Pacific Motion Control

Pacific Motion Control recently had the opportunity to work on this commercial for the new Kohler Flipside Handshower. A motion control head, motion control model mover, and motion control bogey dolly were used to film the precise, choreographed movements of the shower head. While multiple passes were filmed to give the effect of multiple choreographed shower heads, motion control was also used for the precise camera movements highlighting the single shower head.

Motion control is often the perfect option when steady, precise camera movements are needed, which would be difficult to capture with a handheld camera, or manual dolly or jib. These beauty shots often can be captured in much less time using motion control, and motion control adds the luxury of precise repeatability for multiple takes.

Many people assume that because motion control equipment is precise and repeatable, that shots filmed with motion control will feel sterile or mechanical. The two commercials below illustrate how motion control can be used to capture a “live” or “hand held” camera feel, while still allowing for precise repeatability for filming multiple passes and background plates.

Pacific Motion Control can provide handwheels or panbar encoders for live control of our motion control pan/tilt, or pan/tilt/roll heads. Additionally, we can provide encoders for dolly/track, all crane axes, and focus, iris and zoom, which allow for complete control of the rig and camera lens when designing shots. This means that very organic moves can be recorded live, then repeated precisely. In addition to our standard encoder package, Pacific Motion Control can provide a Preston FIZ motion control interface or a full Preston kit including wireless hand controller, receiver, and motors.

Grainger “Conveyor Belt” Commercial

Grainger “Hand Delivered” Commercial

At the end of 2009, we had the chance to work on two commercials that were a great example of how motion control can be used. These Grainger spots were filmed two at locations in the Los Angeles area, using the Zebra Motion Control Camera Dolly. Motion Control was used to give the look of continuous motion, and seamless transitions between widely varied locations and sets.

Produced by Kommitted Films
Agency -  Two By Four
Director – Nathan McGuinness
Executive Producer – Marc Siegel
Producer – Jodi Fisher
D.P. – Amir Mokri
Motion Control Operator – Mike Leben
Motion Control Tech – Craig Shumard
Motion Control Tech – Garritt Hampton

These commercials for Samsung were filmed, using the Cheetah high-speed motion control dolly, and a custom built low-profile head. The client needed a fully repeatable motion control dolly, and an extremely low-profile head for this shoot, and the cheetah was the only dolly that would do the job. It was required to move at 20 feet per second, throughout the whole shoot, and did so without any problems. The Servo motor and geared track drive proved to be very accurate and fast, and the rig could repeat both slow and high-speed moves perfectly.

The custom low-profile head was constructed specifically for this commercial, and measured just 5″ from it’s base, to the top of the camera plate, yet it had fully repeatable pan, adjustable, locking tilt, and could hold a full sized 35mm camera package, but in this case, a Sony F23 CineAlta high-definition digital camera was used to film multiple passes at different frame rates.

Footage from this shoot was also used extensively for interactive content on the Samsung website.

View some behind the scenes footage from this commercial shoot on the Cheetah Dolly page.

The commercial was produced by Motion Theory.

Motion Control Operator – Rob Menapace

Motion Control Technician – Craig Shumard

Second Motion Control Technician – Garritt Hampton

All of the “real pizza” footage in this music video was shot on the Pacific Motion Control stage, using the Zebra live-action motion control dolly, a Sorensen Design Pan/Tilt/Roll head, and a Phantom HD digital camera, shooting at multiple frame rates. The video is currently featured on the Jonas Brothers official YouTube Channel. The efficiency of the crew, and reliablity of the Zebra allowed this to be shot on the same stage, on the same night as this NBC/Orville Redenbacher spot.

Production Company – Engine Room

Director – Dan Schmidt

Motion Control Operator – Mike Leben

Motion Control Technician – Garritt Hampton