Let the Good Shots Roll! (page 2)

Dollies

Nothing says "major production" like the sight of a dolly festooned with camera, lights, operator and focus-puller, gliding majestically along on rails smooth enough for a high-speed train. The types of dollies that you can use vary so much that some can be packed in a couple of canvas bags (track and all) while others need a truck with a lift-gate to carry. Even so, dollies come in two basic flavors: floor models and track models. Floor types roll on pneumatic tires that are smooth and silent. They are versatile because they can be readily steered. A crab dolly can turn all four wheels up to 90 degrees and change direction completely in the middle of a shot.

Track dollies use flanged wheels that mate to proprietary rails. On the one hand, they take much longer to set up because you have to build them like toy train layouts. On the other hand, they permit ice-rink smoothness across all kinds of lumpy terrain outdoors. The tracks also make it easy to repeat moves (for additional takes) with micrometer precision.

Why use a dolly rather than a stabilizer rig? First, dollies are well suited to longer takes that include passages without movement. Secondly, a dolly can make a push in (or pull out) so slowly that the audience never notices it. This is a great technique for intensifying a performance. Though the process is invisible, the performer grows gradually larger and more important in the frame.

On the down side, dollies are expensive to buy or rent and are time-consuming to prepare for shooting. They also require larger crews to operate and plenty of rehearsal time.

What about the wheeled three-armed spreaders that turn tripods into dollies? Unless they're exceptionally expensive and heavy, they're too jerky for moving shots, even on studio floors. In reality, they're just convenient ways to move tripods from one setup to the next and the wheels are not used during sho…