DIY Film Making interest?

[fastbilly1]

I know a couple of yall here are into filmmaking, Nathan being the obvious one. I have been in and out of the film industry for most of my life and because of it occasionally get calls from friends about filmmaking. This happened yesterday when a buddy called me asking if I had a mic boom for some low budget film being shot in town (cant say what it is but it deals with zombies). Ofcourse I knew I could build him one (its just a painters pole or lightbulb changing pole with a screw) and gathered the materials for it today. I was just curious if anyone of yall have any interest in learning things like this or have your own unique tricks. I know Nathans crew uses a pvc pipe based dolly system which is a nice step up from the ladder dolly.

I was planning on documenting the process and making a blogspot account (or something similar) for this and some others I have been meaning to play around with - ie DIY Cable Cams (both powered and not), props, dolly systems, etc. I am making on a short espionage film later this year and need to build and play with these before then anyway so I thought I would throw this out there.

Disclaimer - I am fully aware there are other sites for this kind of discussion. Stick with what you know, dvuser, indy mogel all come to mind. I just am curious to what my fellow retrogamers know/do.

[loganm187]

filmmaker here. just finished my first western short film and also just completed a pvc dolly rig as well. I have posted about my projects here before. One question about the pvc dolly. I have the pvc in 5 foot sections and when the dolly rolls over where the track changes i get a bump because it's not flush...any ideas?

[Jrecee]

I recently made a pvc based dolly but switched to using angle aluminum for the track because it doesn't roll around or get staticy and pick up dirt and stuff.

I was working on a crane/jib but am having problems coming up with a good sturdy stand/way to connect it to the stand. A heavy duty tripod with a removable screw would be good but puts it over budget.

[Jrecee]

filmmaker here. just finished my first western short film and also just completed a pvc dolly rig as well. I have posted about my projects here before. One question about the pvc dolly. I have the pvc in 5 foot sections and when the dolly rolls over where the track changes i get a bump because it's not flush...any ideas?

Part of the reason I switched to using 8 ft. angle aluminum. I was using two 5 ft pieces of pvc but gave up because of the seam and just used 10 ft. The 8 ft. angle aluminum works great but I don't have much need for very long dolly shots.

I saw something for sale that is basically a split dowel that you insert between the pipes. You have a small hole in the pvc where you insert an allen key and turn it so the two sections expand and keep the pvc pipes even. I had a dowel wrapped in tape that I inserted between the pipes that kind of worked, but even then there was a very tiny bump that turned into a giant shake when it made its way up to the camera.

[fastbilly1]

To get around the bumps, make your connectors internal. Look up the Hollaender 70ES coupler. It is an internal locking coupler for aluminum piping (mostly handrails), but a variant of it should work on your pvc. They run about $10 a pop shipped.

But like Jreece said, there might still be a bump

[loganm187]

I also have a dowel stuck in between them and a tiny screw that locks them in place.....still a small bump..... This really sucks because my car can't fit anything much longer than 5-6 foot and i need longer shots.....or id just get longer pipe. ten feet would be good....ewhat to do.

[Gooseberrysoda]

I do love film-making, but all of my stuff is tragically low budget because I'm only in high school. I have to borrow cameras (Thought they're nice, Canon Opturas and GL2s) and have uninterested friends act. So none of my work turns out great, but I'm hoping to go to Columbia in Chicago to change that.

But I really have no idea how to help you with your problem... though other members seem to be giving good advice.

[Jrecee]

I tried putting 4 foot sections of dowel into a garden hose. That way it folds down to 4 feet but doesn't have a seam when unfolded. Unfortunately the hose had slight bumps in it so it didn't work perfectly. But if you could find a sturdy hose that is completely smooth it might work.

[loganm187]

hmmmm that sounds like it could work.....

[Jrecee]

Vimeo started working for me again and I watched the first half of your movie. Amazing what you got out of the dvx.

I thought the sections with the text could have been spruced up somehow. Not sure how exactly. The music was really good, but I thought it could have done with a few music free bits.

I really like that crane shot early on that stays on the ground, works its way up, then swings over to the chick. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a shot like that in anything.