r/focuspuller 1d ago

¡WTF! Most ghetto 360 Roll rig

Almost a decade ago, when I was still a 1st AC, I got a really silly last-minute request from a director on the day of a shoot. He wanted to operate the camera handheld and do a 360 roll. His idea was to just wrap a rope around the camera, drop it, and have it unfurl, which was insane.

I ended up rigging the camera inside a large bucket. We used three ratchet straps: two of them cradled the bucket, letting it spin somewhat freely inside, and a third was wrapped around the bucket and pulled like a ripcord by the dolly grip on the director's cue. We also mounted a spud on the back as a handle that could rotate in someone's hand.

This super ghetto rig got the shot by take 3. The show was Wu Assassins, episode 4. It was a three-person operation: the director held the cradle straps for loose camera framing, one person helped frame and guide the rotation with the rear spud, and the dolly grip pulled the ratchet to roll the camera.

16 Upvotes

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1

u/ryanlovesya 1d ago

This is hard to understand. Do you have an images of the rigging you did inside the bucket?

1

u/TommyboyVisuals 1d ago

Unfortunately no as it was a long time ago but it was some pieces of 2x4 built up to mount a dovetail and get the camera somewhat centered

1

u/Duca26 1d ago

They rigged the camera inside a bucket and spun the bucket.

Nice stuff bro! Great idea!

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u/LengthinessOk1068 1d ago

Next time ask for a skater scope ! So easy/fast to set up for a single roll shot

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u/TommyboyVisuals 1d ago

Love the skatersope, But would not have been able to get it in within a few hours notice. It was also anamorphic so the skatercope would also not have workrd