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Timed Dolly Shot
Hey everyone,
So I wanted to reach out and pick your brains on the best ways to get a timed dolly shot at consistent speed. The camera will be pushing in. The movement would have to last the full duration of a 2-3min song.
Thanks,
Andy -
5 Replies
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Hey Andy,
How far does the dolly need to move and which camera are you using?
Best of luck!
Rick Amundson
Producer/Director/DP
Screenscape Studios
Bravo Romeo Entertainment
http://www.screenscapestudios.com
http://www.bravoromeo.com
http://www.indeliblemovie.com -
Rick, I will either be using a Canon 5D or Red. The camera would have to move enough that it’s noticeable. I would say a length of 10-15 feet in 2-3mins.
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The camera has little bearing here. It’s the dolly/grip and staging that is key. It takes an extremely good dolly grip to move the dolly and camera evenly over such a short distance and over such a long time. One thing will help you: propping so that there is almost constantly something in the close foreground, probably out of focus and somewhat shadowed, to sell that there is indeed movement going in.
Hmmm, just re-read your first post. You want a push in. You have a big problem here: seeing any rails. The only solution I can think of is to lay down a super smooth floor and dolly with no rails. I’d prop things close to the lens that are lit much darker than the main action — chairs, other actors, things hanging from above, etc., so that we feel we are moving through space.
If you combine a dolly move with a zoom move, both have to start and end perfectly together, extremely difficult to do without programming both dolly and lens, an expensive option.
Note that you will get the greatest kinetic sense of motion with a wide lens. At the start you will see the world and the main action will be tiny, but will grow in size relatively fast as you move in. If you shoot with a long lens, there will be much less sense of motion.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
The reason I ask about the camera is for the size. There are a variety of slider dollies that have motion control motors available. If you are using the 5D or stripped down Red you may be able to achieve the effect for a few less bucks. Using a motion control motor allows you to get a perfectly constant speed and program it to your exact amount of time. This negates the human inconsistencies that come with a dolly grip (not that there aren’t great dolly grips who could pull this shot off).
I agree that having some foreground elements will help sell the effect.
Check out Kessler Crane and others for the sliders and be sure to post the final shot!
Best of luck!
Rick Amundson
Producer/Director/DP
Screenscape Studios
Bravo Romeo Entertainment
http://www.screenscapestudios.com
http://www.bravoromeo.com
http://www.indeliblemovie.com -
What’s the budget look like? What can you afford to spend for the effect?
Is live audio capture an issue, or can the system be “noisy”?
Visible dolly track can sometimes be “painted out” in post.
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