Ground Rules

[Brent J. Craig]

More about the vehicle rigs - Teakle packed a suitcase-sized case with speedrail joiners, elbows, straps, and other grip magic along with a surfboard bag full of various-sized pieces of pipe. He could rig the camera to pretty much anything at any angle we wanted, and do it quickly and safely.

Dylan, it should be OK for me to post some rig photos, don't you think?

 

[Dylan Macleod CSC]

More about the vehicle rigs - Teakle packed a suitcase-sized case with speedrail joiners, elbows, straps, and other grip magic along with a surfboard bag full of various-sized pieces of pipe. He could rig the camera to pretty much anything at any angle we wanted, and do it quickly and safely.

Dylan, it should be OK for me to post some rig photos, don't you think?

Absolutely post them!

Teakle is a master.

 

[Ian Laurie]

Congratulations on your nomination Dylan! And great article by the way. Hope all the politicking it brought up hasn't got you down, truly an accomplishment to be nominated. best of luck!

As for all the politicians out there,Back off and let this man enjoy his success!

 

[Brent J. Craig]

2. The shot of the truck driving through the outback, how was the camera rigged? Was there any post work done to smooth it out? The footage is amazingly steady for looking back at the drive while your are on a dirt road!

Ryan, here is a photo of that rig. As you can see, no stabilization but we had some great solid rigging points. All of those mine vehicles had safety gear like extra rollbars and pushbars that made them easier to rig than most vehicles.

A few things to note: The grip arm on the left is, I believe the key to the stability of the shot. It is always best to triangulate things when you can. If you look closely there is also a grip head right below the mattebox that is locking down the ballhead and camera plate to the rig itself.

The camera is bagged to protect against the dust, but I left the ventilation holes on each side open, and taped the bag so they could not become blocked (learned that lesson!). Also, no Red Drive here. Cards only on bumpy roads.

I have also mounted the battery off camera. 1. So it couldn't go flying off and 2. to make the top of the rig lighter for less bounce.

 

[Brent J. Craig]

Here is another rig on the same vehicle.

I should preface my comments by saying I am NOT a grip, I just spend lots of time looking over their shoulder, asking if it's safe and when can I put the camera on.

You can see more of the triangulation idea in this rig. Three primary attachment points to the vehicle, and a few triangular braces.

In this rig everything was positioned and then ratchet straps were used to tension everything and pull it all together. These are good because they have some 'give' and smooth out the bumps a little.

View attachment 11295

 

[Brent J. Craig]

Here is one of my favorites:

You can see our Intel-A-Jib, our wooden skid dolly with skate wheels, and some lovely iron pipe dolly track.

If you have seen the video, this is the rig for that beautiful shot where we swoop over two men looking at plans on the hood of a truck and see a giant digger in the background. On screen it looks like we had a Technocrane or something, but behind the camera it was much less glamorous.

Also, check out the head. To avoid an extra case of gear, we decided we could use our Oconnor head upside-down rather than carry an underslung head. The SIM handle has a flat top with 3/8 and 1/4 threads to allow this.

The grey cases behind the sound guy are what the Intel-A-Jib packs into. Quite compact.

As you can see it was very very dusty so we all had to wear masks. I decided that there wasn't much we could do to protect the camera but at least I wrapped the expensive lens in plastic. The Red One actually seems pretty well sealed. You are always going to be sucking dust through the ventilation fans, but the air seems to just circulate around a channel without getting into the camera itself. Red techs, am I right?

 

[Ian Laurie]

Wow now that is some creative filmmaking. I am particularly impressed with the use of the wooden palette and flipping the head upside down to attach to the handle.

 

[Peter Strietmann]

Brent,

Ingenious rigs. You are most certainly a grip! Great work.

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

Thank for the pix!

Thank for the pix!

Dylan & Brent,

Thanks for sharing those pictures as well as the info regarding the setups. You are right- the crane shots definitely feel like there was a technocrane on set. Well done! What are your thoughts about the crane? You were able to pull off some great shots with it- but was it as easy to setup and transport as the web site makes it seem? As for finding counter wieght for it- was that an issue, or was it not a big deal since you were around lots of rocks in the mines?

