We're up to the last three days of the show, so the traditional Cutting Up of the Dance Floor for custom use has begun. Got a spot where your board is 3 inches too wide? Rip it!. There's something liberating about it. Where we used to do whatever we could to make the standard boards work (and they almost always did somehow), now we just custom build floors for whatever tight spot we find ourselves in. The whine of the tablesaw fills the stage with each new setup. We're also into some longer hours and six day weeks to try and finish before our lead actress goes back to her series. The B camera crew has become a second unit and a new B camera crew has come in. We've got two cranes working in various locales and I think a Technocrane coming in. It's been a great show, but I'm looking forward to it ending.
On another note, my track is awful. As I mentioned earlier, it's steel track and it's really badly made. The saving grace has been the Portaglides. They really take out the imperfections and once again, came through like a champ. (And no, I don't get anything for saying that. I don't think they even realize this site exists).
Thanks for all the great comments on the "Quirks" post. A lot of great tips were posted and that's what "Dollygrippery" is all about. I'll have some longer, more detailed posts after this craziness is over. Til then, keep the comments coming and stay tuned.
A quick hello to all my Dolly Grip brothers working here in Georgia. Dino,Tripper, Kelly, hope your shows are going well. GHB, Sorry we didn't have a chance to grab a beer while you were in town. Maybe we'll catch up back in LA.
I need some new pictures! Send me some! I'm going to put together a Flickr page of Dollygrippery photos of all of you in action when I get some down time so you can see them larger.
Showing posts with label portaglide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label portaglide. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Skate Wheel Talk
Thanks so much, guys , for keeping the discussion going. Internet is sketchy here so I'm popping in when I can.
Gripworks had a question about whether Porta-Glides worked for large dollies. The answer is yes. They are the same as other trough systems as far as that goes. I use Hybrids and Hustlers on them as well as Peewees (and Fisher 10's). I would be hesitant to put anything extreme like a dolly with a Fisher 23 jib on them (although I've done it) just because of the swing arm system they use. The wheels aren't directly under the troughs, they are extended out from them on swing arms. Like I say, I don't know that you shouldn't, I just didn't want to until I got the specs. As far as the wheels go, as Azurgrip says, they are different size wheels interspersed across the track, which keeps a smooth wheel always in contact with the rail, eliminating the bumps from flat spots. I mainly love them for this reason. It takes the headaches and second guessing out of moves where long dialogue necessitates sitting in one spot before tracking. I love 'em and the redesign sounds interesting.
Gripworks had a question about whether Porta-Glides worked for large dollies. The answer is yes. They are the same as other trough systems as far as that goes. I use Hybrids and Hustlers on them as well as Peewees (and Fisher 10's). I would be hesitant to put anything extreme like a dolly with a Fisher 23 jib on them (although I've done it) just because of the swing arm system they use. The wheels aren't directly under the troughs, they are extended out from them on swing arms. Like I say, I don't know that you shouldn't, I just didn't want to until I got the specs. As far as the wheels go, as Azurgrip says, they are different size wheels interspersed across the track, which keeps a smooth wheel always in contact with the rail, eliminating the bumps from flat spots. I mainly love them for this reason. It takes the headaches and second guessing out of moves where long dialogue necessitates sitting in one spot before tracking. I love 'em and the redesign sounds interesting.
Thanks CB and Megamoose for the play by play of the Fisher Open House and the panel. Sorry I missed it.
Sanjaya sent pictures and I'll go through them and post when I can.
Keep the discussions going. That's why we're here, to learn from each other and advance the craft.
D
Friday, May 23, 2008
Sitting on Stage
Hi all,
Sitting here on stage and finally got a minute to break away ("B" only shot). We're on airplane mockups all day so I expected a relatively dolly free day until they decided to build the crane and jam the arm down the aisle. I'm still having dance floor problems. The lumber up here (which is pretty crappy to begin with) seems to swell and contract. I'm getting floors with 1/32" lips at the joints, even with double laying everything. we ordered a whole new batch of birch and it all doesn't match, so it's been a nightmare but we're making it work. The rest of the show is mostly on stage until the last two days when we go to New York. I hear LA is extremely busy gearing up to the SAG strike.
