What's the coolest or cleverest home-made thing yo

[Matt Pacini]

Roger, that's really clever.
I could use something like that for my forest shoot (try leveling a dolly in the woods!).
I'm having trouble visualizing it though.
I'm definitely going to make something like that, just to move across an opening in the trees. Hmmmmmmm

------------------

[MovieStuff]

Hey, Matt!

I'll draw you a sketch and email it to you. I thought I once saw a photo posted on this forum. Is that possible to do? I know it says that html codes can be used. Can I just paste in a URL for a photo and it will show up here? Hmmmm. Maybe I'll give it a try.

Roger

[tim.callaghan]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Courier, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I would string the rope between trees and tighten it using a wench.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

What? You got your girlfriend to do it? - Shame on you!

Anyway, put (IMG)http://your.picture.jpg/gif(/IMG) , but use square brackets instead, in the posting and the image shall magically appear!

I'd be v interested in seeing it as it is hard to visualise!

Tim

[This message has been edited by tim.callaghan (edited September 16, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by tim.callaghan (edited September 16, 2001).]

[MovieStuff]

Okay, here goes nothing:



Hubba, hubba! It worked!
------------------
Roger Evans
MovieStuff http://www.afterimagephoto.tv/moviestuff.html

[This message has been edited by MovieStuff (edited September 16, 2001).]

[Matt Pacini]

Brilliant Roger!
I'm gonna build one.
Was it any problem keeping the rope out of the picture?
How long is the thing anyway? (I mean, how far from the rope, to the top of the camera?)

Matt Pacini

------------------

[MovieStuff]

Hi, Matt!

For the "flying" shot, it was about 2.5 feet from the top of the camera to the rope (as shown in the illustration). However, the incline of the rope, and its natural sag, kept it from being in the shot.

The other version I built for dollying had a much shorter vertical section; about only 3 inches or so. It was just enough to attach a bracket for mounting the camera underneath. The camera was also turned 90 degrees so that the rope as oriented left to right, like you would use track in a left to right dolly. Therefore, the rope couldn't possible show up. (Be careful of shadows, however!)

Also, and this is very important, the camera has to be offset slightly so that it hangs true and level directly under the pulleys. I made a small "speed finder" out of wire to keep the weight down, but even then had to account for the change in balance it created as it stuck out the side of the camera.

Here's a related "speed finder" idea I had:
I once had this idea to try and adjust the flash socket so that it was out of phase with the camera. In other words, the internal contact switch would close when the shutter was closed, instead of open. My idea was to use the switch to control a strobe that would illuminate only the area where the action was. It would be like taping a flashlight to a rifle where you could just aim the light and shoot.

The idea was that, since the strobe would be out of phase with the shutter, its light would never show up on the film. I thought that would be a great way to frame and aim the "rope dolly" in the days before small CCD video assists.

Never got around to making the modification, but I understand John Dykstra used the same idea on that movie about the little CG mouse (can't remember the name; too early in the morning). He used a laser pointer that was out of phase with the camera so that actors could see where the mouse was supposed to be but the camera wouldn't pick up the red dot because it only appeared when the shutter was closed. Clever.

Roger

Roger

[Matt Pacini]

Roger, was it Mouse Hunt?
Or was it Stuart Little?

Here's a little trivia for ya:
M. Night Shyamalan, who wrote and directed The Sixth Sense, also wrote the Stuart Little screenplay.
Interesting, huh?
Both movies played at the same time, so the guy made some serious cash that year!

Matt Pacini


------------------

[MovieStuff]

It was Stuart Little. I knew it was about a "little" mouse of some kind; just couldn't remember. Anyway, Dykstra was brought on to show these young efx whipper-snappers a thing or two. I thought the idea of a laser pointer that was out of phase with the shutter was brilliant. Elegantly simple and allowed all the actors to have a common point to focus their eyes, which I think made the scenes with the mouse some of the most effective I've ever seen, in terms of the actors seeming like they're really LOOKING at something.

Roger

[Matt Pacini]

You mean stuart Little isn't real?
Oh, man, I kind of liked the little fella...

Matt Pacini

------------------