Camcorder mounted from ceiling for musician shoot?

SFSaxguy wrote:

... a more flexible design ...

the most flexible design (literally) has the Gorilla Pod:

(click pic links to amazon)

You can bend it, wrap it, hang it anywhere; I'm using a cheap clone to attach a camera inside a soccer-goal...

Comes in various sizes/'arm lengths'. The original one is more 'firm' = safer for camera. In a penny-shop, I once bought something, basically a thick wire, in soft plastics and a tripod connector... 2€ .... I wouldn't use it to attach a Canon 5 Mk III, but hlds my cheap and light-weighted sacrifce cams anywhere...

another options are socalled Magic Clamps:

(you can detach the blind Flash connector and replace it with a standard 1/4" screw...)

First you close the clamp, then, the other knob allows to fix the arm in any position.

From 15$ (direct from China) up to 50-80$ (Manfrotto.... made in China 😉 )

Comes in various lengths and sizes...

Last option: Gaffa Tape Tape cam to ceilling. - Gaffa is allways an option 😝

For more professional applications, this will mount to ceiling, and run your cameras on a track, and can be motorized.

http://www.ezfx.com/product-category/sliders-and-accessories/

SFSaxguy wrote:

.... He used it for this shot: https://www.facebook.com/...

FBvideos are for FBusers only => I see no video under that link ... 😟

'drone' effect ...

keywords are glide-cam and gimbal

First is something like that (the cheap grandchild of famous Steadycam®):

looks easy, but very tricky to adjust! Based upon physics/inertia, you have to create an equilibrium btw cam and counter-weights ... most people make those glide-cams not heavy enough - yes, it HAS to be as heavy as possible; a GoPro on top is nonsense...

The high-tec version are active, motorized gimbals, like that (speaking of GoPro…)

That's some awesome piece of technology: once 'leveled', the camera gets automatically 'stucked' in position, depending on version/price, 2 or 3 axis are stabilized..... has some magic look when in action, you find several YTvideos, showing these tiny thingies in action; the first ones (for bigger Hollywood cams) cost >15k$, the one in the pic is under <300$ ....

SFSaxguy wrote:

...don't want to shoot outside the green screen)?...

hu? A moving camera in a green-screen?

That's top-notch, master-class! no trivial ....

Asks for camera-/background-tracking....add another 100$ on your shopping list for TrackX from coremelt ... and a few hours to learn to use it ....

in addendum to my post above, about glidecams & gimbals....

to illustrate, why moving cam in green screen adds a new hurdle, look:

two persons, gs is replaced by a skyline

cam moves to right, new perspective: people now on the left side of frame <savvy?>

but!

the background doesn't move, a green screen doesn't move, no wallpaper! … which gives a very odd impression.

for a correct perspective/parallax shift, the bg has to move to the left either ...

… now, imagine a handheld cam ... 😝

you've probably seen, in making-ofs of professional productions, those crosses...?

that is to give highly specialized software tracking points to adjust the keyed-in background ...

possible, manageable, asks for $$ additional software, but no beginners task ... 😉

SFSaxguy wrote:

.... was looking for different 3D perspectives rather than zoom and pan on a 2 D shot via a key framed Burns effect.

hmm, 3D without moving the camera is a bit... complicated. Or expensive, if you follow Ben's suggestion about a motorized cam-dolly.

What comes up to my mind:

Virtual cams.

Have a look:

I'm in Motion5, a greenscreen recording with a fix camera, a still as background (and a branch, not listed here, following the traditional rule "Vordergrund macht Bild schön rund" (= a foreground makes the pic nice... loses a ton in translation 😀 )

Now, in M5, add a camera, arrange the elements in depth (diff. z-axis positions), set depth of focus and finally apply a nice sweep behavior = needs just a few minutes, and gives that:

(click pic links to YouTube)

but…

as you notice: cam movement is limited: plus, layers are stll 2D = flat, at the end of the sweep, poor Vanessa gets 'squeezed', so, this parallax-shift technique allows some minor movements (usually to anmiate stills), but isn't no real 3D.....

SFSaxguy wrote:

... I have visions of 2 small camcorders floating in my studio all trained on me "gimbling" slowly, maybe within a 45 degree radius (and at different heights!) during the performance of around 4 minutes. 1 camcorder is on stationary and full front.

...

You did understand, that my example above with the girl is NO REAL camera movement, but was 100% created in post? have a look at the screenshot ... Two photos and a girl sitting in front of a green blanket from the penny store.......

You have two options:

• 2-3 fix cameras, and skills in Motion5

• 'robotic' cameras and skills in using 3rd party software as TrackX

I'm hobbyist, so real motion-controlled rigs are way beyond my capabilities, esp. cash-wise; I've seen DIY-solutions, using egg-timers (=nice pans), model railroads, bar-b-q-motors to pull cam on a glidetrack etc etc. There's a whole scene of frugal filmmakers....

Plan B)

Why flying solo? … no friend at hand as 'camera man'?

Keep in mind: any music video is predestinated for multi-cam - which does NOT mean several cameras, but could mean several takes, so, with one camera and many takes, you can create the illusion of 'multiple cameras' .... anyhow asks for 'tracking'. And for sure some sort of studio… how is your recording (video!) situation anyhow? 'd you mind to post a photo of your green screen set?.. Big enough for 45° pans and sweeps?

I like your ambitions, same here: No Budget But Hollywood 😝

… my general advice:

Never start with the final project! You get instantly frustated, money gone, time wasted, no film.

Start with 'tests', mines are named 'trash_1', 'trash_2' .. to remind me: never meant for public use.

No offence, but … did you ever finish one video?

Or are we talking 'academically'... ? 😐

SFSaxguy wrote:

....

https://youtu.be/ZJjIIyU4xCQ

https://youtu.be/dH7wlFwejwA

…

WOW!!!

LOVE your music! AWESOME!!!

sad, you don't live nearby, I would come along with my camera-stuff tonight and would spend hours with you ... 😉

technically:

Very nice lit, softbox, 'Rembrandt light' , don't shy of shadows - very, very nice, excellent done.

In one of the linked videos, you notice that 'garble' when you zoom-in too much. My latest investment is a 4k camera (Lumix fz1000), which is made for re-framing - but a 600€ investment. That would allow a wide shot, shoing you in total AND close-ups of face, hands, tapping feet ....

For a start, I would record 1 real live version, and 4,5,6 other angles (e.g. close-up left/right hand) as playback from the first one ... in FCPX MultiCam you can then disolve (your music asks for disolve, imho) from one angle to another. In a next step explore the options of re-framing; pans, turns (keyframe Transforming).

I think, just by adding 2-3 diff. angles plus disolves plus blur-fades or black-disolves etc etc would add another 100% to our videos.

Being green screen replace bg by solid colors, white or black (ok, that's no colors... ) Due to your contouring light, a white limbo could look awesome. For black, you need additional hair-light ..... no easy to set when you're alone....

If you need any help with Motion, I'm there either

Motion 5

//This was a quick'n dirty, unpaid job for some musician I know, 1 fix cam, 1 me running around ..... and the audio guy managed to kill the recording, so cam audio only <shiver> What you see: adding just a 2nd perspective gives the whole thing a spin //