I'm curious as well about how the Fisher speed wheels perform, but I can't see trading in my Porta-Glides for anything.
I hope everyone is well. I'll have more to post when all this is over.
D
Sitting here on stage and finally got a minute to break away ("B" only shot). We're on airplane mockups all day so I expected a relatively dolly free day until they decided to build the crane and jam the arm down the aisle. I'm still having dance floor problems. The lumber up here (which is pretty crappy to begin with) seems to swell and contract. I'm getting floors with 1/32" lips at the joints, even with double laying everything. we ordered a whole new batch of birch and it all doesn't match, so it's been a nightmare but we're making it work. The rest of the show is mostly on stage until the last two days when we go to New York. I hear LA is extremely busy gearing up to the SAG strike.
I'm curious as well about how the Fisher speed wheels perform, but I can't see trading in my Porta-Glides for anything.
I hope everyone is well. I'll have more to post when all this is over.
D
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Wa11y Dolly
Some of you have arrived here by looking on Google for "Wally Dolly." That's a different kind of Wally Dolly than the one I'm talking about. I'll save you some time and tell you now that while this is a site about professional Dolly Gripping, there's nothing about the actual product Wally Dolly on this site.
That's what a cameraman I worked for a few years ago called the dolly when it was on skates. The whole phenomenon of skateboard wheels is kind of strange when you think about it. You take a precision piece of machinery made to roll on track, and put it on another set of wheels to roll on the same track. But they do help. Sometimes a lot. I think it all has to do with the quality of track available nowadays. I may be wrong about this, but it started when DGs wanted to use a Fisher (which uses square track, a really bad idea) on round track. The easiest solution was to put the thing on skateboard wheels, specially modified to fit the track. Then, someone noticed that the more wheels you add, the smoother the ride. Thus, a new industry is born.
Skateboard wheels do traditionally have a flaw, though. They flatten. The longer they sit in one place with the dolly on them, they develop flat spots and you have to roll them out just before shooting. This can be a problem with long takes with dialogue. We've all heard the claims of this company or that saying that they've developed the perfect formula for wheels that don't flatten, yet are soft enough to be effective. Guess what? They flatten. The good folks at Porta-Jib found a way around this. They put wheels of slightly different diameters on their skates and Bam! No flat spots. Last night, I had a Fisher 23 jib sit in my Porta-Glide wheels over lunchtime, something I would never do unless there was no way around it. It was a good 45 minutes for upwards of 2500lbs to be sitting there. I walked in after lunch and went right to work rehearsing and they rolled as smoothly as if I had just put them on. At $1400.00 a set you can't beat them. Visit them http://portajib.com/ and check them out. Look for the Porta-Glide section.
That's what a cameraman I worked for a few years ago called the dolly when it was on skates. The whole phenomenon of skateboard wheels is kind of strange when you think about it. You take a precision piece of machinery made to roll on track, and put it on another set of wheels to roll on the same track. But they do help. Sometimes a lot. I think it all has to do with the quality of track available nowadays. I may be wrong about this, but it started when DGs wanted to use a Fisher (which uses square track, a really bad idea) on round track. The easiest solution was to put the thing on skateboard wheels, specially modified to fit the track. Then, someone noticed that the more wheels you add, the smoother the ride. Thus, a new industry is born.
Skateboard wheels do traditionally have a flaw, though. They flatten. The longer they sit in one place with the dolly on them, they develop flat spots and you have to roll them out just before shooting. This can be a problem with long takes with dialogue. We've all heard the claims of this company or that saying that they've developed the perfect formula for wheels that don't flatten, yet are soft enough to be effective. Guess what? They flatten. The good folks at Porta-Jib found a way around this. They put wheels of slightly different diameters on their skates and Bam! No flat spots. Last night, I had a Fisher 23 jib sit in my Porta-Glide wheels over lunchtime, something I would never do unless there was no way around it. It was a good 45 minutes for upwards of 2500lbs to be sitting there. I walked in after lunch and went right to work rehearsing and they rolled as smoothly as if I had just put them on. At $1400.00 a set you can't beat them. Visit them http://portajib.com/ and check them out. Look for the Porta-Glide section.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
more random thoughts (nap over)
Hi again, just woke up from my afternoon nap. For want of something better to do I will continue my bleary poorly formed and ultimately worthless thoughts and opinions on various aspects of , you guessed it, dolly gripping. I see a lot of questions on the web about laying track etc. Maybe some film student/ independent filmmaker will benefit from these bleary thoughts.
