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Shooting first car spec - looking for tips/advice


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Hi all! I will soon be shooting my first car spec. I'm doing as much research as I can in order to craft a well-polished and beautiful piece, and to understand the logistical requirements and best practices. We're aiming for a very moody, narrative driven off-terrain piece, employing a black arm setup as well as some drone work. Looking for some guidance, tips, advice - what has everyone learned from their car shoots? Looking back, what would you have done differently from the beginning? What technical difficulties did you overlook?

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Here's my experience:

  • Camera prep is the most important thing you can do. Everything needs to be wireless: iris, focus, zoom, video, run/stop, playback, etc. If you're missing on piece (ie a certain cable), then you'll struggle to keep those wireless features up and kill your time. So, make sure you've done a thorough camera prep.
  • Lens wise, zooms work best when chasing a car, in my experience.
  • Seldom are onboard batteries attached to the camera; the arm-rigs for cars I've worked with have built in Lemo/XLR/D-Tap connections that power the camera and AKS. The camera is then powered via block batteries in the vehicle or by the vehicle itself (depending on the specific company you're working with). Additionally, those same Lemo connections on the arm rig also control a FIZ + run/stop.
  • A clamp on mattebox will fall off. Get a rod based one.
  • The jib op, cam op, and driver have to be in unison with each other. Otherwise you'll have tons of trouble. The best trio have worked together frequently.
  • Shoot at a deep stop. The picture car moves fast and a shallow depth of field will make everything look soft

Good luck and be safe!

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