camera to be clamped to the front of the bonnet for a medium two shot?

 

But I need to know how I can film a close up side shot from the passenger and driver seat.

 

Would the camera have to be set at the wide angle setting? And will focussing be an issue without a video assist? Can you have a camera clamped to the the side window?

 

Has anyone done this using Super 8? If filming a stationery car how can I give the illusion that it is moving?

 

Thanks

 

Pav

[Brian Drysdale]

There are a number of door mounts that you can use for side shots, some of the lighter ones for use with MiniDV and HDV cameras should work with your Super Camera.

 

You don't need a video assist for focusing, but are you planning any in shot focus pulls? This could prove difficult unless you've fitted your camera with a geared focus ring. If not you can pre-set the focus before rolling the camera.

[Andrew Koch]

As far as filming a car that is not moving, this is certainly much safer than actually driving a car in traffic where someone could get hurt, but it poses a challenge for selling the effect of movement.

 

Is it a night shot or a daytime. Night is a bit easier to cheat. Rodney Charters does poor man's process on 24 and it looks fantastic. He shines lights into small spinning mirrors to simulate the effect of streetlights passing by. Put a bunch of random paper tape patterns over the mirrors to break up the light. You could have some other light panning back and forth as well. It also helps if you can shake the car a bit with a pole under the car. On 24 they use rear projection in the background of a moving street. These projectors can be very expensive however.

[Pavan Deep]

Thanks for your replies. I want to film both day and night shots, the scenes are on an open country road where there aren't any lights, there aren't any street lights, just streches of feilds. It would be cool to shoot a stationery car but somehow create an illusion of movement maybe through blue/green screen?

 

Pav

[Brian Leid]

I just did a shoot like this a few months ago. I used this car mount inside the cab of the truck. http://www.filmtools.com/filmedweigca1.html

I used a suction cup on the windshield and then clamped to the hand bar and the front seat.

I mounted a battery powered HMI to the cheese plate with the camera.

[Warwick Hempleman]

Blue /greenscreen will add a lot of cost to get it to look right. You could consider using a towbar, and towing the car with camera(s) rigged. This at least releases the actors from having to worry about driving and acting at the same time. Also consider that you don't really need to be moving quickly to get the illusion of speed or movement. Get a good driver for this, ideally a stunt driver or somebody who has experience driving for film work.

 

As to the night stuff, you'll need to add interior lighting to get anything, and you may want to look for a stetch of road that does have some ambient light, or add some cars going by in the opposite direction, just to add some light, reflections and pizazz to the scene.

 

Also, if you and your crew are new to this, let your grip build and test his rigs prior to the shooting day. It may save you hours on set.