Let's talk surfaces. By this I mean one of three possibilities: dance floor, track, or the actual floor. It really depends on the shot/ what lens is being used. The first thing I will do in a new set is check the floor. Is it linoleum or hardwood? Concrete? Wavy? All of these enter in to what you use. The hardest dolly shot to do is, believe it or not, a slow creep. They are painful. Especially if you choose to do one on a wavy floor. The dolly will surge and slow, throwing off timing and if there are foreground objects in frame, making the shot look like crap. When in doubt, even if the floor looks even, put something down. I generally go on track when possible because even your birch plywood will have imperfections that will cause a surge. If the shot ain't a straight line, lay a floor. If it's on carpet, double lay plywood. For some reason, set decorators love to use rugs that you rarely if ever see. If the DP agrees, yank 'em. It may be a pain in the ass but your life will get much easier without rolling over, or laying surfaces over these damn things. Track is pretty self explanatory. I won't bore anyone with explanations of track laying other than: find the highest point, level up to it . If for some reason you have a bump or dip that just won't go away, I have found that the more wedges the better. Add 'em anywhere there's a space. Skateboard wheels will also take A LOT of the bumps out. Generally, if the lens is tighter than a 50 mil and I'm on more than a two or three stick run, I'll go on skates. I personally use Porta-glides made by Porta-Jib. These beauties have taken a lot of the headaches out of skates by ingeniously using wheels of different diameters interspaced on their troughs. No More Flat Spots. I've had a 250lb operator sit on the dolly in one spot for as long as 30 minutes and take right offon the first take with no flat spots. Some guys like to use planks for a quick throw down surface (and I do too sometimes) but I generally don't like them because, again, surge.
Some of my dolly brothers may come across this blog and have some tips or disagreements with some of this. Please leave them in the comment section. I'll add them.
Let's talk surfaces. By this I mean one of three possibilities: dance floor, track, or the actual floor. It really depends on the shot/ what lens is being used. The first thing I will do in a new set is check the floor. Is it linoleum or hardwood? Concrete? Wavy? All of these enter in to what you use. The hardest dolly shot to do is, believe it or not, a slow creep. They are painful. Especially if you choose to do one on a wavy floor. The dolly will surge and slow, throwing off timing and if there are foreground objects in frame, making the shot look like crap. When in doubt, even if the floor looks even, put something down. I generally go on track when possible because even your birch plywood will have imperfections that will cause a surge. If the shot ain't a straight line, lay a floor. If it's on carpet, double lay plywood. For some reason, set decorators love to use rugs that you rarely if ever see. If the DP agrees, yank 'em. It may be a pain in the ass but your life will get much easier without rolling over, or laying surfaces over these damn things. Track is pretty self explanatory. I won't bore anyone with explanations of track laying other than: find the highest point, level up to it . If for some reason you have a bump or dip that just won't go away, I have found that the more wedges the better. Add 'em anywhere there's a space. Skateboard wheels will also take A LOT of the bumps out. Generally, if the lens is tighter than a 50 mil and I'm on more than a two or three stick run, I'll go on skates. I personally use Porta-glides made by Porta-Jib. These beauties have taken a lot of the headaches out of skates by ingeniously using wheels of different diameters interspaced on their troughs. No More Flat Spots. I've had a 250lb operator sit on the dolly in one spot for as long as 30 minutes and take right offon the first take with no flat spots. Some guys like to use planks for a quick throw down surface (and I do too sometimes) but I generally don't like them because, again, surge.
Some of my dolly brothers may come across this blog and have some tips or disagreements with some of this. Please leave them in the comment section. I'll add them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
