This week’s filming toys: the pocket dolly & the Marantz

Kessler Crane Phillip Bloom Signature Pocket Dolly

Marantz PMD661 Audio Recorder

This week we had two new toys to play with:  the Kessler Crane Phillip Bloom signature pocket dolly and the PMD 661 Marantz audio recorder.  While it’s always exciting for us to try out a new piece of technology, it’s tricky to figure out how to integrate the tools into our filming and to make sure that those tools enhance, not hinder, the final product.  Below are our thoughts on these two:

The Pocket Dolly “Glam Cam”

We rented the pocket dolly for use on a client project in which we were filming a historic chapel under renovation. We wanted to show-off the chapel so we felt that the pocket dolly would add a little “glam” to our images. We tried positioning the dolly on two light stands but it wasn’t sturdy enough and needed several sand bags to weigh it down. Alas, we only had one. So we kept our dolly shots ground level with the camera tilted at different angles. Occasionally we’d find a bench or a ledge that would serve as a sturdy surface to rest the dolly. We found that dolly shots worked best when there was fine detail in the foreground, like bricks or ivy or especially rows of pews. Without that type of foreground, the moves weren’t especially noticeable.

Since we rented the dolly for two days, we tried using it on our independent film the next day, but found that the shots had a really slick commercial quality to them, which ultimately drew from the authentic feel we’re trying to create. Not to mention, it’s quite a process to set up and can only really be used for a few key b-roll shots. For shooting a verite scene, we didn’t find it terribly practical.

The Marantz – the joys of being untethered

I’m a bit of a klutz and a little unorganized, a couple of character traits that make cord management in sound work a little challenging. We purchased a sound recorder with the primary intent of using it during our next big trip to Southeast Asia. We want to tell mini video stories while we’re traveling but we don’t want to be dragged down by carrying lots of equipment. So we’re going to bring our Panasonic Gh1 for stills and video and use the audio recorder to capture sound.  I was also tantalized by the idea of using the sound recorder while doing verite work so that I could be untethered from the camera and not have to trip over cords while trying to direct the scene and monitor sound. After shooting today with disconnected sound, I’m a convert. I was able to put lavs on my main characters and jump around the room with the boom.  I’m excited to use it this weekend when I travel home to visit family and interview my grandmother. I’d long been eager to capture living history but never wanted to be burdened with lots of equipment.