In regards to under-slinging the head and camera- I'm not familiar with the SIM handle. I'll have to look it up- I assume this is not the Red handle you are talking about. That is a great solution to mounting the camera. It sounds like ti was a solid enough solution that you were not worried about it. I'm not sure that I would feel to comfortable doing the same with the Red Handle... Nice dolly as well- creative use of what was on hand. How did you manage focus on setups like those? From what it looks like there is no remote follow focus- is that correct?

The triangular bracing of the camera to the truck worked very well- as those shots came out VERY smooth. Knowing that the truck is a construction truck, they probably have a decent suspension system on there which probably also contributed to the steadiness. From the picture of the cab setup, it looks like you've placed the batteries on the grill of the truck- is that correct? I assume this was to help decrease the weight of the camera. How did you go about running the cable to the camera? Was a special cable made? Did you use the Red Belt Clip? Or does the 10' DC cable connect inbetween the battery plat and the camera? Lastly, what is that beneath the batteries, it doesn't look like anything I've seen before...

One more set of questions- (Thanks for your patience. )
The shots of the family at home- do you have any pictures of the setups for these shots? Could you talk a little bit about the lighting setup for this sequence? The shots are very well executed- as the light feels very natural and like it is all coming from the practicals and windows in the set.

 

[Brent J. Craig]

What are your thoughts about the crane? You were able to pull off some great shots with it- but was it as easy to setup and transport as the web site makes it seem?

I wasn't the one gripping, but it seemed as easy as any jib to set up. I would still recommend having a proper grip because there is always stuff that can go wrong and hurt somebody or the camera.

As for finding counter wieght for it- was that an issue, or was it not a big deal since you were around lots of rocks in the mines?

Being at mines actually made it more difficult in some cases because most of them have policies against removing anything from the site, and one mine made us dispose of the dirt we collected in a special disposal area since they could not be sure what was in there. They are VERY concerned about environmental contamination.

We also had an Arri 12V block battery that we used on jib shots, and hung it off of the back of the jib for more counterbalance.

In regards to under-slinging the head and camera- I'm not familiar with the SIM handle. I'll have to look it up- I assume this is not the Red handle you are talking about.

It is an aftermarket handle made by Sim Video. I think they have ads on Reduser.

That is a great solution to mounting the camera. It sounds like ti was a solid enough solution that you were not worried about it.

The handle is definitely solid enough. The part we were concerned about is the quick release plate between the camera and head. Any time we did an upside down rig like that we tied a safety strap to the camera.

How did you manage focus on setups like those? From what it looks like there is no remote follow focus- is that correct?

You are correct - no remote focus. I usually always have one whenever we are on a jib or crane, but once again it was an issue of how much gear we could travel with. Some shots I followed along with a long focus whip. For that particular one we were at T5.6 around 15mm so the depth of field handled it all.

From the picture of the cab setup, it looks like you've placed the batteries on the grill of the truck- is that correct? I assume this was to help decrease the weight of the camera. How did you go about running the cable to the camera? Was a special cable made?... Lastly, what is that beneath the batteries, it doesn't look like anything I've seen before...

Yes, the battery was strapped to the grill. We used a custom 4-pin to Red cable made by a Reduser member named Pana(something?). What you are seeing beneath the batteries is actually a box that lets you attach 2 V-mount batteries into a sort of block-battery with a normal 4-pin 12V jack.

The shots of the family at home- do you have any pictures of the setups for these shots? Could you talk a little bit about the lighting setup for this sequence? The shots are very well executed- as the light feels very natural and like it is all coming from the practicals and windows in the set.

Yes. Dylan's a genius. I will let him talk about the lighting. That handsome young lad in the scene is my son in his acting debut!

 

[Brent J. Craig]

Ingenious rigs. You are most certainly a grip! Great work.

Oh, that wasn't me. I was just the guy who took the pictures and hung the camera off the top once the rigs were built.

 

[Brent J. Craig]

Anyone else have questions? It's kind of fun writing about the shoot.

 

[Joe Shemesh]

mounting detail

mounting detail

Anyone else have questions? It's kind of fun writing about the shoot.

hey Brent,
just wondering if they are rubber or polyurethane bushes separating the 2 plates, in order to reduce vibration?

best
joe

 

[Brent J. Craig]

hey Brent,
just wondering if they are rubber or polyurethane bushes separating the 2 plates, in order to reduce vibration?

