A few DIY things I’ve made

Buddy Greenfield

Buddy Greenfield

These aren’t tips or techniques, just one off stuff I've made that maybe you’ll get a laugh from.

The link features a few basic things I've built.

LINK REMOVED

As a way to remain fashionably broke (and recycle) I used to make things from junk I found,
like a jib on a rolling lawnmower chassis.


-Thanks-
 
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Thanks for having a look.

lol yeah 24 wheels is kind of funny.
Somehow I ended up with enough wheels and bearings to make that one and another I gave away.

The snoot works pretty good for what it is, but of course it's no replacement for any kind of real light.
I made two of them from fixtures I found. Someday I'll get a few real lights.


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It's impractical for travel, but around the house it works great.

Those little 650's get mighty hot and I imagine are prone to exploding, so the heavy duty boom stands give me a little piece of mind as far as stability.

I saw your slider dolly, it was awesome. I started making something like that that you can crank foreward or back.

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You've got some cool ideas, Buddy. That pan and tilt head looks pretty serious and I love the dolly and Jib. I would like to see some footage of your camera moves and lighting, which would also be pretty striking on film.

I suck at putting together things like that, though I'm pretty creative about turning a car into a dolly.
 
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I was thinking of ways to REDUCE the sliperyness of my slider :) But this weekend I watched the special features on my "District 9" DVD and saw a slider like device employed as a platform for pan and tilt head.. very fast, I think I just need some MASS, like some old ancient fluid head!

Oh, and a way to lock it down would let me leave it on the tripod.
 
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Scoopicman,

Thanks- That pan and tilt was seriously dangerous is what it was. lol
I bet pushing a car is a sweet dolly shot!

The various jibs work okay for what they are, granted that design (as opposed to the side by side boom style) only allows for very basic movements, but overall they are solid, inexpensive and fairly easy to make.

I have some work lights, but I prefer the scoops. I’m trying to collect enough (with stands and cords) to light and utilize my whole house and garage as a full set. I’d like to be able to simply plug in and shoot from room to room without moving stands.

Scoops are limiting (to me), but it has forced me to think in terms of composing light and dark. It’s more of a theatrical approach I guess, but it’s a start on the cheap. I’m still experimenting with it like everything else.

I added some additional pics. One is a “ring light” idea for close-ups.
I also added a clip of rough test shots (with jib, dolly and lights) for a no budget horror short log lined below.

In need of a science project, a stoner co-ed documents the marijuana intoxication of her weekend pet sitting charge. When puppy goes demonic from the chronic, things soon become an experiment in terror! -DOGGIE BAG

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Wheat,

It would be way cool to mount a quick release plate and some rubber leveling feet (And a little bubble level) on the slider, so you can quickly pop it on or off a tripod and use it on a table or the floor.

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I would need two sets of quick release to be really effective.

  • A receiver on the tripod.
  • A plate on the bottom of the slider.
  • A receiver on the top of the slider (for the camera)
  • A plate on the bottom of the camera.

Then I could just swap it in and out with little or no fuss.

However, this is less or a problem now that I have modified my slider so that I can easily lock it in position (not really locked, more like a LOT of drag..)

And after using my slider in a real world shoot I DO need to have some drag on it or its just too sensitive to use easily. The new DRAG\LOCK system works dang good. The thing I started with is just to perfect for this.

I want to make another.. a bigger one.. Ill have to check in at my junk store this week.
 
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I see what you mean on a double quick release. That would be cool.

How did you give it some drag?

If I lived and shot on a farm I would build Super Jib and get some overhead shots and big jib down shots.
You ever think of renting for a few days of paid location? Get paid to learn while watching others shoot?

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Wheat,

I'm the wrong person to ask for that (I'm just an idea man), but I would imagine a main consideration is the legal end of it, as in making sure you can't get sued if someone gets hurt.

You could make a cool video showcasing the various areas on the property, and if the price and location are appealing, it could be pretty sweet for the right project. From the clips I saw, I can envison a horror or a music video or drama or maybe even a period piece shot there.

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