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How to film inside a Car

Hello...Wanting to shoot a car scene..Will involve 4 actresses, 2 in front and 2 in the back...I want one angle, which will be the camera looking in from rear view mirror height into the car....Would I be best using a small camera attached beside the rear view mirror, or film using Camera from outside, lying on top of the bonnet looking in?
 
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Car scenes are a pain in the ass to shoot. You only want one angle? So, it's one continuous take?

Hi...Yes, one continuous take...Scene will be around 1minute in length, and is being used as a proof of concept (it's the opening scene in a Short I've wrote)...I've shot before in a Car, but did so, from the back seat.....this time wanting to use one angle which will have all 4 actresses in shot....You shot like this before?
 
Hi Derek

Don't know how you're going to do it but we're going to greenscreen and cheat it. So we're not going to have one, continuous shot, rather we'll focus on the driver / passenger in the front seats, shooting from side to side. Stationary car, couple of people bouncing up and down on it and greenscreen.
 
I think both of your ideas are good. I think you should try both
and then see which you like best. You could also do some coverage
and try a version that way.

Since this is to show your creativity I think you should try several
different, creative methods of shooting this and see which one you
like best.
 
Depends on the car, but I've shoot with many. Some have a flat front, so that you can fit two legs of the tripod on the bumper and then bungie through the grill or a popped (but not up) hood. I did this with an old Chevy Malibu. A cool touch was driving up to a waiting cameraman, who then panned the camera to follow me walking, after it filmed me driving.

I've also shot on sports cars (Trans ams, Camaros). For those, I put a blanket on the hood, then lay the tripod flat (you need a head that can tilt from that flat position - like my Gitzo can). I put sand sacks on the tripod to keep it from bouncing, then tie everything down. My Gitzo tripod extends to the point where I can even shoot through the side windows, so I can get left, right and front angles. Camera on the outside, mics inside. You can use a polarizer filter to cut down on windshield reflection or glare.

Nowadays, you can also use a GoPro, which can go just about anywhere.

I have also done greenscreen, but I prefer really doing it. Driving shots, done well, can add nice production value.
 
We used several different things:

1. We put the DP and the director in the back seat and they shot the 2 actors in the front seat - this was good and was a large percentage of our car shots.

2. We used hostess trays that were connected to the front windows (one at a time) with the camera on them. That gave GREAT footage and is not very expensive - I would definitely do this again. You do need to be careful where you do it from a safety perspective (camera on the door). If you're not going to be able to close a street down, pick a quiet place with little or no other cars (or police).

3. The most expensive thing we did was to shoot on a process trailer - looked great and I'm glad we did it, but the hostess trays were almost as good and way cheaper.
 
Some great idea's thanks....Having a reccy meeting in the next few days, so will see how best to shoot it...think putting a camera on the rear view mirror will be the best bet, as the windscreen is slightly tinted
 
What about sound?




Sorry, I can't help myself……



Omnigoose-Car-Blur_z.jpg
 
I live in Ireland, sunroof's are unheard off....

Nice, I learned something new.

You'll probably need some ND gel on the window if you want your background in exposure then.
I rolled one window down, filmed from "inside" the car and it blew out my highlights outdoors

Maybe overcast weather will save you. I'd advise a quick test
 
Nice, I learned something new.

You'll probably need some ND gel on the window if you want your background in exposure then.
I rolled one window down, filmed from "inside" the car and it blew out my highlights outdoors

Maybe overcast weather will save you. I'd advise a quick test

just had first reccy meeting....DoP showed me clips of his last short which opening scene was shot in a car (outside shots too)...looked great, so were scrapping my original idea of just shooting from dashboard....shooting this Suday, will post the final edit up
 
Ah, a topic I know something about! :) Put together a road trip short film back in Feb & March, most of which takes place inside a Ford Focus with a bunch of crap in the back seat. Not easy, but all sorts of fun.

https://vimeo.com/162566178

I did a shit ton of audio tests ahead of time and ended up mounting two mics that were angled toward each actress (one driver, one passenger) in the front seats. I was in the back and all over the car throughout production. In the picture below you can see where the mics were at. Winter shoot so windows were rolled up.

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Good luck with the film!
 
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