Pacific Motion Control

The first time we took the new Impala out was for an exciting independent short film directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, called “Valibation”. The crew worked very quickly and was able to get a ton of great shots in a very short time. Sound and Picture magazine was out to cover the shoot and the article featured a great behind-the-scenes video of the impala in action. The director was really happy with the rig and thanked Pacific Motion in the interview. The article also features some great behind-the-scenes pictures of the creature effects used in the short film.

Check out the article here.

BEHIND THE SCENES VALIBATION from ulteriorproductions.com on Vimeo.

Pacific Motion Control just completed work on the Impala motion control camera crane! The compact size and flexibility of the new Impala made shooting a recent independent short film possible. The project was shot at a very small house in Van Nuys, and because of the rig’s light weight, compact size, and relatively long arm the rig was able to acheive shots that no other motion control rig could. During one shoot day, 4 separate setups and very complicate shots were completed, with two setups in a very small kitchen, and two in a small living room, with the track laid in a very narrow space between a wall and a bed. The house had a very high step in the entry way, and the Impala’s light weight allowed it to be easily lifted in to the location by 2 men.

With a width of less than 32 inches, the Impala is able to pass through standard doorways. The light weight and compact frame of the Impala allow it to fit in standar elevators, or to be carried up stairs by a few people.

Read the article

When Claudio Miranda, ASC was deciding how to shoot several pivotal scenes in Tron Legacy, he determined that due to the weight of the dual Sony F35 3D camera package and the multilevel sets, traditional Steadicam shots would be impossible. He wanted a rig with the flexibility of a Steadicam, the ability to go anywhere and provide rock solid movement for the heavy camera package.

Claudio had worked with Pacific Motion Control before and was familiar with many of our rigs, so he called to see if we could make these shots happen. As we talked with Claudio, we determined that what was needed for the job was a portable, overhead motion control crane system – a system that didn’t exist. This was a challenge that we were determined to meet. Over the next few weeks, we custom built the Overhead Graphlite system to meet the needs of the production. This rig is totally portable. In fact, it’s first job (Tron) was over 1,200 miles away from our shop. The rig provided 48′ of linear movement (adaptable from 12′-72′), 15 feet of arm reach, 360+ degrees (infinite) of swing, 45 degrees of boom travel, 360+ degrees of pan and tilt. It did all of this while carrying a camera package that weighed 90 pounds!

With little time to complete the build and test the rig before shooting, Tron Legacy would be a trial by fire, but the rig performed flawlessly. During the weeks of filming the rig never missed a beat, and enabled the crew to capture amazing shots, including a fight scene shot in a continuous circle, with over 1080 degrees of movement!

Photography By Douglas Curran
Courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc

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Motion Control Camera System