Around The Room [Technical Breakdown]

Sometimes in an effects shot you need the camera to do the same thing over and over. Pan left, then crane up while dollying back etc.. Because these intricate moves would be impossible to perfectly replicate with a human operator, big robotic arms are used that can follow precise computer calculated choreography. These robotic arms are called Motion Control Rigs.

Motion control was first used in Star Wars. One of the most famous scenes attributed to this type of camera work is the astroid field in The Empire Strikes Back. The Millenium Falcon was actually stationary while the camera flew passed it. Then it was replaced with a spinning astroid for another pass of the camera. Then another. When you put them all together, we see the spaceship and astroids flying by. Because the camera movement was identical with each pass, the elements fit perfectly together into one scene.

With motion control you can also duplicate the same person into one scene. My inspiration for the Round the Room shot (above) came from a music video by Michel Gondry. 

In this video the lead singer walks around a city street about 4 or 5 times, and each time she gets back to her starting point, she runs into the former her. You can see the video I'm talking about here. Be sure to watch the whole thing (about 4 minutes) so you can see just how many duplications they do. Not only is the singer duplicated, but all of the action in the background as well.

So I wanted to recreate this effect, but I didn't have  the needed $15,000 to rent a motion control rig. So here's what I came up with.

What you're looking at is a camera on top of a pot, on top of a rotating spice rack, that is powered by an inverted drill. The real trick is to match the exact speed between each shot. Since the drill-head spins as fast as you pull the trigger, I taped the trigger down at an appropriate speed, and used the battery as the on-off switch.

After I was set up, Amanda put on the appropriate wardrobe for the take. Because of the interaction that all the "Amandas" had with the gift, we had to complete one whole cycle before we could do a "take 2" (being sure not to touch the gift between shots). Then she would change again and I would reset the camera for the next leg. All in all we did 3 complete cycles, which took about 3 1/2 hours. I believe the end result came from the 3rd series of takes. And special thanks to Amanda for her willing and able on-screen talents.