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Trying to shoot while riding a zip line.

E

Elizabeth Lowrey

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I'm probably insane for even asking, since I've never even set foot (harness?) on a zip line. But something just came up in my imagination for my current DIY documentary film project, and it involves getting perspective shots from a zip line (or a series of them, actually) in New Hampshire. Has anyone first of all ever ridden your average (if there is such a thing) zip line, and, if so, have you tried to film at the same time or assessed whether it would be feasible to do so with a highly stripped down Epic? Would you be able to control yourself on the zip with one hand and have the camera body mounted somehow and operated, with the other? I'm thinking a shoulder rig with body harness to basically do most of the work of holding it on the body or perhaps even a steadicam worn over the harness for the zip line. I suppose it might even be worth discussing to mount the camera directly to the zip a few inches in front of your own body harness with a tether for safety to your body, and then it could travel on the line independently, at least in terms of support and weight. Am I totally nuts for even considering this?

BTW, I'm in pretty good physical shape and work out regularly.
 
I did it with an HVX years and years ago. I hand held the camera in front of me by the top handle. I wouldn't recommend any kind of stabilizing arm or body harness as it could interfere with the zip line harness. I think I safety'd the camera to myself or my harness.

I would instead recommend either gyro stabilizers that screw into the bottom of the camera, or a lens with IS, or something a little extra wide and use post stabilization, or some combination of the three. The I believe they make a Canon EF 24-105 with IS.. the 4 stop won't hurt you outdoors, and it should give you some range. I don't know what's available wider than 24mm with IS. I don't think you'll find many affordable equivalents in PL, but a Canon mount should be a cheap rental.

I also did a shot for a short while paragliding. Plus the usual mix of cars, boats, trains, planes, mining carts and helicopters. A friend of mine shot from the bucket of a heavy duty excavator... can't say I've done that!
 
I did a shoot recently in Costa Rica where I handheld a Epic with a tokina 11-16. I was conected to the actress so I would not get to far from her. I just had a safety strap on Epic to me, no support and just a redvolt in the side handle, worked fine.
zipline.jpg
 
Thanks to both of you for the quick and very encouraging replies. I have a Canon mount anyway, not a PL, so I'm good to go on that, Naim. The only lens I have with IS is the 70-200 II, and I've not even had occasion to try it yet with my Epic. But my brother owns the 24-105 you speak of. I didn't know it had IS, but that's a free rental for me.:-) Very good suggestion, thank you.

Janne, did you hold the Epic entirely with one hand by the side handle? How much weight did you have on it? Was it braced against your body in any way? I doubt very much I could hold the Epic with a 24-105 attached with one hand and no other support for very long. I could probably do okay holding it by my sliding top handle, but I wouldn't be able to make any adjustments to it whatsoever once I started on the zip. Also, I would want to be shooting so that no part of my body or the zip line itself is visible, if possible. Don't know how much additional stress that would cause.
 
There is quite a tendency to rotate, so trying to maintain a frame is difficult. Janne probably solved that by tethering himself to the actress, but if you're going alone, that'll be a factor. Probably will need several attempts.

I'd probaby go with Naim's suggestions. A wide lens will definitely help.

Alternatively, a helmet cam might work as it will point where your head points, and humans are quite good at maintaining an eyeline. An Epic might be too heavy for that though.
 
ericyoung said:
There is quite a tendency to rotate, so trying to maintain a frame is difficult. Janne probably solved that by tethering himself to the actress, but if you're going alone, that'll be a factor. Probably will need several attempts.

I'd probaby go with Naim's suggestions. A wide lens will definitely help.

Alternatively, a helmet cam might work as it will point where your head points, and humans are quite good at maintaining an eyeline. An Epic might be too heavy for that though.
Click to expand...


Yes rotation was a problem, but the biggest problem was the effort. This was really hard and took much energy, and after 2 takes, I was like butter. I had one glove on my left hand so I could control my rotation better and also do emergency breake if I needed. We also had a stunt person helping with breaking in case the actress did not break enough.
 
I shot with an AF100 on a zipline in Costa Rica 3 years ago?- safetied the camera to my body and held it by the top handle and one hand on the lens barrel (I was using a RED PL zoom 18-50) lens was full wide and there was a person zip lining behind me to keep me from twisting / stabilised.

I wasn't happy with the footage or the outcome… but the client (Air Canada) was ecstatic because the somewhat shaky footage conveyed what they wanted their customers to feel. In the end what they wanted was *quality* footage that could then be stepped on and made to look like the host shot it from the small blue camera that you'll see her holding…
yeah I also shot on a horse that day as well -


http://blip.tv/touristatv/zipline-adventure-in-costa-rica-5346076
 
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The levo strap from ViewFactor would be a great addition for this kind of shot.
 
Mark Phelan said:
The levo strap from ViewFactor would be a great addition for this kind of shot.
Click to expand...

Yes it could - I have one, and it would have been an asset that day. But I also always carry climbing straps and caribiners in my kit so I used those. The zipline guys also had scads of safety straps, 'biners etc -- while it was my first time to shoot like this, they had sent many camera men down the line and know the drill.
 
