Dutch Roll - Need to Roll From Upside Down to Upright - What Gear Do I Need?

[Ryan Sauve]

So I'm storyboarding a shot where a guy is hanging upside down with the camera upside down so the viewer isn't aware right off the bat of his predicament. I then want to slowly roll the camera to the upright position while dollying back. Anyone know what the name of the equipment would be to get this effect? I've seen some motorized dutch roll heads but they seem like an overkill, especially since I'd be shooting in a fairly confined space (walk-in fridge/cooler). Thanks for any and all feedback.

 

[Brian Merlen]

motion control system could do it for ya, i see a lot of em on table top gigs, but pricey and hard to work with form factor wise...

 

[Webster Miller]

Hey Ryan, what about a 1-axis Letus Helix on a slider?

 

[Bobby Farokhzad]

The Letus Helix would be my choice of gear for this particular shot. Small, compact, and you don't need to worry about your wires getting all tangled up.

 

[Nick Gardner]

Weaver Steadman 3 axis.

nick

 

[Uros Zuraj]

Kessler CineDrive maybe? - you have a head, dolly and focus control in one timeline... you can repeat the shot over and over

 

[Andre W.]

+1 for Weaver Steadman with 3rd axis.... that or a lambda with similar setup....

 

[Ryan Sauve]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I'll see what's available for rent around here based on the recommendations made.

 

[Douglas Underdahl]

Well, you can take a Weaver Steadman 2 axis, Ronford F7, or Varizoom Zero Gravity and turn the camera sideways 90 degrees. That'll get you the 360 spin you are after. You will lose tilt but still have pan and that might be enough. Also doing it this way is more compact than going with a full three axis head. Panavision also hase something called Panatate.

 

[DC Chavez]

I have done this before with a Kessler Revolution head- camera in the sideways orientation. It takes some dialing in to make sure its level and centered on the roll-axis.

 

[BrandonChristensen]

Hey Ryan, don't know if you figured it out yet, but we did basically an identical shot this week. I posted an eerily similar thread like this a few weeks prior and got much of the similar advice, but my DP and I decided to go the lowest tech route possible.

We ordered a Cheese Plate on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CCZO0CA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And then we stripped the camera of most 'niceties' and mounted the cheese plate so the camera would be vertical, thus the pan turned into a roll...:

Laid down 24' of track:

And then ratcheted the SHIT out of it horizontally:

Had the AC walking alongside with my DP4 w/EVF and awkwardly holding my 15" whip on the follow focus...and we just...did it. Since we'll be redoing the entire FG/BG it wasn't important if it landed perfectly at the top or bottom so we had to figure out where it landed in each and split the difference so it worked.

It was hard because the DP was shooting blind as the EVF was given to AC so he could pull focus.

Here's how it looks direct from camera (This was just the last take, not the take we're using):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l0x7lxqs3vc503z/OpeningShot Rough1.mp4?dl=0

 

[Ryan Sauve]

Wow, that's brilliant man! Thanks for sharing this, I'm going to test this out!

 

[HD Hildebrand]

nice

 

[Robert Hart]

A rotating automotive workshop engine stand, some bits of angle iron, some drill holes and a tripod head --- and a very smooth clean floor and clean rollers on the engine stand.

 

[BrandonChristensen]

Wow, that's brilliant man! Thanks for sharing this, I'm going to test this out!

No problem!

Hey, your'e from Calgary. My hometown! That's great, I was just there for the holidays and my wife is going up on Monday! Let me know if you have any questions!

(EDIT)
We shot it on a Rokinon 24mm. It has a 12" focal range which was surprisingly more than enough. The only thing stopping us from getting closer to her eye was the door actually. I zoomed the footage a bit as well since we're finalizing in 2K so we had some wiggle room.

 

[Wendell Adkins]

I built this to fly the Alexa on our drones but decided it didn't make sense sense since the Epic was so much lighter/easier. The only reason I keep it around is for remotely operated roll shots.

Love the pan to roll idea!

 

[Robert Berger]

Nice!

 

[martinnoweck]

skater scope / t-rex?

 

[Mike Garrick]

Cheap digital solution, shoot 6k do the shot on a dolly with the pullout with no "head roll". Take it into edit then "punch in" to say 4k then rotate shot as slow or fast as you like . You can also adjust for off centre of the shot using this method .

 

[Dave Edsall]

Use the Cine Magic Revolution and do the roll optically using Preston Motors. You will get a perfect nodal roll if that is important to you, but you will need some light since I believe the Revolution starts around a T7..