What equipment is good for this type of camera movement?

[Brian Drysdale]

In everyway, good ones will always push the boundaries of the resources they have available. It comes with creativity.

[Paul R Johnson]

I don't believe they actually have boundaries - frequently the Directors I work with just push the budgets they are given and then with me as production manager, we argue about why they cannot do this very simple thing making me the one looking bad. It's how it works. I know how to direct, and I've been filled in once when the director got a recall to Hollywood, leaving me in the seat for three days till a real one could take over, and on one occasion I also stood in for the Lighting Designer when he had a breakdown and refused to come out of his hotel room. I've even finished off music when the Musical Supervisor had too much on. As I've said before - I can do lots of things averagely, none brilliantly. As a PM, it's ideal

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay well as far as equipment to move or stabilize the camera goes, I think I am going to just go for a pan and tilt tripod, a gimbal and a car camera mount, and that's it. I was thinking of budgeting for a slider, or dolly, and maybe renting a drone before, but going to say no to that and just have a gimbal get all the shots I want movement, and maybe a wheelchair to help, but if not, just the gimbal.

I know people say that a gimbal is not a substitute for a dolly or slider, and they are different jobs, but I do want to save money on equipment and was hoping to do the best at substituting therefore.

[Ryan Elder]

Well in my last short, we decided to try to use a gimbal for a dolly shot. I wanted the camera to rotate around the actor on a long lens, and people say that long lenses on a gimbal are a no-no.

However, do you think this shot turned out well on a gimbal, even though it was meant for a dolly, at 5:08 into the video:

Sad and Battle Damaged Souls - YouTube

[Brian Drysdale]

Using long lenses will depend on how good your operator is and other factors. You can use longer lenses on a Steadicam as well.

Again, it depends on what you want to do in the shot.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay, well I mostly want to do some orbiting shots for my next project, like this one, if it's possible for an operator:

The chaser rotating shot - YouTube

There are also other shots I want with the long lens, mostly cause I prefer how the actor's faces look on longer lenses in close up shots.

[Brian Drysdale]

That looks rather like he's on a rotating platform, eg a small roundabout with the camera mounted on the other side and the actor twists as he looks around as the platform turns.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay, well for my last short, I tried to replicate that type of shot with a gimbal in order to avoid buying more equipment, but did the gimbal suffice do you think, in the short that I posted before?

[Brian Drysdale]

It's not what I think that matters, it's what you think as the maker of the film that matters. Perhaps even more important, it's how you feel about it a year or two after you've finished it.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Pete Cofrancesco

I wrote a similar reply but refrained from hitting the post button. It’s a repeat of his last thread but instead of mic booming we’ve moved on to dollying.

His threads could be summed up as “I having trouble replicating a scene made by a movie studio with a million dollar budget...” It’s analogous to buying an expensive pastry and trying to figure out how to recreate it without the skill, knowledge, equipment or money.

He most likely only has access to a gimbal and that’s what he will end up using.

I posted this on the first page of this thread almost a month ago.

[Brian Drysdale]

Yes, you use what you've got available to do the job. There's little point in asking about other tools or methods unless you're planning to invest in purchasing or renting them.

Since there doesn't seem to be the funds in this case, I suspect the thread should come to an end, since the discussion should be with the gimbal operator who has to do the shots.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh I was just wondering if substituting other tools is okay, since it was said before that every tool is right for a different job. So I was wondering how much I could get away with substituting.

[Josh Bass]

Experiment and see. That's really all there is to it.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay, it's just I have to have hire a gimbal operator, so I wanted to have the shots ready. I could just have all the shots with horizontal and vertical movement ready, and see if they object to any of them.