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Originally posted by togreatness

Hello-

I am making a music video for a contest and part of the film will be focusing on someone who has his hands tied and is blind-folded in a canoe that is slowly sinking on a small lake. I have another canoe that I will be filming from, does anyone have any advice on how to get the best possible footage on water?
(I am a beginner, this is my first music video. Any suggestions is greatly appreciated.

tah

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Without knowing what your shots should look like and the parameters of your location, it's difficult to provide anything more than general advice.

So, that said, if the water is very still, you should be able to get fairly stable shots from another boat. I would recommend something more stable than a canoe, though, to shoot from.

You can get very stable shots by shooting from the shore with a long lens (assuming the hero-canoe is in the middle of the lake).

For closeups, you could potentially cheat those by bringing the action closer to shore. Raise your tripod as high as it will go and then put it into the water so just the fluid head is above the water line. Then put your hero-canoe in the lake a few feet away. You may need a ladder in the water next to the tripod in order to operate. This gives you a way to stabilize the camera and still have the hero-boat in enough water that it will sink AND it keeps things relatively safe for your Actor who, while tied up on a sinking boat, IS in a modicum of danger.

That said, make certain that you have someone on set designated for rescue and recovery in the event that your Actor goes under and needs resuscitating. No joke. Be safe.

Otherwise, the only other way to get boat-to-boat footage that is really steady is to rent something like the Perfect Horizon system ( http://www.perfecthorizonmil.com/ ).

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com

I think I will have to do that ladder in water method that you said, or atleast put the tripod on the shore. And I will definitely have someone on duty for rescue. The actor happens to be my best friend so I will for sure be extremely safe.I think the part I want the canoe to sink isn't more than 8 feet deep. So I can always get a 10 foot ladder or so and use that.

Thanks so much for the help!

tah

quote:

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Originally posted by togreatness

I think I will have to do that ladder in water method that you said, or atleast put the tripod on the shore. And I will definitely have someone on duty for rescue. The actor happens to be my best friend so I will for sure be extremely safe.I think the part I want the canoe to sink isn't more than 8 feet deep. So I can always get a 10 foot ladder or so and use that.

Thanks so much for the help!

tah

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You're welcome! 🙂

Consider using heavy sandbags on the bottom rungs of the ladder to help stabilize it if the bottom is particularly muddy. And/or have at least one or two people holding it so that it doesn't tip over.

To help the photography, you might try using a Polarizer to help reduce glare off the lake.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com