Steadicam

The Steadicam has been complete but once the camera has been mounted on, it seems to be eliminating the shaking but there is now a swinging movement. It is either caused by the weight at the bottom not being correct or the bearings are moving to freely. I think that the combination of these two things will help to give us steadicam that we will then be able to use to produce smooth films. 

The first solution we are going to try is to slow down the bearing, if washers are attached this should help to slow the speed down. Below is an experiment that we have tried, the left bearing is enclosed by two normal washers, one either side of the bearing, which does not stop the movement as it is not gripping onto the bearing. The bearing on the right has been enclosed by two locking washers, one either side of the bearing, which grip onto the bearing slowing the movement down. This now needs to be transferred onto the steadicam.   

Steadicam Gimble

After recording using the Shoulder Fig Rig, it became apparent that I needed a steadicam. This device seemed quite simple to make. The most important part that needed to be created was the gimble. The gimble is going to keep the steadicam at a horizontal even as its support tips. The gimble was created by using skate bearings placed inside the pipes to allowing a turning movement. 

Now I need to attach the threaded rod which will have the camera mounted to the top and the weights attached to the bottom. 

Results from the Shoulder Fig Rig

These are my two views of the site as I walk along the South Bank and observe the artificial light to the right and left of my view. The video is still very shaking as the device is balanced on my shoulder and as expected it absorbs the movement as I walk. The video has now become hard to focus on one light point as it is jumping constantly. The film when it was at a normal speed was OK to watch and the shaking was not obvious but where I have increased the speed that the film plays back at, the shaking becomes more apparent.

Shoulder Fig Rig

After looking at how shaky and unstable my filming was, due to walking along the site, I needed a device that would enable me to produce a smoother film. Not only would it help to stabilize the film, it would also give the viewer something steady to focus on whilst watching.

This device was very quick to make. It sat on my shoulder as I filmed and hopefully would eliminate most of the shaking. The camera simply attached to the top part of the device by a screw and then I would hold onto the handles at the front. Supposedly the Shoulder Fig Rig was meant to eliminate most of the shaking and all the videos I had watched on-line appeared to do that. The one concern I had after making the device was it was attached to my body and surely whilst I am walking the shaking would reappear. 

What to do now?

To write a 20 word sentence- WHAT DO I WANT TO DO? This should help me to re-focus back into my project and specify what I am doing. 


Consider when filming:
- angle
- narrative
-what am I exploring


Make a steady cam:
- should create a smoother flowing film 


Decide whether to use stills again or a film. Both of my light walk films so far have been created using stills. 
- stills need to be taken continuously so that the film will flow. Removes the element of dividing the film into stills 
- film, first would need to be divided into stills, then the batch production would be used and then the film placed back together. It would be a smoother flowing film compared to the stills.


Think of a way to display the films:
- possibly 3 films running at the same time. Same length. 3 different visions: left, centre and right view. Stops any movement of the camera and doesn't create a dizzy feeling when watching the film.  

Batch Production- Rogue Images?!

    

      

Above are a selection of my images that have been used to create my film Light Walk 2. I created the images by using a batch process on photoshop. I simply took the original photo from the site and edited the contrasts and brightness so that the light was the only think visible. Then placed a mask over the top, selected all the light and deleted the background. Then changed the background to black and the light sources to white. It all seemed simply at the time. I recorded all of those actions and was ready to use it in my batch production. The images took about 3 hours to process. Once they had finished I assembled by film and went to play it back. All of a sudden there was a flash of white light from the film???? I stopped and examined the clips, only to find that the computer had processed 3 different files allowing them to be inverted. The rest of the images were fine. Below are the 3 rogue images. I find it really strange the way that the computer has decided that with 3 files it will do the opposite, even though I had programmed it to do the action I recorded. 

Light Walk 2

I have remade the Light Walk, this time using 764 stills and also the batch process. It all worked well apart from on 3 images. 
Removing everything but the light from the Southbank has minimised my analysis but it is still understandable as a space. The film is still jumpy and is creating a narrative as if somebody is running away from something. This is not what I want to show so I need to rethink the way that I am filming the site.

Light walk 2 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.