Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Checking In and Laying Dance Floor on Carpet


Hi all. It's been a rough couple of days. I finally got my dolly issues taken care of. Chapman sent a tech out from LA and he tweaked the arm. It's pretty good now. At least I can tell where the detente is (the neutral space in the arm between up and down). It was non-existant before and the up has been taken off hair trigger. It's still slightly "on-off" for my taste but still night and day from what it was. We also are shooting in a large office with uneven floors and thick carpet. Normally (always) you double lay the plywood when on thick carpet and screw the top layer into the bottom.. Our dance floor moves were so large that we didn't have enough plywood for two layers, though. So after a couple of attempts (the plywood layer "walked" about 10 inches after only three or four takes) so we had to go to Steadicam until a shipment of ten more pieces of ply showed up today. The first shot, before the ply showed up, which we were able to do was a push in and turn through a 30" doorway chasing our lead actress into an office and then dancing around some more in there. It was a little tense when the plywood wouldn't stay in one place even after spiking it into the carpet with screws and simpson plating it together as much as we could. We managed to get the shot though. So the two headaches of the first day have been resolved and everything's starting to go better. There's nothing like that feeling that you can't give the DP what he wants (even though it's really not your fault) and everyone's looking at you. Unfortunately in this line of work it happens every now and then and there are some tense moments. It all worked out though.
I hope you all are doing well and working. I know Gil is working and Azurgrip is starting a pilot. Hope all goes well.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

D-
when laying dance floor on slightly uneven ground (but not necessarily a full slant), where do you stand on using wedges/shims to make the wood less "saggy" in certain areas? I sometimes do this depending on the situation and depending on time constraints, and I've heard both some who like it and some who advise against it.

Also, where do you stand on taping down the dancefloor? Of course, I tape along the center seams where the pieces join together, and I prefer to tape all around the outside edges so that the floor is secure and the possibility of it shifting is minimized, but I've seen many a time where it hasn't been taped fully around (and I have had to bypass this step myself when time has been a factor).

-DW

Anonymous said...

having a roll of carpet under pad on the truck comes in handy it's like a big piece of no slip to go under your dancefloor and keep it in place.the soundman will like it too.

i use grey vinyl 2" tape it's great .you can really stretch it so it is paper thin and it doesn't stick to masonite like paper tape does when you are trying to remove it

D said...

I'll use them under certain situations. I wouldn't say never use them but they rarely solve the problem. If it gets to the point where you need a lot of them I would just go to bucks. I tape edge to edge on each joint . I don't generally tape around the edges because the weight of the dolly holds it in place and I've never had a problem with the sentra shifting once I'm on it. Everyone does it a little different though.
Chris- I've been meaning to try the "plumber's tape" I hear about.Right now, I just use blue art dept. tape.
I haven't used masonite in years. Try the sentra plastic sheets if you get a chance.

Azurgrip said...

On the road? I am curious of those who travel for work (D - coast to coast for example). What do you bring with you in terms of kit? You work hard at amassing a large amount of stuff, but do you take it ALL with you when you travel?

Anonymous said...

went back to masonite last year the static electricity from all the other stuff was driving me crazy.i will check out the sentra
thanx

The Grip Works said...

do you have a generic name for sentra ? I would love to try something new. Does it retain the edges ? I used 6mm lexan for a while. Got too expensive.

The Grip Works said...

do you have a generic name for sentra ? I would love to try something new. Does it retain the edges ? I used 6mm lexan for a while. Got too expensive.

D said...

Hi Gripworks,
I don't know the generic name for it, maybe some of the other guys do. It retains the edges fine and works great as long as you take care of it (It's usually black, don't leave it in the sun) We also are carrying white because the DP requested it.

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