Hi again, and good to have you reading my second post on how you evade a shaking camera. In the last post I did, you learned how to make a very cheap tool for making static shots. Today’s tool is used for making dynamic ones. You can easily make it for less than $2.

Tool #2:

Shopping list:

• A bolt, 1/4 inch with coarse threads, about 2-3 cm (1-2 inch) long.
• Some string that wont stretch, and is approximately as long as your height
• A small weight, like a washer

How you make it:

• Tie one end of the string to the washer, you can do this with an easy granny knot.
• Tie the string to the washer or other weight
• Clip the lose ends, and if you want to, seal the knots with a match

How you use it:

• Screw the bolt into the camera, just like you do with a tripod
• Put the washer on the ground, and step on it
• Pull up with the camera against the tension of the string
• This eliminates vertical camera shake, and greatly reduces horizontal shake

When you’re done, simply put the ‘tripod’ in your pocket

Have fun!

Thijs Vandenbussche

Source: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1041948/1_image_stabilizer_for_any_camera_lose_the_tripod/

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Have you ever had footage completely ruined by a shaking camera?

After this series of lessons, you’ll no longer have problems with one of the main reasons why a lot of amateur movies don’t look good.

You can take your shots in two different ways: the static and the dynamic one, as i call them.

To make a static shot, you don’t need to be behind the camera. You just aim your camera at the scene, and do the acting while your camera is recording. For example, if you want to film a pursuit scene, you place the camera somewhere and just run past it. This technique is used a lot in michiel’s shortfilm ‘The Box’. I’ll show you a ‘tool’ you can make to more easily aim your camera, without buying a tripod.

To make a dynamic shot, you move your camera so that your lens follows your actors. For this you can use a tripod, or a dolly (see part 4!)

Tool #1:

Let’s start with the easy one.

Shopping list:

• A plastic bag (If possible with a press-to-close zipper)
• Flour or sand
• Duct tape or double sided tape

Fill a plastic bag 3/4 with the flour or the sand. Then, stick double sided tape on the inside of the bag and close it, fold the open side around and stick some duct tape on it or if you’ve got a bag with a press-to-close zipper, seal it and stick some duct tape on it, for double protection. If you now want to film those running feet without having to place your camera in the mud, just put your bag on the ground, place the camera on it, press it in the sand/flour and aim it to your scene.

No more cameras filled with mud.

Thijs Vandenbussche

Technorati Tags: amateur film, budget, dolly, dolly trail, eastern lights, eastern lights productions, evade shaking camera, film, filmmaking, free film, free online film, make film, shaking camera, shaky camera, short film, shortfilm, tips, tools, tripod