Creative shooting with the System Cine 30
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“The show is shot with two Panasonic AJ-HPX3000 cameras equipped with cine-style zoom lenses, matte boxes, follow focus, and zoom and iris motors, so the weight really adds up,” explains Berner. “Having a Sachtler System Cine 30 HD gives me the confidence to be able to walk away from the camera and know it will still be there and ready when I come back.”
Two Heads Make a Great Shot
“One of my favorite setups is when we had to shoot both sides of a cell phone conversation with two characters walking down different streets in matching medium shots, allowing both back and forth cuts and split-screen effects,” he recalls. “We laid track down the middle of a Manhattan sidewalk, put a Ubangi on our dolly and mounted both heads at the extreme outsides of the plate. My A-camera operator and I mounted up with our cameras facing opposite directions. We had our actresses walk and talk along at matching speeds while the dolly grips took us for a ride. Two takes later we had the entire scene with terrific performances because the ladies were able to play off each other in real time.”
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Sachtler Just Keeps Making Creative Moves
Berner has also mounted the heads to a HiHat rigged to the lighting grid. “The head and mount were vertical so the camera could point straight down for a Busby Berkeley style shot,” he explains. “That’s a hell of a lot of torque to be putting on the head, but I had no worries that the Sachtler could take it. I’ve had Sachtlers in the dirt, on top of 14 foot ladders that were in turn on top of trucks, mini-jibs, and pretty much everywhere else in-between,” he adds. “And they have never disappointed me or given me a moment’s concern.”