Indie Vehicle?

[Joel Kaye]

So - how have you guys solved your vehicle issue?

I'm trying to decide what to buy so I can shoot light duty shooting situations with a small crew. No budget and Guerilla basically. (Keep that RED shooting and be ready to shoot on a momen't notice). I figure bigger projects will have grip trucks rented.

I guess I'll be carrying a light load of grip gear... RED kit, lights, c-stands, tripod, flags, some electrical etc. Do you guys haul talent or crew with you?

Or are you thinking you'll rig up a video village. One friend of mine recommended Video Village should be a trailer so you can leave it at a location... like on sets where powered vehicles aren't allowed.

Do you even think about fuel efficiency? Off road capability? Truck, SUV, Van, 4x4, trailer? And what about service carts to haul your c-stands and grip stuff around?

[Michael Schrengohst]

I have a Nissan Quest. Plenty of room for a bunch of gear.
You really can't haul a Fisher 10 but I had 3 light kits
and all my gear in the other day and still had room for 3 people.
2 - 7" LCD screens with DVD player.
I can even screen footage by plugging in to the video hook-ups.
Power doors and hatch. So get a Japanese vehicle to haul your
American made camera around!

[Matthew Rogers]

I just got a Dodge Ram 1500 SLT with a camper top. It's really nice for fitting a ton of video/grip gear in and with the camper top it stays dry and secure. I can fit myself and two others in the cab, so that's just one less than my regular car. For gas milage, I get about 14-17 MPG in town and 20-22 MPG highway.

Matthew

[Ralph Oshiro]

Last Xmas, I bought a used, 2006 Ford Freestar, a former Enterprise rental, in excellent condition for $16,300 out the door. Holds way more cargo than typical SUV. I ditched the mid-row seats, but still have the rear-row seats (which can fold flat) to carry talent. Plenty of room to set up sticks up front to shoot out of the windshield. Can shoot out of both sliding side doors too. Planning to put a cage on top of my Yakima racks to support a rooftop sticks shot when needed. Awesome!

http://www.24framefilms.com/van1.jpg
2006 Ford Freestar SE 3.9L with black-out grille

http://www.24framefilms.com/van2.jpg
After-market chrome muffler tip with blacked out muffler.

[Joel Kaye]

Can shoot out of both side doors too. Planning to put a cage on top of my Yakima racks to support a rooftop sticks shot when needed. Awesome!


Good ideas. 2 minivans and a truck w/camper shell so far. Do you guys leave your gear inside all the time or do you load/unload every time you head out?

The rooftop sticks idea is something I've been thinking about too. Seems like a great idea. I definitley like the idea of being able to shoot out the doors and rear of the vehicle. Can you shoot out the rear of those vans?

[Ralph Oshiro]

Going to mount this Westin alloy tray onto the Yakima crossbars (Westin makes adapters for both Yakima and Thule), so I can set sticks on top of it, and get a high-angle shot when needed (good for shooting over fences). I chose Yakima crossbars since they're round, and I could use mafers on it. I suppose I could have went with square (Westin or Thule), and use Cardellinis instead (which would have been more secure, actually), but REI had all the Yakima stuff in stock.

http://www.24framefilms.com/Westin Rack.jpg
Westin aluminum alloy cargo tray.

[Ralph Oshiro]

Rule number one: Never leave gear in the vehicle overnight, unless garaged, and locked really well. People are watching you. They know you have gear. Many insurance polices do not cover gear left in vehicles. If I have lighting and grip gear, I may leave it in there, but never camera or sound. Once someone broke into my vehicle in a parking garage—I left everything in it except the camera and audio. They went through every PortaBrace bag and LEFT every light, cable, and even a monitor, alone! All they took was my change.

I can shoot through the front, rear, right-side, left-side. The only direction that I'm forced to shoot through glass, is the front. The only thing I really need is a hard-mount Steadicam rig in the rear. I was planning on mounting a trailer hitch-mounted bike rack support, then hard mount the arm to the vertical post of the bike mount.

Yeah, despite their "Soccer Mom" image, minivans are perfect for small-scale indie production. Stealthy, handles well, and holds a lot of sh*t. I've got a few more appearance mods to do on the van, JUST to "De-Soccer Momerize" it. I've since installed a fairing for the roof rack, and then I plan to install a Mustang chin splitter (fits perfectly) under the front bumper. I never drove one kid to soccer practice in this thing . . . I swear!

[Joel Kaye]

Rule number one: Never leave gear in the vehicle overnight, unless garaged

...JUST to "De-Soccer Momerize" it.

Yeah - I'll be garaged. I'm going to be keeping RED with me at all times. Period. I think I'll get a small secure storage space for when I leave town w/o it. Audio I'd take out too. But the heavy crap I don't want to pack/unpack. Drives me nuts. I guess the tripod really needs to come out too...

Funny you should mention Soccer Mom and Enterprise. I was just at Enterprise last week and they wanted to give me a minivan and I was like "Um... I'm still trying to get through life without driving a minivan ever".

