Hello Dolly
 

On my way home tonight, I saw a novel shoot in progress: a guy wearing inline skates whizzed by me with a DVX100A in hand. He performed some amazingly graceful turns and swirls as he taped an actor walking down the alley.

Dorothy

It's a great way to shoot if you have the chops (with skates as well as with a camera!) A pal of mine, DP Peter Smokler has those chops and has put them to use over the years with great effect. On "The Larry Sanders Show" he was pulled down the hallways while on roller skates to create a handheld look that didn't bump and jostle with every step. Check out his IMDB sometime--quite a resume!

"Chops" is the main word there! Slap a pair of roller blades on me and you can forget about saving that camera from damage. It wouldn't be "Hello Dolly"; it would be "Hello Pavement".

Earlier this year I was watching a shoot for "The Weatherman" with Nicholas Cage. The scene took place on an outdoor ice rink. The main camera, a full-size Panavision rig, was mounted on a sled dolly with steel skis. A second camera, a hand-held Arri, was operated by a fellow wearing ice skates and wearing a motorcycle helmet. He was being pushed and pulled around the ice by a burly fellow wearing work boots with ice grippers.

A similarly clever motion solution.