How do you get a good rising/lowering shot with a camcorder?

Question

You always see these shots where the camcorder appears to rise from the ground up or lowering from a shot downward straight on with out shaking or swiveling the camera it appears the camera isnt moving but its tripod is. i want to know how this shot can be done in a relatively inexpensive way. i know bigtime productions have a cameraman in a rising chair taling the shot but i need a cheap way to construct something that will achieve the same type of shot with even movement throughout the shot as i am starting to do music video production thanks for all your answers

Answer 1

Hi Andrew,

I think the device you're looking for is called a jib, or a crane. As I'm rather somewhat confused of when to use these terms, let's concentrate on what they do. "Jib shots" are the rising/lowering of a camera from a certain height to another height. The camera can either stay in an even field, or can be panned left/right, or can be tilted up/down (and can zoom in/out as well). Most big budget productions utilize a jib/crane/dolly for their shots.

For low, or no budget productions, the effect and techniques are no different; just the application and tools are somewhat different (and cheaper). I've actually seen someone use a pole, tie a rope at the end of a small video cam, and lift and lower the camera like a fishing pole! Needless to say, most of the footage was shaky, but a few were actually okay.

Here's a very neat DIY book for camera rigs, called (what else?)--

KILLER CAMERA RIGS THAT YOU CAN BUILD, written by Dan Selakovich

His website, with sample video footage utilizing the home built rigs--

www.dvcamerarigs.com

I've actually built the dolly, and some sandbags using plans from the book (spent less than $50, I think, for the materials). Even includes plans for building a crane.

Best,

--JA

Answer 2

Yeah, as stated by the person above, making your own rig will probably be necessary, but...I did see something that might be useful.  It is a type of tripod that is available which has just a single arm that extends up to 3 feet and is often handheld. People use it to take overhead shots, shots of themselves, etc.

I can't really explain it but it would be far superior to hanging the camera from a rope :)  There is a video of it on Amazon.  Search for Quick Pod....

Answer 3

Summat liek dis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3BIesfu6...