High-End Video Production Equipment – Cranes, Dollies & 35mm Lens Kits.

Press Play to Watch Our Vlog on High End Video Production Equipment.

G’day and welcome to the very first of RCM’s Video Blogs, giving you video production tips, hints and information, the latest feature to Rockmanscreativemedia.com.au and one that we’re very excited about – So many of our clients have expressed their appreciation of what we teach them during the production process, that we thought we should share some of that knowledge with you!

We’d thought we’d kick off our tips and tricks with the 3 simple things you can do to really make your production look like a million bucks.

In this quick video, you’ll learn about dollies (not the little girl’s toys), tracks (not the little boy’s toys), cranes and 35mm lenses, and how by incorporating these high end equipment into your Video shoot, your production values look amazing and – here’s the kicker –  it’s not really that hard to do, especially if you use an experienced crew.

Don’t under estimate the power of the these simple additions to your shoot, these are the staples of the top industry professionals, and what makes their work stand out from all those average, boring looking productions that are out there!

So sit back and relax while we show just what you can do to make your next video production shine.

And if you’re the kind of person who’d much rather read a piece than watch a video we’ve got the transcript below!

Camera Cranes

Let’s start with camera cranes.
Cranes can really make the difference between a boring and lifeless shot and exciting shot as movement is essential to engaging the eye.
At RCM we love using the camera cranes as it takes our productions to higher levels and offers our clients visuals that are normally only seen in cinema and broadcast.
Camera cranes offer amazing sweeping visuals, the crane itself can swing from the ground to the cranes maximum reach, they can also swing 360 degrees and the camera attached to the crane can pan, tilt and zoom offering unlimited angles.

The large camera crane RCM uses has a 9 meter arm, and we use this crane for our Real Estate videos to capture external shots, on shoots that require capturing large objects, like planes and trucks as well as stunning pieces to camera from presenters.

The smaller crane is perfect for use indoors and quick outdoor setups as it’s a lot easier to move around a location with.

Dollies and Tracks

Dollies and tracks also offer that great camera movement.
They can be used to move the camera towards a subject subtly giving the shot a very classy feel, increasing the attention on the subject or across a subject to keep the shot dynamic with movement, especially if the information is a little on the ‘ahem’ “dry side”.
RCM use the Dolly and tracks when interviewing people to reveal more of the background and to add engagement, we use them in Real Estate videos for interior shots and can even ramp those shots.
The dolly and tracks are a wonderful tool to give smooth and fluent movement to all shots whether it’s indoors, outdoors, interviews or products.  They are quick and easy to set up and are a really cost effective way to lift your productions values.

35mm Lens And Lens Adaptors

The third piece of equipment I want to talk about is 35mm lens adaptors.  This is an adaptor that allows us to use 35mm lenses on our High Definition video camera.
So what does that mean and what does it look like?
Well this shot was filmed using a 35mm lens and adaptor and has been set up to give the shot a very shallow depth of field or in non film terms, it means that the background is out of focus and the subject, me is in focus…

…not only does this give the shot that film look we mentioned, it also focuses your eye where we want it to…and in this case it;s on me!
It’s just like in those Days of our Lives shots where the two people are separated and the camera pulls focus from one person to the other, depending on who’s or talking, or being more (melo)-dramatic at the time,  35mm lenses really bring to the table to huge improvements, beautiful images and focus points (focal points).

OK, so lets look at what the shot would look like with a regular Camera lens.

Here it is, the stock standard high definition lens that came with the camera…
you’ll see that the entire shot is now in focus and that your eye isn’t being told what or where to look …its quite a stale shot, much less appealing…

…here are still images side by side, obviously the one on the left of screen is with the 35mm lens.

Using the 35mm lens adaptor does take longer as lens changes and camera positions are frequent but the end result is undoubtedly better.
Most, if not all video production companies have access to these three high end pieces of equipment but most don’t use them, so be sure that when commission your next video to not only request these great tools but to find a production company that uses these tools regularly as the operators and the crews experience really make all the difference, not only in the final result but also in the time it takes to set them up and get the shot right – a crew that uses them regularly will take far less time than one that has to remember how to do it every time they use them.

So there we have it.
I hope this information was useful and of course if you need further advice drop us a line here or contact us on +613 9500 0053.
Till next time….that a wrap!