Any test footage? I've only seen a couple clips from the Sony HD cameras.
What are your PVC joiners for the dolly? They look externally visible, which leaves me scratching my head as to how it can ride smoothly over them. The simplest way that I'm aware of is to use sections of wood dowels that fit the inside diameter to join sections.
Any test footage? I've only seen a couple clips from the Sony HD cameras.
I'm doing a 60i -> 24p conversion of our existing footage that should be done today. Once I get that done we'll have a few clips for viewing.
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What are your PVC joiners for the dolly? They look externally visible, which leaves me scratching my head as to how it can ride smoothly over them
They're PVC couplers cut in half with bolts drilled through. Since the dolly wheels only roll over the top third of the track, the bottom half is where the coupler holds the track together. As long as the coupler stays on the bottom part, the dolly rides over it with no problem.
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So when do we get to find out what the story is?
When it's done . I'll throw you a bone though... it involves a lifeguard.
Ah... for reference, it's probably a lot easier just to use 6" sections of dowel to fit the inside diameter. This takes all of two minutes to make and is very easy to deal with on location. You also don't have to worry about rotating the pipe so the 'clear' side is facing up.
Sure, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. I think 3/4" was about the right size for my 1" OD pipes. Wrap them with duct tape to create a snug fit. They really don't need to be that tight, since the joint is not load-bearing and nothing is trying to pull it apart either. A 3' long piece should be no more than $1.50 or so, and will be enough to make at least 6 joiners (will be good for 40 feet of track with 10' sections).
I currently only have 20'. The total cost for the tracks was about $11. I should add 20' more. There's no reason why you can't just make it longer and longer. If I wanted to spend a little more money I could do a 100 foot run - the problem there becomes finding reasonably level ground to set it up. I usually use wooden blocks to shim it to the appropriate height.
Really long, fixed tracking shots are awesome, though. I can think of plenty of uses. Stage several layers of action in deep focus. The long tracks give you the freedom to move back and forth between action at different points.
The last minute or so of 'Ashes and Diamonds' is a continuous tracking shot. One of the great shots of world cinema, IMO.
Same with Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. Was Russian Ark shot on DV or film? If film, how did they find a magazine big enough to feed it for an hour and half? I know in Rope they had to make some cuts due to that very reason. I always liked the idea of doing such long shots in movies, it's almost like it's so restricted that it forces you to be creative.
Video, and Russian Ark was not one continuous take. There are at least 2-3 cuts that were blended digitally in post-production. I believe they rigged up some sort of direct-to-disk capture but it still filled up before the entire thing was captured (it was shot in HD, from what I remember).
Doing long takes on video is one thing - doing it when your film magazine holds 10 minutes of footage is quite another The longest continous take I've done recently was probably about 70 seconds. I ended up cutting it down to 40 seconds or so, but preferred to shoot it in real time for verisimilitude.
Oh yeah, there are awesome possibilities with a 100' track to be sure, it's just that there aren't THAT many. It would sort of make more sense to find a need for it, before building it, rather than try to fit it in cause you have it.
Alright. Now I keep thinking of cool 100' tracking shots.
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. I'll throw you a bone though... it involves a lifeguard.
The longest continous take I've done recently was probably about 70 seconds. I ended up cutting it down to 40 seconds or so, but preferred to shoot it in real time for verisimilitude.
