Interest in simulated subjective sinking scene?

[Chimerix]

This concept hinges on the slow, smooth movement of the camera.

The jib, as purchased, has an overall length of 5'. there's a 2' arm for counterbalance, and a 3' arm for the camera. While this did give me the desired 6' of vertical travel, it also introduced 3' of horizontal travel. It would literally be swinging in a half-circle to get my 6' sink. Ok, no problem, they sell an extension. Now the overall length is 8', with the same 2' counterbalance arm but now a 6' camera arm.

While that solved the issue with horizontal movement, and even opens the opportunity for sinking a "taller" victim, it added two problems. Or, I suppose, it added one problem with two facets. The problem is mechanical advantage. Originally the jib's long arm was 1.5 times the length of the short, yielding a MA of 1.5. So, for every pound of camera, I needed 1.5 lbs of counterbalance. And, for every inch the short arm moved, the long arm moved 1.5". Now, the MA is 3x. For every pound of camera, I need 3 lbs of counterbalance; for every inch the short arm moves, the camera travels 3".

Of the scripts I wrote, the longest is just over two pages. Reading it aloud myself, I'd be in the neighborhood of 10 minutes. Later, doing readthrus and rehearsals with the model, it turned out the time was running closer to 7:30. So... I want the camera to travel 72 inches in 7:30. Do a little math, and that comes out to 9.6"/minute. But that's the camera end... the opposite end is 1/3 that, so it needs to travel 3.2"/minute.

Jiminy Christmas, that's a subtle movement! No way my calibrated elbow can sustain 3.2"/minute! Rounding off, that's 20 seconds per inch. How to change that reality to something manageable?

It took some serious daydreaming and scheming, combing the streets on bulky item pickup day, wandering in a daze about the City Mill, but I came up with a two-part solution.

Part one, use compound pulleys to offset the mechanical advantage of the jib. Attach pulleys to both the tripod and the short arm, run rope back and forth. Every supporting strand of rope becomes a multiplier of mechanical advantage. City Mill had a variety of single and double pulleys. With two double pulleys, I can get a MA of 4, so pulling 1" of rope only moves the short arm 1/4".

Part two, use a large wheel with a small hub to take up the rope. Again, the difference between the diameter of the wheel and the hub is a multiplier for MA. I prowled the streets during bulky item pickup days, bring home children's bicycles, garden hose spools, anything with a rotating wheel. Coincidentally, I found out that a local university was throwing out hundreds of pounds of old 16mm film and sundries. I took several old reels of various sizes, and also found a pair of hand-cranked spindles for editing. After some serious cleaning, oiling, and loving, I got the spindles working and ended up with a large-diameter, small-hub takeup reel mounted on a sawhorse. The hub is about 2" diameter, so each revolution takes up about 6" of line. 6"of line passing they the pulleys moves the short arm about 1.5" So turning the takeup reel at 2 rpm gives me 3"/minute travel at the short arm. Perfect!

Now, the reality varied a bit from the theory. I made some approximations in math, the mounting point of the pulleys is a few inches from the actual end of the jib, the camera adds a few inches to the other end, there's elasticity to the cord, the hub of the takeup reel changes diameter as rope is paid out... Still, I came up with a working prototype. Experimentation, repeated trips to City Mill, trying different cords, different pulleys, different mountings... it works. I've now got a setup that, by cranking the supply reel at 1 rpm, gives me that 7:30 travel I was aiming at.

I may try and use the second spindle with a belt and another pair of mismatched hubs to drive the takeup reel. Assuming I can get a belt that works, find a way to tension it, get the spindles properly aligned, etc. I think I can get another 6x MA in play, meaning that I can crank the drive belt at 6rpm to achieve the same result. I only contemplate this because sitting there, turning that reel at 1rpm is a mighty tedious job. But the clock is ticking, and the shoot is Friday.

[Chimerix]

Yay! It's been done!

I had been holding off on an announcement as Dave and I work through the logistics of having the clips available on ClubMPV as well, but since downunder stumbled across my UMD store, it seems time.

You can download a free trailer here:
https://umd.net/videos/marizel-trailer

and the clips and bundle are available here:
https://stuck-in-paradise.umd.net/

Hopefully Dave and I can get them up on MPV soon!

[dlodoski]

Yay! It's been done!

I had been holding off on an announcement as Dave and I work through the logistics of having the clips available on ClubMPV as well, but since downunder stumbled across my UMD store, it seems time.

You can download a free trailer here:
https://umd.net/videos/marizel-trailer

and the clips and bundle are available here:
https://stuck-in-paradise.umd.net/

Hopefully Dave and I can get them up on MPV soon!

They will be up tomorrow.

I tried and failed to 'bundle' the various resolutions, but the current architecture of the pay-per-scene code at Club MPV is not cooperating. Each scene at each resolution will be offered individually.

In any case, I have had a chance to proof these scenes. Chimerix put a huge effort into this. It's definitely worth a look/purchase. As with most 'first time' efforts, I'm sure that support from the community will lead to even better results in the future.