The Crane
The first piece of equipment that we set up was the crane. This is a camera mount that allows us to take stills and video from really high up, and also do panning shots that start from the floor and end up higher up, but still focusing on the same place. It also has the ability to be tilted at the top, where the camera sits, so that it can move around freely. The arm can reach about 15 foot high, with just the first attachment, and there was another that would probably add another 2 or 3 foot to that as well, and this can go about as high as a first story window.
Setting it up
To begin with we first started by setting up the wheels, they have free movements to allow the most maneuverability and act the same way shopping trolley wheels do.
We put the legs on next, which were those of a tripod, and these slotted onto the base that had the wheels on them, and again as they were tripod legs, they could be extended as well.
We then constructed the arm, which was split into 3 different parts for easier portability. These had to be put together in small sections due to how heavy they were and also if there are only a few people there to set up, its easier to put it together in small sections. We we were putting on the last piece at the end, you have to make sure that the cog wheels, which you can see on the side, are in the same location going down the arm as these have to be tied together with a wire so that the arm can be moved up and down. The last thing that we did in the making of the crane was to attach the handle on the side, which can be seen in the last image, and this is used to tilt the head where the camera sits.
What I think about it
The crane is a very useful piece of camera equipment and now I know what it is capable of I am really excited by it and may be able to incorporate this into my film so that I can create a smooth, panning shot, and maybe use this at the part where he goes into the jungle, to create the whole look of it and create a nice shot where you can see it all. But with the crane you need to think about set up time, while it can create nice shots it can take a long time to set up.
The Indie Dolly
We then got out the indie dolly which is a tracking system that we can attach a camera too and create nice shots where the camera gets closer to the actors but doesn't zoom in, this kind of technique can be used to create the illusion that the audience are moving through and closer to the action.
Setting it up
They are attached together using white pellet type bits and then Velcro straps in the middle to keep them held together. We then used stoppers at the ends of the rails as well so that when we were pushing the dolly down it wouldn't fall off the end. We then put small levelers underneath as well to ensure that the rails didn't sag in the middle.
We then started constructing the main part of the dolly system which would be the part that sits on the rails and holds the camera. We then attached arms onto the middle plate and then fixed these too wheels which would sit on the rails and move smoothly along the track.
We then fixed another tripod to it, which is where the camera was going to sit on, and if we wanted at this stage we could have also added the crane onto this so that see can create tall panning shots along with having smooth side movement. You can also have a person sit on it, and attach a handle so that it can be push by another person, with one more person holding all of the wires out of the way.
What I think about it
I really like the idea of the Dolly if I was going to be using some kind of camera movement that involved panning or following something sidewards I would definitely try this out, otherwise I do not think that I will have any need for this in my video, though it was brilliant to play with.
Filming
Once we had all of the equipment set up we went about filming several different shots based on the story that 'something has escaped from the army base' and it will now be crashing down the streets of Leeds. During the film we first shot it with the track and dolly, panning forward to see them more closely, we then changed to film outside on the balcony so that we could get a reverse shot, one of them running outside, and we then set up the crane in the doorway, looking out, so that we could get a shot looking over there backs and panning upwards to shoot over the actors shoulders and pan up to the city to show the CGI monster which we will be looking at next week.
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