Jump to content

Moving car, rear seat shots.


Recommended Posts

Hey all -

 

I'm shooting a short film this weekend and we are shooting two talking heads inside a moving classic 1960 hard top Impala on a smooth, closed road. We are not using a process trailer, instead we have a beefy suction car mount at our disposal. Because of rigging time, I'm thinking of just shooting OTS from the rear seat (as in the example below). I actually prefer this angle because I think there are more options for sound and lighting, however I'm not too sure about a bouncing around camera. Are these types of shots typically locked down with additional grip inside or just a well balanced shoulder rig?

 

Thanks!

 

Screenshot%202014-07-31%2014.04.25.png

 

Impala interiors:

 

impala1.JPG

impala2.JPG

Edited by Al Lougher
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

If you want a steady frame, your best bet is some kind of grip rig. The cheap way would be to use a furniture pad to protect the interior, then use apple boxes and wedges to get the correct height and level for your camera platform. Ratchet together and to the passenger seat, then ratchet a high hat on top. If locking off, attach one or two baby spuds via threaded mounting points on your camera (cage, top handle) and secure to two more solid mounting points on the frame with grip heads and short arms.

 

If you can drill into the body of the car, then you could attach a bazooka mount to the backseat floor of the car and have a solid Mitchell base platform. But that sounds like it won't be possible in this case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks. I just have to be careful what I can do to the interior in terms of drilling holes and stuff.

 

This is the car mount that we have. Maybe we could mount two cups to the inside rear side windows and clamp the additional rods to something on the passenger or rear seat? Note we're shooting with the Canon C100 so it's a pretty small and lightweight camera.

 

11025.JPG

Edited by Al Lougher
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Sure that could work, although you should talk to your key grip about how safe it is attaching those suction cups to car windows. I suspect they would prefer to attach to the body panels but who knows? I'm not a grip ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does it need to be perfectly steady? If you brace yourself well and the car isn't travelling fast or over rocky ground, you can get a fairly good image and I normally find perfectly static stuff in a car can feel unnatural.

 

Of course, it may suit your shot/scene in which case ignore me :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...