In-Depth Look at a Hybrid Still/Motion Shoot
Vincent Laforet posts the most in-depth glimpse I’ve seen online of a hybrid still/motion shoot with HDSLR cameras. It’s quite revealing and a must read. And the images in the sideshow he put together below depict some of the most innovative and elaborate rigs you’ve ever seen attached to a still camera to adapt it to full-on motion and sound capture.
I have also seen my gear kit and team swell quickly to address various motion production challenges. In some cases, with more complex setups than a cinema camera would require to find workarounds for limitations of the HDSLR. The price of the camera may be cheaper, but the rigs make up for that fast.
Nevertheless, the real savings comes form (1) the lightweight nature of the rigs therefore enabling lighter weight support for smooth camera movements (dolly & tracks, jibs, and other camera movement tools). This not only saves in rental costs, but more importantly saves an immense amount of time to move and change from one setup to another. As mentioned in previous posts, time is the most expensive resource on a shoot in my experience. And similarly, (2) the low-light sensitivity of these cameras reduces the costs associated with lighting (smaller, cheaper lights and no need for generator), and again faster transition time to move and setup the smaller lights — in some cases using ambient light where production lights would have been required.
All this lets you get more done in a day and fewer production days for a given amount of footage.
Studying these images is worth a semester of film school in my opinion…
VSA HDDSLR Still & Video Shoot – Images by Vincent Laforet
