Keeping it steady.

[Levi]

Really, Dont film on a bus.

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[GrizzlyAdams]

Maybe not on a moving bus....but a stationary one. you could do a cheesey cut of a bus goin gby, and then mock one up - but then you'd need a budget.

I actually think the moving bus is better, even with a bit of motion - the through window backround will change.

but hell, i dont get paid for this stuff so I might be talkin out of my exit orifice

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Grizz:

Remember lads. its only illeagal if you loose in court

[sdchown]

Just another point. The heavier the camera is the more inertia it has, so the less prone it will be to shake. So if your camera is weeny and light, try make it a bit heavier.

My camera weighs in at about 25 pounds (about 11kg).

A good example of nice handheld work is all the boat stuff in Jaws. Just cradle the camera carefully to minimize movement. The only problem is you wont be able to put it against your eye.

If you have a camera with one of those fold out screens LCD that you can swivel out, it would be easier. But they will gobble your batteries.

If you are shooting on film, this gets more difficult as a video assist is a costly addition to your camera.

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Regards
Stephen Chown
Old Ones Productions

[deanl]

Hey there.

Thanks for the advice Sdchown. It makes sense. We are shooting on a moving bus at night. I expect and dont mind a little movement its a moving bus after all.

Ok thanks again for the advice.

Despin out.

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"Ive got bad feeling about this."

[Kathy S]

Hi Despin- you seem a little jumpy of late. You?ve got to expect a little banter on this site- you get it on most film sets after all.

Anyway last year I spent some time in Ghana- and I was working on a film there called Lareba- it told the story of a young girls journey from the north of the country to Accra the capital- on a bus. I wasn?t there for most of the shoot- but I was there when they were filming driving the night. The camera being used was a sony VX 1000 (not too big not too small) some of it was handheld and some was on a tripod. The actual footage looks fine and is hardly jerky. We were driving on a busy road at a fairly slow rate. One trick the director used was a torch light thing- to make it look like cars where passing the coach- it actually looked pretty good as Ghanaian lighting goes. It was a very orangey/ yellow light. If you go to this website www.scriptnet2000.org.uk and search through the Ghana projects, then productions and then Lareba you should get some pictures. Another film I worked on that was filming on, on a super 16mm camera- also used a tripod and the results were fine. We were filming on the upstairs of the bus in the daytime. We had hired the bus with a driver and got him to drive around and around the high street.

My friend also made a film on a bus with a mini DV- it was just a normal bus and he got on with the camera in view and didn?t ask permission. He did it all hand held and it looked fine. I think if you are filming on a hired bus rather than a normal bus the results will be better- but obviously this depends on your budget.

Hope this helps

Kathy


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[Kathy S]

There are only two pic that are actually on the bus- but heres a direct link to the right page:
http://www.scriptnet.org.uk/ghproj/lareba.html

Guess the bus is a little different from the one you will be using

K

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[deanl]

Hey there.

Thanks for the info.

Despin out.

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"Ive got bad feeling about this."

[chris.crook]

I've built the XL1 stabiliser (http://www.videouniversity.com/xlstablz.htm) with a wooden frame, if you live close (I live in Bury) and depending how heavy your camera is, it's here doing nowt but gathering dust.

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