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The Poor Man's Fisher 11?


Jeff Kolada

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I'm in pre-production for an independent short, micro budget, and after shotlisting and storyboarding with the director we would like a TON of small camera movements. both horizontal and vertical (or a combination of both).

 

So herein lies my question. A fisher dolly rental is out of the question for this production (plus a 5dmkii would look a bit ridiculous on it). What other resources are available that would be able to give smooth horizontal dolly movement as well as some vertical pedestal movement. And the catch is it has to be within a reasonable price range.

 

I've legitimately debated mounting an indi-slider onto the jib arm I have, but the weight distribution is way off when the camera moves to one-side or the other of that slider. It's also a bit absurd looking.

 

Any thoughts?

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Elemack cricket dolly. Precursor to the Panther. Minimum height is pretty high, but, whatcha gonna do?

 

I just used a cineped bolted to a matthews doorway dolly. It has only one speed (SLOW!!!), but again, whatcha gonna do?

 

I'm not sure the rental on the cineped though, I wouldn't be surprised if it was just as much as the fisher.

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I just used a cineped bolted to a matthews doorway dolly. It has only one speed (SLOW!!!), but again, whatcha gonna do?

 

I'm not sure the rental on the cineped though, I wouldn't be surprised if it was just as much as the fisher.

Nah, I think it's like $150/day. The ped movement is stupid slow as Ryan says.

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I'm in pre-production for an independent short, micro budget, and after shotlisting and storyboarding with the director we would like a TON of small camera movements. both horizontal and vertical (or a combination of both).

 

So herein lies my question. A fisher dolly rental is out of the question for this production (plus a 5dmkii would look a bit ridiculous on it). What other resources are available that would be able to give smooth horizontal dolly movement as well as some vertical pedestal movement. And the catch is it has to be within a reasonable price range.

 

I've legitimately debated mounting an indi-slider onto the jib arm I have, but the weight distribution is way off when the camera moves to one-side or the other of that slider. It's also a bit absurd looking.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

steady cam jr. or something like it. I know that it will be hand held instead of on a dolly, but it is very smooth and cheap to rent. Canon slr should work.

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steady cam jr. or something like it. I know that it will be hand held instead of on a dolly, but it is very smooth and cheap to rent. Canon slr should work.

 

That thought did come up, but even that movement will be a bit too loose for what we are trying to achieve. I think what we're going to do is mount a 5' jib on a doorway dolly. It'll be pretty cumbersome, but it should do what we want. It just currently lacks any chance of panning the camera.

Edited by Jeff Kolada
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If these moves are really that important to the way you guys want to tell the story, I think you should find a way to rent a proper dolly. It will make your life and the finished film that much better. You should be able to negotiate a 3 or 4 day week rental and then it's not all that bad. You could also call some of the rental houses and ask if they have any old dollies that aren't being rented much these days. May be a way to get a cheaper rental.

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Guest Patrick Nuse

I rented an old fisher model 9 from JL Fisher Burbank for $90/day. on the weekend sat,sun,mon counts as one day. very cheap. the boom is very touchy though, but it works. with all the accessories it came to $570 for 10 days because I scheduled the shoot around two weekends for the sole purpose of saving money. included 22' of straight track and all the standard accessories for the dolly.

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