Right. Your choices are:

1. mount the camera on the hood. This can be done relatively easily with a sandbag to put the camera on and secure the entire thing with ratchet straps. Something like this:

2. Hostess Tray mounted to the door. http://www.filmtools.com/mahotrcamoca.html

3. Shoot "car to car" http://www.shotmaker.com/

4. OR, you could use a long lens from a fixed tripod position and have the vehicle drive in circles around the camera. The idea being that the camera only pans left to right in complete circles while the vehicle drives in a larger circle around it. The long lens would help blur your background so that the audience wouldn't be able to tell that the car wasn't really driving straight down the road. Of course, there are potential camera-operating issues with this idea, so it isn't the best solution.

5. Keep the car and camera stationary, but move the background. Obviously, this is likely impossible and/or very difficult to pull off for any length of time. There is a shot in the original TERMINATOR in which a large semi-truck/trailer was used to accomplish just that. The "background" was placed on the trailer and the TRUCK was moving behind the car which gave the illusion that the car was moving. The shot was very short as the trailer isn't that long, but it worked for the shot they needed. If you had some way to create a long background and move it during the scene, it could work.

6 Greenscreen.

7. Rear projection.

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

Thanks for the advice bjdzyak. The last two options are basically what we where doing in other productions, I never used rear projection, but greenscreen. I like the idea #5, pretty clever. We'll probably shoot It "car to car" and for some drive-by shots we'll use a dolly.

Filmmaker
filmmaking.com.br

quote:

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Originally posted by bjdzyak
5. Keep the car and camera stationary, but move the background. Obviously, this is likely impossible and/or very difficult to pull off for any length of time. There is a shot in the original TERMINATOR in which a large semi-truck/trailer was used to accomplish just that. The "background" was placed on the trailer and the TRUCK was moving behind the car which gave the illusion that the car was moving. The shot was very short as the trailer isn't that long, but it worked for the shot they needed. If you had some way to create a long background and move it during the scene, it could work.

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I was working for Stan Winston and was on set that day.

You were on the set of Terminator??? You're very lucky to be a part of history, CI.

Another option I didn't notice on the list is to tow the car with the actors. If the actors vehicle is put on a flat truck you have lots of options.

RJSchwarz

quote:

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Originally posted by rjschwarz

Another option I didn't notice on the list is to tow the car with the actors. If the actors vehicle is put on a flat truck you have lots of options.

RJSchwarz

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Hadn't thought of that - this is getting fascinating. 🙂

quote:

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Originally posted by rjschwarz

Another option I didn't notice on the list is to tow the car with the actors. If the actors vehicle is put on a flat truck you have lots of options.

RJSchwarz

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That's a good one!

Filmmaker
filmmaking.com.br

quote:

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Originally posted by rjschwarz

Another option I didn't notice on the list is to tow the car with the actors. If the actors vehicle is put on a flat truck you have lots of options.

RJSchwarz

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Oops, I forgot that one! 🙂 It's called a "process trailer." IF you do this one, or any mounting at all, it MUST BE done by someone experienced in rigging. The very first thing you have to ensure is safety. The last thing you want to happen is for a vehicle to roll off the trailer.

Take a look at these pictures for an idea of how it's done on big shows:

And for those with a budget, the Ultimate or Russian Arm vehicles are very versatile:

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

I'm beginning to get the hang of this, so let me add in my two bits.

You seem to be a smaller company, so you would hire an independent crew who own the equipment. Make sure they have the proper insurance, and, of course, they would probably have the proper class of drivers' licence.

Last, but certainly not least, clear the shoot with your local film board, who may have other requirements before you can start filming.

Yeap, one of our major concerns is about safety, that's why we've always used greenscreen on the past.

Filmmaker
filmmaking.com.br

Make sure you have the right type of insurance. You should also get the right type of stuntman consultant to advise you on this. Last, but certainly not least, you should speak to a lawyer about the potential liability.

I'd like to also add, that in terms of safety, whenever a process trailer or other type of camera platform is used (Shotmaker, Ultimate Arm, etc), the street that is being used is typically closed to actual traffic by PAs and off-duty police officer. Any non-hero vehicles you DO see in the background are extras and/or stuntmen/women driving their own vehicles or vehicles provided by the Picture Cars department. Attempting to shoot on an actual functioning roadway with all of that going on not only is a bad idea from a safety point of view, but also may very well be illegal.

I'm not advocating this suggestion in any way (my disclaimer), but if you really had to shoot car-to-car in real traffic, the best you could manage would be to shoot from a car window (a conventional vehicle of some kind) and record sound from the hero-car and marry those together later, just like real movies on film would do. Sitting in the back of something like a pick-up truck with the camera likely isn't going to be legal depending upon where you choose to shoot.

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

quote:

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Originally posted by bjdzyak

I'd like to also add, that in terms of safety, whenever a process trailer or other type of camera platform is used (Shotmaker, Ultimate Arm, etc), the street that is being used is typically closed to actual traffic by PAs and off-duty police officer. Any non-hero vehicles you DO see in the background are extras and/or stuntmen/women driving their own vehicles or vehicles provided by the Picture Cars department. Attempting to shoot on an actual functioning roadway with all of that going on not only is a bad idea from a safety point of view, but also may very well be illegal.

I'm not advocating this suggestion in any way (my disclaimer), but if you really had to shoot car-to-car in real traffic, the best you could manage would be to shoot from a car window (a conventional vehicle of some kind) and record sound from the hero-car and marry those together later, just like real movies on film would do. Sitting in the back of something like a pick-up truck with the camera likely isn't going to be legal depending upon where you choose to shoot.

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

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We will have the road closed to actual traffic, this was one of the first things we thought about when preparing this scene.

Thanks

Filmmaker
filmmaking.com.br

Big advantage to the Process Trailer approach is the actors don't have to drive, they can concentrate on their lines while the truck driver concentrates on the driving. From a safety and simplicity of filming this can be huge.

RJSchwarz