How to shoot a wrap-around deck? at DVinfo.net

Kell Smith · March 27th, 2009, 12:58 PM

I'm shooting a house that has a complete wrap-around deck - from the front, all along the side, and all along the back. So it's three sides of a rectangle. I want to emphasize the view which is spectacular.
I don't have a stabilizer, but even if I did, walking down the deck with the camera seems to give that horror-film effect - the one with the serial killer in the bushes. Great for horror but not if you want people to come stay there!
If I do several pan shots from on the deck, it's choppy because they have to each be from a different position.
The deck is on the second floor, so shooting from downstairs doesn't really show the view.

Also some other issues, - the two bedrooms are very small. I went in with a wide angle but it's still hard to get a good shot. Also, the verticals are distorted which may be unavoidable.

I'm also dealing with the exposure differences between the daylight coming through large beautiful windows. By adjusting the exposure I was able to get a happy medium -slightly overblown but ok - but not really enough to see the view outside. I thought of going out at 'magic hour' but it's in the mountains which would put the outside in shadow at early am or later pm (later pm isn't such a good plan because the west light will be right in those windows). Also I'm not sure if things being in shadow outside would help or hurt.

The deck is definitely a challenge though. Suggestions appreciated - thx in advance.

Jason Robinson · March 28th, 2009, 01:27 AM

can you rent a jib? Might be cool to boom up from below the deck to level with it.

You might need to shoot each side at a different time of day. in order to get the right look. at noon, you should have the least amount of glare directly into the lense so may be noon would work?

Kell Smith · March 28th, 2009, 09:21 AM

I wish I could but I just can't afford to do anything extra at this time. Too many bills are due.
How would you approach getting a continuous movement or an edit that flows on this?

69 views and one response... I'm guessing a lot of people here then are wondering the same thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Robinson

can you rent a jib? Might be cool to boom up from below the deck to level with it.

You might need to shoot each side at a different time of day. in order to get the right look. at noon, you should have the least amount of glare directly into the lense so may be noon would work?

Randy Stewart · March 28th, 2009, 12:59 PM

Kell,
I'd place the tripod on the first corner (front right), point the camera straight out from the house, pan to the left toward the back of the house, pause, move the tripod/cam up to the back corner (same side), point the camera to the frount of the house (along that side), then record a pan from that position all the way to the back of the house, pause, move the tripod/cam to the middle of the back of the house, pan the complete back view (corner to corner), move the tripod to the left back corner, repeat as on the right side, and then to the front. In post I would cross-fade the vid into two or three panaramic views cutting out the shadowy or unappealling parts of the house and reducing the pan movements to a minimum using slow-mo to reduce their distraction. At least, you would have lots of footage to work with using this method. Hope that helps.
Randy

Jason Robinson · March 28th, 2009, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Stewart

Kell,
I'd place the tripod on the first corner (front right), point the camera straight out from the house, pan to the left toward the back of the house, pause, move the tripod/cam up to the back corner (same side), point the camera to the frount of the house (along that side), then record a pan from that position all the way to the back of the house, pause, move the tripod/cam to the middle of the back of the house, pan the complete back view (corner to corner), move the tripod to the left back corner, repeat as on the right side, and then to the front. In post I would cross-fade the vid into two or three panaramic views cutting out the shadowy or unappealling parts of the house and reducing the pan movements to a minimum using slow-mo to reduce their distraction. At least, you would have lots of footage to work with using this method. Hope that helps.
Randy

THat is a good idea. that will give the viewer the appearance of looking out aroudn hte whole house. will need to be very slow in movements.

Kell Smith · March 29th, 2009, 10:44 PM

That actually works well, thanks. It gives a nice sense of the view.

March 27th, 2009, 12:58 PM	#1
Kell Smith Major Player Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: USA Posts: 436	How to shoot a wrap-around deck? I'm shooting a house that has a complete wrap-around deck - from the front, all along the side, and all along the back. So it's three sides of a rectangle. I want to emphasize the view which is spectacular. I don't have a stabilizer, but even if I did, walking down the deck with the camera seems to give that horror-film effect - the one with the serial killer in the bushes. Great for horror but not if you want people to come stay there! If I do several pan shots from on the deck, it's choppy because they have to each be from a different position. The deck is on the second floor, so shooting from downstairs doesn't really show the view. Also some other issues, - the two bedrooms are very small. I went in with a wide angle but it's still hard to get a good shot. Also, the verticals are distorted which may be unavoidable. I'm also dealing with the exposure differences between the daylight coming through large beautiful windows. By adjusting the exposure I was able to get a happy medium -slightly overblown but ok - but not really enough to see the view outside. I thought of going out at 'magic hour' but it's in the mountains which would put the outside in shadow at early am or later pm (later pm isn't such a good plan because the west light will be right in those windows). Also I'm not sure if things being in shadow outside would help or hurt. The deck is definitely a challenge though. Suggestions appreciated - thx in advance.

March 28th, 2009, 01:27 AM	#2
Jason Robinson Trustee Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Boise, Idaho Posts: 1,997	can you rent a jib? Might be cool to boom up from below the deck to level with it. You might need to shoot each side at a different time of day. in order to get the right look. at noon, you should have the least amount of glare directly into the lense so may be noon would work?

March 28th, 2009, 12:59 PM	#4
Randy Stewart Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Hooper, UT Posts: 177	Kell, I'd place the tripod on the first corner (front right), point the camera straight out from the house, pan to the left toward the back of the house, pause, move the tripod/cam up to the back corner (same side), point the camera to the frount of the house (along that side), then record a pan from that position all the way to the back of the house, pause, move the tripod/cam to the middle of the back of the house, pan the complete back view (corner to corner), move the tripod to the left back corner, repeat as on the right side, and then to the front. In post I would cross-fade the vid into two or three panaramic views cutting out the shadowy or unappealling parts of the house and reducing the pan movements to a minimum using slow-mo to reduce their distraction. At least, you would have lots of footage to work with using this method. Hope that helps. Randy

March 29th, 2009, 10:44 PM	#6
Kell Smith Major Player Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: USA Posts: 436	That actually works well, thanks. It gives a nice sense of the view.