I'm beginning a script for a short and am wondering how to do a long tracking shot (about 100 yards) in a forest. The subject will be running through the forest and the dolly must keep up with them. I have the Joren Clark dolly and about 40 feet of track as of now. Would this work if I got plenty more PVC pipe or is this not possible?

wouldn't be easier to use a heavy duty steadicam?

Raising the shutter speed will not make the shake go away. On the contrary, it will make it look even more sputtery. One of the properties of a great dolly shot is the beautiful blurred background.

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Originally posted by titaniumdoughnut:
Raising the shutter speed will not make the shake go away. On the contrary, it will make it look even more sputtery. One of the properties of a great dolly shot is the beautiful blurred background.

Dan's referring to reducing motion blur to make identifying an object to track with in the frame easier.

The process is time-consuming and tedious and there are a multitude of cheap plugins that do the trick a lot better. After Effects has a stabilize function as well.

Must it necessarily be one long shot? You could shoot several parts of tracking along a 40- or 60-foot section, cutting as you track behind trees and alternating between wides, mediums and CUs. Hell, you could probably shoot along the same section of forest each time, as long as your framing is different enough.

Not as cool as one long shot, but tracking smoothly 100 yards in the woods may prove difficult.

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Dan said:
There is a form of homemade camera mount where the camera is mounted in the middle of a 4' 2"x4" then it is packed at waist height by two people walking side by side each one holding on to one end of the 2"x4". You could then stabilize as described above.

This is not a bad idea. I'll have to try this sometime, though a single 4' section seems awfully short. I might throw something together with two 10' pieces. If only I had a friend to run through the woods with me...