Dolly with extension or Jib arm?

[Sanji Robinson]

Hi,

I would like to do long dolly shots, while booming up or down. Some of the longer dolly shots require that the camera pushes in while booming down. I obviously don't want to see the tracks in the shot, so the camera should be feets ahead of the dolly.

I can think of two possible options:

1. Use a dolly with hydraulic boom. Either PeeWee or Fisher. Then use a 36-inch slider or camera plate extension to keep the camera ahead.

2. Use a dolly with hydraulic boom. Either PeeWee or Fisher. Then use a small Jib arm to keep the camera ahead, and use the jib arm to boom down.

Any thoughts?

[Sanjay Sami]

A technocrane (or other brand of telescopic crane ) would be my first choice. Otherwise a regular crane on track.

A 3 foot slider is barely any offset on long dolly shots.

Other options could be a stabilised head on a dolly minus the track.

[James D. Wickman]

An option might be the use of a vibration isolator under the head, using no track. Obviously, there is the surface you're running on to consider as well as lense size. My first option is the techno crane. When you say "long", what are you saying? 40' plus? What lense are you preferring for the shot? There's a lot to consider.