steady car shot

[Mike Cohen]

Hire a paving company to resurface the road. You will be doing a great civic duty in the process!

Seriously, anything mounted to the car will show any movement of the car. A shoulder rig might help – your body is amazingly good at stabilizing movement. Just don’t zoom in – that will magnify any motion. There are some bungee-cord stabilizers out there – like a microphone shock mount – or try making your own.

Mike Cohen

[John Sharaf]

Daniel,

We do this type of shot all the time for news and magazine shows. On your shoulder, the body acts as a stabilizer to take some of the vibration and road chatter away.

Best advice is to stay as wide as possible and overcrank (slomo) slightly if you have that capability (meaning if you’re going to a 24p timeline_.

JS

[Mark Suszko]

I get these by arm and lap-cradling a camera in the back of a van, shooting thru the side door. A steadicam pintle mount can fit back there, if you have a steadicam, but really what’s going to work there is a Kenyon KS-series gyro-stabilized camera. Things look like giant lozenges, with a fast gyro spinning inside. We’ve shot from the back doors of a van using a web of bungie cords to help steady the cam, we called it bungie-cam:-)

[Daniel Hughes]

I’d say:
1. Get a Citroen with an open-able sunroof.

2. Obtain a driver.

3. Like a meerkat, emerge from the sunroof and get your magnificent moving shots. Even handheld or with a cheapish shouldermount, it’ll be great!

Or, alternatively, B-Hague do some reasonably priced stuff that might fit your requirements:
https://www.b-hague.co.uk/camera_suction_pads_vacuum_mounts.htm

Daniel Hughes
Amateur Writer, Director,
Director of Photography
United Kingdom

[Eric Leiser]

Find a smooth street. (duh) Stabilize your camera using a beanbag, and shoot with as wide an angle lens as possible. Also, what kind of car you are riding in can make a significant difference. Think Buick or any car marketed at old people. Think smooth riding land boat.
-Eric

[Daniel Schultz]

Thanks to everyone for all the very helpful ideas.
Very helpful!

Dan S.