Johnny St.Ours
11-14-2007, 01:39 PM
So, I've been filming this race car project for some time, and one thing about it, is that there really hasn't been a race car yet- they're still building it. But there will come a day when this phenomenal car hits LeMans' 24 hour race- and hopefully this June. Since I can give my own input into the design of the car, I've been hinking about carving out little spots for my camera. I've had a few thoughts and questions, and some of them may be ridiculous, but I thought I'd vent them on this forum and maybe there's merit to one or two.
Thinking about stabilizing, and how I don't want this to be some NASCAR helmet cam race coverage, but more cinematic and smooth. My documentary is forming in a narrative vein, so I'm not trying to cover the race, but convey the feeling of the race. I think the camera should be smooth, and I'm not sure how to stabilize it. The car will be reaching 200mph. Maybe some gyro deal? Sounds expesnive- and heavy. This is a real competition so nobody's gonna let me weigh down their car too much.
I was also thinking about periscopes. I'd like an angle of view on the outside of the car. Looking past the front wheel or, maybe even looking back at the driver through the windshield from the nose. Sticking a big 'ol camera rig on the side of the car is not going to be an option- it'll create serious drag, and probably get destroyed to boot. I started thinking about creating a little periscope mirror system, so the camera's inside, looking out. Is that plain dumb, or anybody try it? Then my thoughts start really going; say I got hold of a RED (which is my intention and goal) and I've got 6 times the resolution of my JVC which shot the movie thus far, what if I split it? Bolt the camera to the frame of the car, in the most secure and low CG spot I can find, and point it at a prism of periscopes- like 4, that basically bust up the frame into four different simultaneaous angles of the exterior, interior, rearview, etc. and hook the camera to a hard drive and just let it go. In post I cut out the quadrant I want and blow it up to full screen. Of course this is a focus and stability trial in itself- but is it also just plain stupid? The thought is again about weight and drag and balance. If I let the engineer's decide where the heavy camera and hard drive sit, and all I do is run some periscopes around, maybe the car will actually still race.
The other thing I keep thinking about is the car's unique history. It's a Ford GT, which is pretty special in the Motorsports books, especially for an American car. But one thing that's special about it too, is that it was actually one of the camera car types used to film Grand Prix- which is cinemagraphically speaking, my biggest inspiration in this effort. Anybody out there know anything about the filming of the flick? The late Lionel Linden was the Cinematographer on the picture, but maybe somebody knows somebody who helped out? Maybe somebody knows somebody who remembers how they mounted up their GT, or just interested in chatting with me, or trying it out all over again at leMans? I believe that all the original Ford GTs are accounted for and are no longer equipped with camera mounts, but I'd love to see pictures or hear stories from that production, even if I'll never see one the cars.
I got to go, the wife is waiting, but I'll post some more later and love to hear any thoughts you all got out there.
Thinking about stabilizing, and how I don't want this to be some NASCAR helmet cam race coverage, but more cinematic and smooth. My documentary is forming in a narrative vein, so I'm not trying to cover the race, but convey the feeling of the race. I think the camera should be smooth, and I'm not sure how to stabilize it. The car will be reaching 200mph. Maybe some gyro deal? Sounds expesnive- and heavy. This is a real competition so nobody's gonna let me weigh down their car too much.
I was also thinking about periscopes. I'd like an angle of view on the outside of the car. Looking past the front wheel or, maybe even looking back at the driver through the windshield from the nose. Sticking a big 'ol camera rig on the side of the car is not going to be an option- it'll create serious drag, and probably get destroyed to boot. I started thinking about creating a little periscope mirror system, so the camera's inside, looking out. Is that plain dumb, or anybody try it? Then my thoughts start really going; say I got hold of a RED (which is my intention and goal) and I've got 6 times the resolution of my JVC which shot the movie thus far, what if I split it? Bolt the camera to the frame of the car, in the most secure and low CG spot I can find, and point it at a prism of periscopes- like 4, that basically bust up the frame into four different simultaneaous angles of the exterior, interior, rearview, etc. and hook the camera to a hard drive and just let it go. In post I cut out the quadrant I want and blow it up to full screen. Of course this is a focus and stability trial in itself- but is it also just plain stupid? The thought is again about weight and drag and balance. If I let the engineer's decide where the heavy camera and hard drive sit, and all I do is run some periscopes around, maybe the car will actually still race.
The other thing I keep thinking about is the car's unique history. It's a Ford GT, which is pretty special in the Motorsports books, especially for an American car. But one thing that's special about it too, is that it was actually one of the camera car types used to film Grand Prix- which is cinemagraphically speaking, my biggest inspiration in this effort. Anybody out there know anything about the filming of the flick? The late Lionel Linden was the Cinematographer on the picture, but maybe somebody knows somebody who helped out? Maybe somebody knows somebody who remembers how they mounted up their GT, or just interested in chatting with me, or trying it out all over again at leMans? I believe that all the original Ford GTs are accounted for and are no longer equipped with camera mounts, but I'd love to see pictures or hear stories from that production, even if I'll never see one the cars.
I got to go, the wife is waiting, but I'll post some more later and love to hear any thoughts you all got out there.