The Low Budget 180 Dutch Roll

[BrandonChristensen]

I thought some of you might be interested in this. We shot a pilot for a web series back in January and it needed a pretty complex opening shot. My DP and I brainstormed and figured out a pretty awesome cheap solution. We didn't have enough to rent any dutch heads or anything like that...but what we wanted was this:

https://vimeo.com/137621990

And this is how we did it:

https://vimeo.com/137619785

I'm really happy with it...I would suggest that the one thing you need to do is put tracking markers EVERYWHERE (unless you're doing everything practically of course) because we put like 5 on the car and that was it. Heh.

 

[Martin Stevens]

Nice!

 

[Brandon Kelly]

Here was our quick version for a fast dutch roll with someone falling as they ran. haha, wored great just took a few tries.

[/URL]IMG_4431 by Brandon Kelly, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[jake southard]

nice work! Visuals look great as well

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

Looks great!

How are you guys mounting the camera on the end of the tripod?

Stephen

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Cool tricks!

I suppose an even easier technique if the vfx shot is going to end up at 2K would be to shoot 6K and just do the rotation in post, which would give you about a 3K image.

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

We did rotation in post as David suggests, and for us it worked, but if you're interested in truly dollying in or out, I don't think a post push/pull will really work all that well. There's just something about that relative movement.



Stephen

 

[BrandonChristensen]

We debated doing the rotation in post, and shooting the ceiling with tracking markers on it and pan a 360 to give us a more realistic roll than just rotating...but wanted to do it this way.

As as for how we mounted it. Bought this and used the 15mm rails to support the camera.

Cool Cheese Plate https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CCZO0CA/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_WA64vbMRYV2PB

 

[BrandonChristensen]

Here's a better look at the rig:

 

[BrandonChristensen]

Here was our quick version for a fast dutch roll with someone falling as they ran. haha, wored great just took a few tries.

[/URL]IMG_4431 by Brandon Kelly, on Flickr[/IMG]

That's hilarious. Smart, too.

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

Okay. Now I understand. I thought you had screwed something on the back of the camera to get it locked onto the tripod, but now I see that there is no direct connection between the back of the camera and the tripod other than, perhaps, some pressure.

Thanks for the link!

Stephen

 

[BrandonChristensen]

Okay. Now I understand. I thought you had screwed something on the back of the camera to get it locked onto the tripod, but now I see that there is no direct connection between the back of the camera and the tripod other than, perhaps, some pressure.

Thanks for the link!

Stephen

Yeah, it definitely wasn't the most stable solution as you could put pressure on the camera and it would bend a bit inwards. So we just had to be careful. Having said that, if we had to do it again, I'd probably do the same thing. It's not pretty, but it worked!

 

[James Falco]

And this is how we did it:

https://vimeo.com/137619785

I'm really happy with it...I would suggest that the one thing you need to do is put tracking markers EVERYWHERE (unless you're doing everything practically of course) because we put like 5 on the car and that was it. Heh.

Not sure why the focus puller needs a EVF when you can simply just mark the focal lengths on the track.

 

[BrandonChristensen]

Not sure why the focus puller needs a EVF when you can simply just mark the focal lengths on the track.

Using Rokinon's, they are not terribly precise and the throw is short. Made sense to do it this way at the time. It's not something we've dealt with before, your idea also makes sense.

 

[Michael Tiemann]

Cool tricks!

I suppose an even easier technique if the vfx shot is going to end up at 2K would be to shoot 6K and just do the rotation in post, which would give you about a 3K image.

I played with this concept yesterday and found the following permissible roll angles:

6K FF = 0 degrees
5K FF = +/- 5 degrees
4K FF = +/- 15 degrees
3.5K FF = +/- 23 degrees
3K FF = +/- 37 degrees
2.5K FF = +/- 360 degrees (max height ~ +/- 63 degrees)

Of course if you don't need to roll from zero, but are wanting just a 90 degree roll, then you can roll a 3K intermediate from a 6K source in post.

UHD formats allow a bit more roll, with 6:5 formats allowing the most roll within its format boundaries:

6K 6:5 = 0 degrees
5K 6:5 = +/- 8 degrees
4K 6:5 = +/- 30 degrees
3K 6:5 = +/- 360 degrees (max height ~ +/- 52 degrees)

Note that 6:5 formats are not supported in half-K resolution steps. Me? I couldn't pass up the temptation to get a Sachtler Dutch Head with a 25% discount on Black Friday.