Snorricam: Body Camera Mount

Here is a Instructables project for an armature that keeps your camera pointed at you. I had never heard of a Snorricam until I saw this post, but had been playing around with tripods to get a similar effect. (See related posts below). This takes that concept one step further.

Who needs a camera man when you have a Snorricam?

This shot of a professional Snorricam rig is the setup they used in Requiem for a Dream.
Below is a short video made with the DIY Snorricam showcased in the tutorial. They get several interesting camera angles here. After watching the video, I thought, "Oh yeah....I could use one of these." I really love the shots they get of the actor running. Also the shot of the actor getting up from the ground is very different from the shot you'd get using a static camera.



I found another video (not by the builders featured here) showing some examples of Snorricam shots. This piece has a person on a swing, a back view and another shot of someone running. Once you see an example, these shots are easier to pick out from feature films. Take a look at this Wikipedia article to get some references to movies where this technique was used prominently.



Finally, here is a video showing the details of the construction. I am wondering if this rig could be lightened by using pvc pipe? Looked online to see if anybody had tried this, but no luck. I also ran across a couple of references to the look being effected by where the camera is mounted on your body. It makes a difference if the support rod is attached to your waist versus your chest. On the professional models, it looks like you can adjust this aspect?

Now if I only had an enterprising young student who would build one for some extra credit?



Related Posts:

• One Man, One Camera, One Long Arm
• Camera Mount on the Cheap
• Camera Extender

[Image of DIY Snorricam captured from the Instructables Post: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Snorricam/] [Image of professional Snorricam was captured at William Wilkinson: http://blog.williamwilkinson.com/post/67740783/snorricam-setup-in-requiem-for-a-dream]

Camera Extender

Over a year ago, I wrote about Andy Ihnatko filming himself as he walked. It didn't look like he was holding the camera at arms length, yet he was able to keep his face in frame. It was a neat effect. He described how he was using a modified tripod. I was reminded of his device when I saw this tripod on the web today. The QuikPod Handheld Convertible Tripod is built to do the same thing that Andy did for $17 (Amazon price). Ihnatko says he built his from parts of other tripods for about $5.

While surfing Amazon I saw another similar product called the QuickPod DSLR Handheld Convertible Tripod. It also works as a monopod and includes an angle mirror to help you see what you are shooting. This one will set you back $49.95 (Amazon price). Both are made by the same company, QuickPod. Do a search on Amazon for tripods, monopods and/or camera extenders and you will see a few more of these setups.

I had the idea that you could use the garage built camera mount that I linked to in a previous post, and hook it to a painters pole. As I also suspected, my idea was not original and after a little searching found several web posts about doing this very thing. Here is a shot of a rig shown at Photography for Real Estate. The author uses a bracket to mount his camera to a pole which lets him take some shots of his houses with a different perspective.












Lots of plans out there for some cool do-it-yourself projects. Don't think I will be buying the Quickpod model just yet. At least not until I bloody my thumb on a few home made attempts first.

[Image: QuikPod Handheld Convertible Tripod: Image captured from Amazon.com]
[Image: Pole Camera Bracket: Captured from http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/03/12/shooting-pap-with-minimum-equipment-and-effort/]

Camera Mount on the Cheap

Here is the latest find in my quest to find inexpensive ways to build a functioning, complete studio for our video students. It's a simple idea. Create a camera mount that would allow you to use a mic stand. They won't give you the same flexibility as a tripod, but I'm thinking in some cases a camera mounted on a sturdy, single pole might come in handy.

It has also got me to thinking about other things I might attach to a mic stand. Lights? Reflectors? Wind guards? Might have to brave the cold in my garage to see what I can create.
[via Make]
[Image captured from Make: Mic Stand Camera Mount: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/diy_mic_stand_camera_mount.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890]

One man, One camera, One long arm

I was watching a piece by Andy Ihnatko the other day and I enjoyed the video, he is a funny guy, but what really caught my eye was his camera technique. He was able to pan the camera from each side with out any apparent movement from his arms while he was walking through Central Park. I figured he either has really long, ape like arms or was using some kind of rig. I wasn't the only one who was curious and there were several comments asking how he did it. He responded:

I used the same tabletop telescoping tripod that I used for the first video, and held the thing as a stick. Shooting that way is a lot of fun; I shot a third video in which I slowly spun in place and that was a cool effect (me rock-solid, Central Park swooshing behind me nonstop). But I got a bit dizzy doing it, and watching it later.

When I got back home I was happy to find that I had all the raw materials necessary to build a better version of this stick. I just broke apart another tabletop tripod ($5 from the MIT Flea), liberated the metal adjustable tripod head from it, and screwed it into a monopod. Works a treat, gives me a lot more range, and the finished stick looks as though I have an actual budget for these things.

I once saw an episode of Survivorman, where they drop Les Stroud into the middle of nowhere with some supplies and a few video cameras. Sometimes he was walking along holding his camera hooked to his tripod (I think) which let him get the camera little further from his face and shoot while he walked. I didn't really think about it much until I saw the Ihnatko footage and it got me to thinking that this would be an interesting addition to my bag of tricks.

Cool! I'm going to be experimenting with this soon. Anybody know a site that discusses using a video camera this way?

[Image: Captured from "Andy Ihnatko 02 "The Kindle Constitutional"; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaY91FqM40E&eurl=http://ihnatko.com/]