Blackmagic Forum

I would like to film a dancer from the periphery, following her rotation. I want to avoid a dolly track, and since the ground is level, a wheelchair should work. It must be pushed by a trained athlete at high speed, so that the camera follows the whirling of the dancer.

What experiences do you have with wheelchairs? Is a foldable wheelchair good enough, or should it be a more robust model of wheelchair, with larger wheels?

These work surprisingly well given you have a nice smooth surface. A bit of crop and stabilisation works wonders.

Phil999 wrote:It must be pushed by a trained athlete at high speed, so that the camera follows the whirling of the dancer.

What experiences do you have with wheelchairs? Is a foldable wheelchair good enough, or should it be a more robust model of wheelchair, with larger wheels?

Don’t go too fast to prevent accidents and also judders.

Other options would be (1) a trained steadicam operator with a guide or a SnorriCam attached to the dancer if you want a closer perspective of the dancer whirling.

yes we will take much care. The wooden floor is flat and stable (secured by myself with additional screws), but the space is limited. It's inside a dome construction of about 9 meter diameter.

What I did was running around the periphery with my gimbal. The result is not bad, but I can do 4 or 5 full circles at full speed, then I must pause. To keep the dancer in frame is a challenge, too. I would like to do this for a longer period of time, and be at ease with full attention to framing. And of course let the dancer do her art, without disturbing the flow.

Travis Hodgkinson wrote:These work surprisingly well given you have a nice smooth surface. A bit of crop and stabilisation works wonders.

This looks nice, good wheels from what I can tell. And handbrakes! Do you know the address of the company? The search for 'Walker Texas Dolly' results in Dolly Parton and golfer dolly links. This isn't a golfer dolly, this is a film maker dolly, right? I have no clue about both.

Thank you gentlemen.

Oh yes, a Snorricam is another good idea. I wanted to do that since long time. Thanks for idea, I might add that to the wheelchair shots.

Phil999 wrote:This looks nice, good wheels from what I can tell. And handbrakes! Do you know the address of the company? The search for 'Walker Texas Dolly' results in Dolly Parton and golfer dolly links. This isn't a golfer dolly, this is a film maker dolly, right? I have no clue about both.

No, those are medical wheelchairs. You can obtain one similar to it here.
https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Medical-Ro ... B005S1CHKC

My apologies, I attempted and failed at a joke.
Walker Texas Ranger - Walker Texas Dolly...

But yeah they're medical ones, and are generally really affordable.

I see, Walker Texas Ranger is a movie. Didn't know that.

Thanks again gentlemen for your help.

this one looks nice. 2700 USD, but nice:

https://www.proaim.com/products/proaim- ... %3D.KuSw9b

Phil999 wrote:... It's inside a dome construction of about 9 meter diameter.

What I did was running around the periphery with my gimbal. The result is not bad, but I can do 4 or 5 full circles at full speed, then I must pause. To keep the dancer in frame is a challenge...

R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Get yourself a young Olympian athlete and live longer. Would love to see a clip of your final stabilized result.

[quote="Phil999"]I would like to film a dancer from the periphery, following her rotation. I want to avoid a dolly track, and since the ground is level, a wheelchair should work. It must be pushed by a trained athlete at high speed, so that the camera follows the whirling of the dancer.[/quote]

What do you mean by 'rotation'? Do you mean a pirouette or traveling around in a circle as with a waltz? Are you planning to try and complete a circle around the dancer at the same rate as they are turning in a pirouette or fouetté? Or do you just mean to follow them around the room?

it’s a dervish dance, called sema.

And I don’t have permission to post footage. But running around the dancer with a gimbal gave good results. The up/down movement of my steps are not so visible, I used a wide angle lens.

Proaim has another wheel device with only one axis for $2300.

Glad you had good results running in circles; must be very satisfying.

This looks like it could be modified to solve the problem. This $1,000 RC car is heavy and tough for carrying a cinema camera on it. The payload is almost 5Kg.



Building Your Own Pursuit System Using ARRMA RC Truck and DJI Ronin 4D

https://ymcinema.com/2021/12/08/buildin ... -ronin-4d/

I would check your area for a talented Onewheel rider/cam op. They are pretty common tools now and if you can find someone with a few years/~1k miles experience on the board (as well as being an experienced cam op) then they should be able to pull it off easily.

Steadycam works great in situations like this