Pacific Motion Control

On the set of a recent Tsubaki commercial, I had the opportunity to capture a few hundred pictures of the Gazelle Motion Control Camera Crane in action, in order to put together a couple of really good 3D photo sets on Microsoft’s Photosynth website. For someone unfamiliar with motion control equipment, this is a good opportunity to see what a motion control camera crane looks like, set up and ready to go.

For this shot, we were on a very long track run, and the rig needed to go about 13 feet per second, so we were using our large servo track motor, and a 5/1 gear ratio for the track drive. we also needed to pan very quickly, so we fitted our motion control pan/tilt head with a servo motor for pan, and a large servo amplifier rode on the rig.

At the time of this shoot, this was as fast as we could possibly make the Gazelle go, and it performed flawlessly. Since this time, we built a much faster track drive system. Originally built for the Cheetah dolly, this track drive system can be used on all of our rigs, giving them the fastest tracking speeds of any full motion control systems.

Shutter Island – Directed by Martin Scorsese

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley

Tooth Fairy – Directed by Michael Lembeck

Starring Dwayne Johnson and Ashley Judd

New Moon – Directed by Chris Weitz

Starring Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, and Ashley Greene

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian – Directed by Shawn Levy

Starring Ben Stiller, Amy Adams,  Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Robin Williams, and Christopher Guest

This commercial was filmed using the Graphlite live-action motion control crane.

Motion Control Operator – Paul Maples

Motion Control Technician – Adam Francis

Filmed in January, 2009 on a stage and on location in Los Angeles, using the Gazelle live-action motion control dolly and a motion control bogie dolly on circular track.
Motion Control Operator – Mike Leben
Motion Control Techs – Craig Shumard, Garritt Hampton, Adam Francis

In their October 2009 issue, American Cinematographer Magazine featured a three page article on the production of The Maine’s music video for the song “Into Your Arms”. The video was directed by Aaron Platt, produced by Justin Cronkite, and edited by Hank Friedmann. It was shot in one day, at Ontario International Airport. The production used a Red One camera on a motion control dolly provided by Pacific Motion Control, and featured three separate setups with 80′ of track each. Joshua Cushner served as the motion control operator, and Adam Francis and Garritt Hampton were the motion control technicians.

The Maine “Into Your Arms”

The Maine “Into Your Arms” – Behind The Scenes

Read the American Cinematographer article

Visit Aaron Platt’s YouTube Channel

Visit Aaron Platt’s Official Website

Visit The Maine’s Official YouTube Channel

Visit The Maine’s Official Website