With our coaster POV shoot successfully behind us, it was now time to begin creating some additional HD B-Roll for the park's press reel.
We spent spent the next few hours scouting locations with the public relations crew and Hersheypark's Rides Operation Manager. Again, safety is paramount at Hersheypark so we had to seek out the best possible angles while maintaining a safe distance from each ride.
The park is fairly large and some of the rides travel pretty far. Our job at this point, was to determine where we needed to be to get the most exciting shots, in the least amount of time, keeping the sun at the proper angle. We also needed to have a talent releases for each and every person on the ride we were filming. Finally, to enhance the challenge, we had the threat of rain on the horizon.
As the park would have a few thousand guests while we were filming, we needed to travel light. Time was limited and it was in our best interest to carry all of our gear to each and every location. Running a quarter mile around a wood roller coaster to chase down an accessory was simply not an option.
After having great success traveling with a Kata backpack on a recent trip to Africa, it was a no-brainer to try out their slightly larger Kata VB-510.
This backpack/camera bag was able to hold our primary camera, a Sony EX3 HD camera with a full Chroisziel matte box and rails mounted to the camera. It also held a wide angle lens, four batteries, six SxS cards, two Lite Panels, six Panavision size Formatt grad filters, a Sony ECM-674 shotgun microphone, an ECM-77B lav mic, headphones, cleaning cloths, sunblock and a small bottle of Tylenol.
All of this, along with a Manfrotto 536 carbon fiber tripod with 526 fluid head was carried by our virile young assistant Arion Doerr and might I add, without much complaining. Perhaps it was the Hershey bars we kept dangling in front of him.
The bottom line is that we had a production company in a bag and we were able to shoot for hours without any interruption.
We actually started gathering our B-Roll outside the park at the corner of E. Chocolate Ave and Cocoa Avenue. On some days the air is so thick with the smell of chocolate that its probably fattening.
We were directly across from the famous Hershey chocolate factory and were informed that they still make Hershey Kisses right there in the plant, the same way they've made them for years. Milton Hershey, the legendary founder of the company named them Kisses, because the machine produced a smacking sound every time a Kiss was created.
On more than one occasion, the extreme height of the Manfrotto sticks was a life saver. Several locations required higher vantage points and there would have been no way to keep a small camera like the EX3 steady, hand-held. Especially, at extreme telephoto focal lengths, such as filming the cars at the peak of the Fahrenheit and Lightning Racer coasters.
Although much of our shooting would be on tripods, filming Fahrenheit required that I hand-hold the camera. The EX3 is a bit of a dog hand-held, without some type of additional shoulder mount hardware.
Sarah had hired a Vari-Zoom Steady Rig from a NYC rental house. It was one of the klutzy-est devices I have ever attempted to use and in fact, we didn't bother bringing it with us to Hershey. It might have worked fine if I was walking around trying to be a human tripod, but to follow a speeding car around a coaster, well, there was just know way it would work. I ended up mounting a small, $ 10.00 pistol grip on the end of rails that support my matte box and it worked fine.
You can easily twist into a pretzel or at the least, lose your balance trying to follow Fahrenheit with a camera. Fortunately, the EX3 with its simple pistol grip worked brilliantly this time around. It was certainly much easier than using a large shoulder mount camera.
You can easily twist into a pretzel or at the least, lose your balance trying to follow Fahrenheit with a camera. Fortunately, the EX3 with its simple pistol grip worked brilliantly this time around. It was certainly much easier than using a large shoulder mount camera.
Click here to see the edit combining the exterior B-Roll with the POV shots:
We had a very successful morning of filming, but sadly, as our lunch break approached so did the rain. Rides look pretty bleak against a while sky, so we'll have to schedule another day.
When we returned home, I embarrassingly empty my pockets of reams of silver foil.
Ah yes. The diet starts again on Monday.
That was cool! I want to ride again!... Oh wait, I just have to hit PLAY again.
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