I have to say it does look like it makes some sense. Your steadicam pole idea is a good one too.

Does that cargo rack have enough space for a tripod and an operator? And the roof - can it handle all that weight?

[Ralph Oshiro]

I think I'll get a small secure storage space for when I leave town w/o it.If you mean a public storage facility, those places are notorious for burglaries. Either buy a gun safe, or construct an aluminum or steel reinforced cabinet in your home (e.g., reinforce and existing in-wall cabinet, like a hall closet).


Yeah - I'll be garaged."
And LOCKED. I mean steel reinforced door jambs, bolts through the garage door, etc. I swear, somehow people KNOW you have "stuff."


Funny you should mention Soccer Mom and Enterprise. I was just at Enterprise last week and they wanted to give me a minivan and I was like "Um... I'm still trying to get through life without driving a minivan ever."Yeah, I so know what you mean. The darker color helps a lot (I wanted a black one). But, I don't mind driving it around, because at least I know it's a production vehicle. Believe me, I feel so empowered with this vehicle, shooting-wise, I don't care anymore. Plus, I really think that the fairing, crossbars, air dam, and muffler tip go a long way toward helping to "de-soccer-momerizing" the vehicle. Just wait until I install the strobes, push bumper, shotgun mount, and antennas . . .


Does that cargo rack have enough space for a tripod and an operator? And the roof - can it handle all that weight?I think the tray itself is speced to something like 300 lbs. The Yakima mounts, speced to something embarassly close to my own weight. The roof, I dunno. Haven't tried to spread my legs on that tray yet, but I can always skinny up the spreader, or put a hi-hat on an apple or something, if I need to.

[overlandfilms]

http://www.expeditionfilmpartners.com/images/discoelcastillo.jpg

This one had a thin-wall box three shelf unit installed from behind the driver seat to the back door, about 48"l x 16"w. It held about sixteen im2100 cases or eight im2500 cases plus seating for four. Roof rack was good for lashing the jib case and lighter personal kit.

I've got the DII now, but don't have it as organized as the previous one. The next will be this...

http://www.vislandrovers.nl/foto/defender-roofrack-11.jpg

[Michael Schrengohst]

I like that. In my next life.....
I do what Ralph does. I can fold
the 2nd row seat flat and shoot out the sides.
I also have a moon roof and have mounted
the cam on the roof for larger dolly like moves.

[Joel Kaye]

This looks like it might be a cool option...


http://www.dodge.com/en/2007/nitro/

Sorta halfway between a minivan and a SUV.

[Blair S. Paulsen]

The Mercedes built Sprinter van is my choice. Lots of space inside and thanks to the common rail diesel fuel injection it gets 25mpg. Can be easily adapted to run on bio-diesel if you have a ready supply.

For security I plan to get the no windows version of the van and weld in a metal partition to segregate the gear. Oh, and then lock it in a garage.

[Michael Schrengohst]

You could probably get this version and
save some money.

http://www.dodge.com/en/2007/sprinter/

[Michael Schrengohst]

This looks like it might be a cool option...


http://www.dodge.com/en/2007/nitro/

Sorta halfway between a minivan and a SUV.

Nice, slap a RED sticker on that puppy and you are good to go!

[Joe Carney]

Honda Element EX 4wd.
Flip up the back seats to each side, no need to remove them if you don't want to. Pop a camera up through the rear sunroof, take a hose to it on the inside to clean it. Fold down the front and back seats and sleep in it. You can get all sorts of top side racks for it too. Out the door prices are in the very low 20s for new ones.

Handles great, parks like a compact car.
ABS and traction control for good handling in snowy/icey roads. (Personal experience with that).
Back opening is clam shell so you have a place to sit with cover. Avg 22 miles per gallon. Lots of accesories available. Makeup proof seats too. Will tow up to 1500 pounds.

I used to own one, but needed more towing so I got a Ford F150.

[Joe Carney]

The Mercedes built Sprinter van is my choice. Lots of space inside and thanks to the common rail diesel fuel injection it gets 25mpg. Can be easily adapted to run on bio-diesel if you have a ready supply.

For security I plan to get the no windows version of the van and weld in a metal partition to segregate the gear. Oh, and then lock it in a garage.

The 2008 and later version are switching to a V6, with more power and torque, but worse mileage. You should be able to get an AWD version soon, but not recommended for off road use.

[Rob Lohman]

No van to haul stuff around in which can then be used as a computer station to transfer / check footage and stuff?

[Joel Kaye]

No van to haul stuff around in which can then be used as a computer station to transfer / check footage and stuff?

I checked out some vehicles today and so far I think the minivan looks the most versatile. At least the one's with fold down / removable bucket seats. You could turn that thing into cargo van, shooting platform, makeup station, people mover or video village.

I saw a black minivan with racing tires and rims and limo black window tint. I think that's about what it'll take to make me not feel like a soccermom driving one of those things. Maybe. I just wish you could do a little offroad in one.