Pacific Motion Control

The Ultimate Fighter Live on FX – Evolution
Filmed with the Gazelle motion control camera crane
Motion Control Operator: Mike Leben
Motion Control Tech: Adam Francis
Motion Control Tech: Garritt Hampton

Spec commercial for Ecko Unlimited featuring a ton of motion control by Pacific Motion. Multiple passes were filmed using the Gazelle motion control camera crane. For the first pass, an actor in a Chroma Green suit was filmed as he “painted” the man on the wall. In the second pass, another actor stood with his back to the wall, then “broke away”, wiped himself off, then walked away. A third pass of clean background plates was then shot. This was done over multiple setups, in an actual dirty parking lot and alley in downtown Los Angeles.

Director – Jack Wung
Motion Control Operator – Paul Maples
Motion Control Techs – Craig Shumard, David Mansour, Garritt Hampton
Gazelle motion control camera crane provided by 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.

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

Tron Legacy – Directed by Joseph Kosinski, Starring Jeff Bridges

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Directed by Thor Freudenthal

Starring Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron, Rachael Harris, and Steve Zahn