Wesley Scoggins
Indy Mogul
Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Vertical Camera Rig
One of the angles that i've had a surprising amount of trouble with (because it seems to deceptifully simple) is the stable overhead shot of someone that is laying down. It can be simple to get an overhead shot, but if you're having a character that is going to be shot on the ground for a while, it can be quite difficult to hold your tripod in that position for an extended period of time. So I thought I would try to figure out a rig that would allow me to do it myself.
I started with some PVC tube, because it's nice and light, and i'll be able to break it down and move the rig when I need to.
A tape measure would probable be helpful here. On one tube, mark at the 5ft line, so you're cutting it in half. THEN, on the other tube, mark out about a 6 foot tick mark, and with the remaining 4 feet, mark one at each foot. All together...
That is (2) Five-Foot long segments, (1) Six-Foot long segment, and (4) One-Foot long segments.
I then got 2 elbow joints, and 2 three pronged couplings...
Put the elbow joints onto both ends of the Six-Foot long segment.
Then put the five-foot long segments into the other ends, forming an open ended rectangle.
Now, take the tri-couplings and attach it them to the end of the five-foot long segments.
Then take the footlong segments, and stick them into both sides, and you can stand it up.
You'll the stand that I posted above, and you can easily put this on either side of your characters bed for example, and get a shot looking directly down at them. For this rig you can either just balance your tripod on the top rail, or you can put a 3/4 bolt through the PVC, and screw your camera directly too it, either one would work, but if you balance your tripod on it, it can allow you to kind of slide back and forth.
Hope some of you guys find this useful, see you next week!
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