Nope. Solid aluminum risers.

 

[Dylan Macleod CSC]

One more set of questions- (Thanks for your patience. )
The shots of the family at home- do you have any pictures of the setups for these shots? Could you talk a little bit about the lighting setup for this sequence? The shots are very well executed- as the light feels very natural and like it is all coming from the practicals and windows in the set.

No pics. And the fact that you thought it looked natural is a high compliment!

The "sun" sources through the windows were 2 800w jokers. I used a couple of kino flos inside and a vista beam to push some soft light through one of the windows. Because we were "at home" my lighting package was able to be supplemented a bit. I used a net out the door in the background to reduce outside brightness when the door opens.

For some other shots I used grads to control window brightness.

Thanks for the interest Ryan. I agree with crewpix, it is fun sharing the experience!

 

[Dylan Macleod CSC]

Congratulations on your nomination Dylan! And great article by the way. Hope all the politicking it brought up hasn't got you down, truly an accomplishment to be nominated. best of luck!

As for all the politicians out there,Back off and let this man enjoy his success!

Thanks Ian.

Politicking seems to have cooled.

Now we can appreciate Brent's pictures of the cool rigs we did!

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

No pics. And the fact that you thought it looked natural is a high compliment!

To bad there are no pics. Oh well.

Praise is due where it is earned, and I really like the look and feel of those scenes.

The "sun" sources through the windows were 2 800w jokers. I used a couple of kino flos inside and a vista beam to push some soft light through one of the windows. Because we were "at home" my lighting package was able to be supplemented a bit. I used a net out the door in the background to reduce outside brightness when the door opens.

For some other shots I used grads to control window brightness.

Would it be ok if I posted a frame grab or two from those scenes and comment on how / where I think you placed those lights and then get have you let me know how close I am? (If not, I can try and type it out, but I'm better with visuals then I am with words...)

Thanks for the interest Ryan. I agree with crewpix, it is fun sharing the experience!

I'm glad my questions and interest are appreciated. I feel bad for hogging all of the questions, but as others are not chiming in, I do have some others if you do not mind humoring my interest ...

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

Dylan & Brent:
As I was watching the film again these questions came to mind-

Helicopter Q's:
1. Do you remember what range of focal lengths you used to lens those scenes?
(Many of the mountain fly overs feel like you are right on top of the trees and flying right over the top of the mountain. However, from my experience many pilots are uncomfortable flying that close to the "ground" as it does not give them enough time to maneuver should something happen. So my guess is that you were on the telephoto end of your set. If true, it makes me even more impressed with the stabilizer you were using.)

2. How did you get the "following" shots - like when you are following straight down a river, or when you are following straight behind a truck as it drives down a dirt road?
(From the stabilizer you were using my guess is that you had to shoot out of the side of the helicopter- in the back, behind where the pilot sits. That would mean that the pilot would have to maneuver the helicopter sideways- or "Crab it". Yet those scenes are shot at a high speed, and they are framed perfectly. Again, going back to my limited experience with helicopter pilots, crabbing the aircraft does not produce the fastest results, nor do they like to do it for long, as it is difficult to do. - maybe I was just working with inexperienced / new pilots - So, my guess it that you were able to swing the camera out the side some how, point it in the direction you were flying, reinforce it against the wind, and shoot with a long lens.)

Location Q's:
1. What was location scouting like?
(It sounds like you had to do it as a part of the trip. Was a day or two scheduled in specifically for this? For the areal work, did you just get up there and find shots that worked, or did you get a chance to scout that as well?)

2. When you were working with the big rigs, did you find rigs in place that were great compositionally, or did you find great vistas, and then get the rigs moved into place?

3. The scenes at Black Thunder were very visually different from the rest of the mines. The few colors (Orange, yellow, red..) all POP against the heavy greys and browns in the scene. It is almost like it is monochrome with a few colors accentuated. Was that the natural scene / colors, or was it manipulated in post? (I realize that it is in the part of the film where they are talking about reclamation of the land.)

Misc-
1. Brent & Crew- Again great job on making that dolly work in some pretty remote locations! You really enabled Dylan to pull off some great shots in the middle of the jungle. I'm impressed with how smooth those shots are- and all on a "skate board" dolly.

