How do you quickly and efficiently decide what platform to use to create a shot (crane, dolly, steadicam, handheld)?
In choosing a platform, I find the simplest way to do the best shot. This thinking includes; Ease and time of set up, ability to operate the desired shot, ability of crew involved in performing the shot.
A pet peeve for me, is an operator who complicates a set up with gadgets just to look cool or make it appear like they’re doing something amazing.
“I want to ride the Super Techno Crane”
If you know, you know
Right off the bat, I should state that this would be a case where the DP or Director didn’t already have an idea in mind. Assuming they did, I move in that direction.
Like most things with me on set, it’s sort of a thought tree. Before I start anything, I already have an idea of what is at my disposal. I’m not going to pitch the 50 foot techno shot if we don’t have one on the show. My first question is then, what feel does the shot need to tell the story? Is it moving, is it energetic, is it static, is it ethereal? This helps me move in the right direction and of course I consider how it will play in the cut and what effect that has on the story. I then look at what my hurdles are - we need to start 10 feet up and end on the floor. These will sometimes but not always dictate what can and can’t achieve the shot. I then consider the time it will take and after quickly assessing all of that (this takes a minute or so of discussing with my dolly grip and perhaps the key grip as well as my AC if need be, I pitch a few options leading with the one that I think is the best way to go. Sometimes I will only pitch the best idea explaining why I think it’s the way to go and see what the response is. If there is pushback I’ll then pull another idea out of my back pocket and continue on down that path.
90% of the time, I find that the simplest way to achieve the shot is the best and even as we are setting things up, I am simplifying. This not only saves time and effort, but generally works better as a storytelling device. I’m not exactly sure why, but it never fails.
