Device for a REALLY slow pan?

Brock · Mar 21, 2005

Hi, hello, hey, I'm Brock. I'm a beginner to cinematography, but I have an ambitious shot in mind. A time-lapse 12 hour shot during which the camera pans 90 degrees or so. Is there some kind of device that I could buy that would allow me to pan VERY slowly over 12 hours? In my head, I imagine gears being involved, but I really have no idea if such a thing exists.

Brock

Lazlo · Mar 21, 2005

Have you seen the movie Koyaanisqatsi? It uses a slow pan with time lapse, but they had to specially design one just for the film. Its probobly not practical for your budget to have a slow pan during a time lapse sequence. You can either have the slow pan (fluid head tri-pod), or you can have the time lapse (still). After that you need some very speciallized equipment to pan and use time lapse. I don't know the mechanics behind why its so difficult. I'd like to know if anyone does.

Brock · Mar 23, 2005

I haven't seen Koyaanisqatsi, but I'm going to look for it, thanks for the heads up. I have seen Baraka, which is where I stole the idea from.

At the risk of exposing my ignorance, what exactly is different about a fluid head tripod, as opposed to a regular tripod?

Thanks,
Brock

Digigenic · Mar 27, 2005

Hey Brock,

Essentially, a fluid head is to assist in getting a smooth pan and/or tilt with your tripod head. Before fluid heads, there were geared heads, also free and friction heads.
When you’re using a tripod and panning and/or tilting the head, you’re applying force through the device (tripod and its components) that requires some form of dampening to avoid shake and jitter.
I’ll send you a link to Ron Dexter’s page dedicated to this topic, it's very informative on the development of the fluid head systems, gear heads, spring tension, nodal, gimbal, and remote systems.

Brock · Mar 27, 2005

edit: Not sure what happened, but meant to say: Thanks!

DannyG · Mar 27, 2005

I was just gonna mention Koyannisquatsi...great visual/musical piece. I think you can get it on Amazon.com, thats where I got it. It's part of a trilogy.

Digigenic · Mar 27, 2005

I've seen Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Baraka...
It's been almost five years since I've seen Baraka though, and I have to see it again.
I think Baraka was my favorite.
I bought Powaqqatsi with Koyaanisqatsi, but still have to get Naqoyqatsi.

Get this, in one of the cinematography threads for the DVXuser forums, there's a person who claims that their aunt is good friends with Ron Fricke, unbelievable, being one degree of seperation from pure genius :shock:

I recently read an article/ad for bandpro digital in the April issue of American Cinematographer magazine where Ron Fricke discusses his positive experience with HD, Zeiss digiprimes, and collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola. He also adds at the end that he's working on another project to follow up Baraka...I can't wait 8)

Lazlo · Apr 3, 2005

Another way to get a slow pan (its probobly out of your budget), is to get your hands on a motion control rig, where you can control exactly how fast the camera moves, and monitor everything. This is mostly used for effect shots, but you might look into it.

ollielarkin · Oct 19, 2006

panning timelapse for college

panning timelapse for college

have a look, let us know what ya think.

http://web.mac.com/ollielarkin/iWeb/

directedition · Dec 14, 2006

I also love shooting time lapse and a panning shot is very difficult.

I haven't tried this, but one thing you can do is mod a turntable's voltage down so it slows down (add some weight to the table to slow it down even more) and just put your camera on it. Though that might burn out the motor.

There are many creative little solutions like this that can help you circumvent the super expensive setups films like Koyaanisqatsi (which I just happened to have been watching when I spotted this thread) had. There is just NO way to do this by hand.