2. How did you pull off the night time lapse shots of the city highways and not have a lot of noise? You were using an earlier build which did not have the same low noise capabilities of the current builds- was it just the long shutter that compensated for the low light levels and enabled the images you got?

Few! I think I'm done with questions. For now anyway. (Or at least until I watch it again, and think- that's great - how did they do that?)

Keep up the great work!

 

[Dylan Macleod CSC]

Dylan & Brent:
As I was watching the film again these questions came to mind-

Helicopter Q's:
1. Do you remember what range of focal lengths you used to lens those scenes?
(Many of the mountain fly overs feel like you are right on top of the trees and flying right over the top of the mountain. However, from my experience many pilots are uncomfortable flying that close to the "ground" as it does not give them enough time to maneuver should something happen. So my guess is that you were on the telephoto end of your set. If true, it makes me even more impressed with the stabilizer you were using.)

Mainly used the Master Zoom 15.5-45mm. Generally on the wide end. We had military pilots who fly these mountains every day. They WERE close to those tree tops!

2. How did you get the "following" shots - like when you are following straight down a river, or when you are following straight behind a truck as it drives down a dirt road?
(From the stabilizer you were using my guess is that you had to shoot out of the side of the helicopter- in the back, behind where the pilot sits. That would mean that the pilot would have to maneuver the helicopter sideways- or "Crab it". Yet those scenes are shot at a high speed, and they are framed perfectly. Again, going back to my limited experience with helicopter pilots, crabbing the aircraft does not produce the fastest results, nor do they like to do it for long, as it is difficult to do. - maybe I was just working with inexperienced / new pilots - So, my guess it that you were able to swing the camera out the side some how, point it in the direction you were flying, reinforce it against the wind, and shoot with a long lens.)

The pilot in Australia actually let us mount the camera on the passenger side runner (i think brent has a shot of this). Not reccomended or advised! One strap flies off and it is game over. Once again - amazing pilot. This was a much smaller and more manueverable chopper so he was able to be very nimble. The director was almost ill! Brent hooked a microforce up to the iris and I monitored the histogram and rode the exposure accordingly. Most of that stuff was 12mm or 14mm prime.

Location Q's:
1. What was location scouting like?
(It sounds like you had to do it as a part of the trip. Was a day or two scheduled in specifically for this? For the areal work, did you just get up there and find shots that worked, or did you get a chance to scout that as well?)

The director had spent many weeks scouting each location months before the shoot. We would basically land - do our mine safety induction, then scout. Some stuff we didn't see until we got there.

2. When you were working with the big rigs, did you find rigs in place that were great compositionally, or did you find great vistas, and then get the rigs moved into place?

The mine sites accommodated us very well. We could usually get a monster truck where we wanted it to be. We even did that "truck mount" in Chile, where I got to ride in the cab - what a blast!

3. The scenes at Black Thunder were very visually different from the rest of the mines. The few colors (Orange, yellow, red..) all POP against the heavy greys and browns in the scene. It is almost like it is monochrome with a few colors accentuated. Was that the natural scene / colors, or was it manipulated in post? (I realize that it is in the part of the film where they are talking about reclamation of the land.)

Very perceptive Ryan! Yes indeed - the look came partly from what we found there, but it was enhanced in the color correct. We wanted exactly that - black and white with desaturated blue sky and vibrant yellow trucks. On a second viewing it felt like it didn't do justice to the lush reclaimed landscape so we brought back a little more saturation in the greens.

Misc-
1. Brent & Crew- Again great job on making that dolly work in some pretty remote locations! You really enabled Dylan to pull off some great shots in the middle of the jungle. I'm impressed with how smooth those shots are- and all on a "skate board" dolly.

The crew was amazing!

2. How did you pull off the night time lapse shots of the city highways and not have a lot of noise? You were using an earlier build which did not have the same low noise capabilities of the current builds- was it just the long shutter that compensated for the low light levels and enabled the images you got?

Sorry to say that the urban aerials and time lapse shots were stock. It was part of the original plan for us to do those but the delivery schedule made it impossible.

 

[Dylan Macleod CSC]

Hey Ryan

I'd go ahead and post frame grabs if you like.