How to Build Cheap Camera Equipment

You want to start shooting a movie and using techniques that will get people’s attention, but you can’t afford all the expensive equipment to get the shots that you want. With some ingenuity and a few suggestions from the list below, you can find inexpensive ways to get expensive-looking shots.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Use the "Poor Man's Dolly." This is a well-known secret of the trade; if you can’t afford a dolly track, then dig up an old wheelchair. A dolly track is essentially just a small set of train tracks upon which you can move a camera so the shot is smooth and controlled. A similar effect can be achieved simply by placing the cameraman into a wheelchair and having someone move them and control their direction. As long as your cameraman has a steady grip and can hold the camera still, the effect of using a wheelchair is almost the same as a dolly track, and is exponentially cheaper.

2. Subsitute for a steadicam. Another effect that is hard to duplicate inexpensively is the steadicam. But all you need is a box for a camera with a heavy counterweight to control the shaking. Use four small pieces of thin wood to form a box with no top or front. Drill a small hole in the bottom through which you thread a bolt that will keep the camera secure in the box. Attach a piece of a 2 x 4 board on the bottom of the box, and attach something heavy to the bottom of the 2x4 (a cinder block or a lead weight would do). This gives you the counterweight at the bottom to keep the camera from shaking, and the bolt will hold the camera in place when you’re moving the steadicam back and forth.

3. Come up with a crane. It is very difficult to approximate a crane shot, because you have to be able to get your camera high up into the air and then back to the ground in an unbroken shot. The best way to do it is to a get solid, strong piece of wood that is about 20-feet long. On the far point at both ends, hang a piece of square wood, using four equal pieces of chain. When it is suspended, the wooden squares will hang evenly under the wood. Put this onto a sawhorse or another elevated piece to create a see-saw of sorts. Put your camera on one end, bolting it down by drilling a hole and threading a bolt into the threading on the bottom of the camera. On the other end, put heavy objects such as a cinder block. Using a rope to stabilize the side with the camera, you can allow the end with the camera to rise in the air because of the weight on the other side. You can go from ground level to the air, or vice versa. The higher you need to go, the more of the board you slide onto the side with the camera.

Resources

• Studio Upstairs podcast
• Free Film School

[anie]

on 12/16/2008 SORRY DIAGRAM

[anie]

on 12/16/2008 HI,
WELL THE WHOLE ARTICAL IS AWSOME BUT I AM UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE CRNAE PART I MEAN HOW TO MAKE ITS CAN U GIVE SOME DETAILS WITH THE HELP OV A PICTURE OR DIAGARM IT WILL HELP ME AS I ILL MAKE MY OWN CRANE