Friday, January 05, 2007

Filming from a Car

Never film from a moving vehicle without supporting the camcorder. You can get specially designed mountings for doing this, or you can use a unipod. If you're shooting on celluloid, its better to use a higher film speed to iron out any bumps that may occur.



Alternatively, you can use a conventional tripod set on the floor of a car, so long as you make sure it doesn't move during filming. Working with your zoom lens in the wide angle position, you can film the driver from the rear seat. It is always best to use a cable release. Also, to prevent over exposure, you will have to override the automatic controls and set the aperture manually.

5 comments:

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Anonymous said...

I should have shot this clip from inside the vehicle - if I had been inside I would have prevented my leg from being crushed. You can watch the clip here - http://www.holidaytips.com.au/index.php/archive/mitch-nash-on-holidaytipscomau/

Luka said...

This is so important. A shaky in-car-camera can make a film look so tacky and some what disorientating for the auidence, but get it right and it can look superb and most of all, professional.

Please visit: http://www.moviemakingfaq.com for similar advice

Anonymous said...

I am a film maker myself. I'm currently producing a film. Nice advice for the film makers. Heading to Hollywood for my next interview. Good advice. I'm currently writing a Film Making guide book. "Film Making Textbook" Almost finished with it.

RTR Productions said...

I shot a short film where the opening scene involved us filming in a car. We did the whole thing handheld in the back seat and it came out looking pretty good. The first couple of takes were a bit overexposed but with a good steady strip of road at around 35 mph, you can get some pretty stable footage. You can check it out at http://www.vimeo.com/20730420