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
The Graphlite motion control camera crane was recently used to film a commercial for Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Nintendo Wii. The commercial was filmed on a stage in Mexico, demonstrating that even our largest motion control rig is fully portable. In this case, the Graphlite, Kuper motion control computer system, and track were all packed into cases and flown to Mexico. Multiple setups and motion control passes were used to make it appear as if the actors are in a spherical world, and able to run, jump, and flip like Mario.
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.
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.
Pacific Motion recently got a call for a fast motion control dolly. That isn’t so extraordinary, but this client wanted to go REALLY fast! They needed a dolly that could track a professional athlete (and not a bowler or golfer), running at full speed. The client had contacted a few other motion control companies and been told to call Pacific Motion. The truth was, that no one had a dolly fast enough to pull off the shot that the client wanted. At the time, even Pacific Motion didn’t have a dolly that was fast enough to do what the client wanted. That’s where the fun started.
At Pacific Motion Control, we pride ourselves on being able to meet clients’ needs, whatever they may be, and this was the perfect opportunity to show our stuff. Within 2 weeks, with the help of Academy award winners, Mike Sorensen (creator of the Zebra, Graphlite, and Gazelle motion control rigs) and Al Miller (Aerohead and Talon Heads), we built and tested The Cheetah. The Cheetah is a gear-driven (for precision and repeatability) motion control dolly, capable of traveling 18 feet per second (and easily pacing a runner), while outfitted with a Pan/Tilt/Roll head and full-size motion picture camera.
We built and tested The Cheetah motion control dolly in our shop, and we were sure that it would meet the client’s requirements, but we were excited to get the dolly on a stage, and test it under real-world circumstances. The first job that The Cheetah went out on required approximately 12 hours of continuous, precision repeat passes, on 100′ of track, at a top speed of 18′ per second. This was a torture test, and The Cheetah performed flawlessly. Throughout the shoot, The Cheetah never malfunctioned. It repeated every move with frame-accurate precision, and accelerated and decelerated even quicker than we expected. The client was thrilled, and so were we.
Check out the final product!
Motion Control Operator – Rob Menapace
Motion Control Tech – Craig Shumard
Second Tech – Garritt Hampton
We look forward to many more FAST shots with The Cheetah. If you need to film a fast-moving motion control shot, call Pacific Motion, at 818-768-1573, and if you need to do something that no one else has ever done, don’t wait, call us now.
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