The guys and gals from fxphd did this as well, I think they were using the duclos 11-17. oddly, they didn't show much of the footage during the courses that I bought, just a couple of quick shots going in and out of trees to show range of exposure shooting hdrx. I'd have to look, but I think the footage was in the RED 302 or 220 class.
 
Matt Gerard said:
The guys and gals from fxphd did this as well, I think they were using the duclos 11-17. oddly, they didn't show much of the footage during the courses that I bought, just a couple of quick shots going in and out of trees to show range of exposure shooting hdrx. I'd have to look, but I think the footage was in the RED 302 or 220 class.
Click to expand...

The exposure range of Scarlet / Epic even without hdrx on would be great - you start out under canopy then head into full sun with either sunny sky or darkish into the trees. Don't know about the others who have done this, but it was hard to remember that I was shooting, let alone pull focus / rack iris and it was over faster than it started...
 
The things that intuitively seemed to me like the biggest impediments have already been mentioned here: the extreme fatigue you'd experience after doing this for just a couple of tries, the body rotation issue, and what you mention, Glen, just the fact that it's over so fast and your reflexes at self preservation take over when you're dangling by a thread 50 feet above trees so that your mind can't wander to trivialities like whether you're overexposed or out of focus or wobbling the camera. But I am at least encouraged that other crazy people here have tried it and have apparently had no major mishaps.

Mark, I'll investigate the strap you mention. Phil, maybe I'll see if I can rent a Fig Rig if you think that would make a significant improvement in the quality of footage (or even in the degree of fatigue experienced after doing a take or two). I have the WC Shoulder mount system, which is modular, and one of the ways I've come up with to utilize the parts in a different configuration is to mount a Nato Clamp to the cross bar, which can then be secured to the DSMC top mount on my Epic. That gives me two completely rotatable rosette handles (so you can place the handles at odd angles to the camera itself) with grips at least a foot apart. It's great for holding the camera pretty steady in front of your body, something like a fig rig I would think. I may try to post some pictures later in this thread that propose how I might do this utilizing my own gear and then see what additional feedback might be offered.

ETA: Glen, I couldn't see the video on the link you provided. Using latest version of Firefox with (I think) updated plugins.
 
Elizabeth Lowrey said:
The things that intuitively seemed to me like the biggest impediments have already been mentioned here: the extreme fatigue you'd experience after doing this for just a couple of tries, the body rotation issue, and what you mention, Glen, just the fact that it's over so fast and your reflexes at self preservation take over when you're dangling by a thread 50 feet above trees so that your mind can't wander to trivialities like whether you're overexposed or out of focus or wobbling the camera. But I am at least encouraged that other crazy people here have tried it and have apparently had no major mishaps.

Mark, I'll investigate the strap you mention. Phil, maybe I'll see if I can rent a Fig Rig if you think that would make a significant improvement in the quality of footage (or even in the degree of fatigue experienced after doing a take or two). I have the WC Shoulder mount system, which is modular, and one of the ways I've come up with to utilize the parts in a different configuration is to mount a Nato Clamp to the cross bar, which can then be secured to the DSMC top mount on my Epic. That gives me two completely rotatable rosette handles (so you can place the handles at odd angles to the camera itself) with grips at least a foot apart. It's great for holding the camera pretty steady in front of your body, something like a fig rig I would think. I may try to post some pictures later in this thread that propose how I might do this utilizing my own gear and then see what additional feedback might be offered.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about these various setups and both with the Fig Rig and the Levo strap you might bungee the unit to your trolley via carabiner to support the weight. Then you're concentrating on the shot and other gyrations besides holding onto a twenty-pound getup. It'd also let you get away without having to fool with gyros, which could be a pain and bulky. Still safety strap it to yourself too.
 
Elizabeth, I wouldn't want to hold a Fig Rig containing an Epic for long, but for a zip line trip, it should be OK.

P
 
Lots of mountain biking films have shots from zip lines. Here is a link to an article showing some bts shots from "Follow Me"... http://anthillfilms.com/tag/follow-me/ If you can set it up so that you have two pulleys you will be able to avoid spinning. I would tie the camera to your harness not to the cable or anything else. Being comfortable in the harness is the key to getting good shots. The less bulky you can keep your rig the better. Even a fig rig may be to large for some people. A top handle seems best to me.
 
If you are using a normal climbing hip harness and film from a shoulder rig, you are in danger of just tripping over and end up hanging upside down.
Happened to me with the Red One on a Mantis.
Fortunatly the rig was secured seperatly.

Yes, that was incredibly stupid. ... But I'm a climber since 30 years and thought I'd be indestructable.

Jochen
 
Ian, thanks so much for the advice and the link. Will head over now to watch it. Jochen, thanks for giving me the benefit of your experiences also. You know what they say: you learn more from your failures than your successes. Hopefully I can learn from yours vicariously.:-) Sounds like WC shoulder mount is out, at least in a shoulder configuration.
 
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