25Jun Steadicam BlackBird Stabilizer on Electric SkateBoard
A friend asks about shooting a commercial following a fast Parkour runner with a long and continuous Steadicam shot. I’m an old fella, so I guarantee I can’t keep up especially while trying to fly a Steadicam. So of course i’m thinking up different ways to pull this off, but one requirement was being able to cover different terrain. Grass, dirt, gravel, uneven pavement, and more. A Segway was my first thought, that’s already being done. Besides the price (maybe I could have rented one), the problem is that the Segway is also very large, heavy, and would need a way to transport it to a location. I needed something I could ride while keeping my hands free, so I decided to test out an Electric Skateboard. My ideas aren’t always well planned, as I quickly found out, my skateboarding abilities suck like hell are very limited. Fortunately, Olivia is an avid Skateboard, SnowBoard, and Surf type gal so she volunteered to be the test pilot.
To make things easier, we have her in a Steadicam Merlin vest and a BlackBird Video Camera stabilizer (fits perfectly with no modifications). Shot on a Canon 7D + Tokina 11-16mm lens. The vest makes it easy to carry the stabilizer and control the board with the handheld remote. Without much practice, here’s the results from the first run on a very windy day. We mounted a GoPro on the board so you can see the different types of terrain she was able to cover and how bumpy things got, yet the footage stayed fairly smooth. I went for a custom board from E-Glide which is a bit pricey (well worth it), but there’s a variety of inexpensive electric skateboards you can check out below.
Electric Motorized Off Road Skateboards
All Terrain Electric Powerboards via Amazon
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June 25th, 2011 at 7:37 am
Footage looks great! I guess there is a magic MPH number that doesn’t create the infamous rolling shutter issue. Olivia is pretty skilled. How much attention is on the camera and how much is on watching the road?
June 25th, 2011 at 7:46 am
@Terry – She got the hang of it real quick, even though she’s not a very experienced Steadicam operator. With a wide lens you just point it towards what you want in frame. Towards the end of the day, she was all over the place.
June 25th, 2011 at 8:04 am
Dang! cool stuff!
And Olivia, nice shoes!
@Emm you need to wear that 3 wolf and a moon shirt, and see if your skateboarding skill improved.
June 25th, 2011 at 8:05 am
So, I’m confused, are you saying if you buy one of those motorized skateboards, they throw in Olivia as a package?
June 25th, 2011 at 8:15 am
Nice! Keep us updated with the final product ? The parcour video.
June 25th, 2011 at 9:17 am
Emm, it is a very cool demo ! Olivia got the hang of it pretty quickly and some of the shots almost look like they were shot on a small helicopter thingy. Pretty good “floating/gliding” effect. And Olivia: you are a video geek’s dream come true. Rock on !
June 25th, 2011 at 9:45 am
Whatever works, but the segway is awesome for this kinda stuff as it allows the op to concentrate of balancing the cam, not themselves.
If you have a chance, rent one and give it a try. You might find the hassle of acquiring it worth your while.
June 25th, 2011 at 10:00 am
@Matt – Segway is hands down the best system for what we’re trying to do. Footage can be better than what we achieved, but the day was extremely windy (as you can tell by the trees). Any small stabilizer with or without a Segway is effected greatly by wind. We’ll have something more soon. Some of these boards you can find under $200 and traveling is definitely much easier than Segway.
June 25th, 2011 at 10:01 am
Olivia skates/surfs/snowboards toooo?? Wow I’m getting weak at the knees. Very cool. Tell her to check out my web site at http://www.flshredcast.com for some sick 7D surfing clips.
June 25th, 2011 at 10:41 am
Yeah, as always, it depends on what you’re trying to do.
Some shots deserve a lot of time and resources sunk into ‘em, others not so much and just getting close to the goal is perfectly fine.
You’re getting decent shots with this rig-up.
June 25th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Hey this looks like my backyard lol. That area looks like it’s behind Oracle in Redwood Shores/Belmont.
June 25th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Man Now I want a steady cam and electric skate board. Worst part is what one would I buy first.
June 25th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
wow, she can snowboard, surf and can skateboard while using a steadycam…if she can do a beer funnel she is officially the most awesome chick on the planet…lol
June 25th, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Us poor people use roller blades :-/
June 25th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
@von – We thought of that too, but wouldn’t work well on some terrain like grass.
June 26th, 2011 at 2:17 am
I use a Segway on rent : 65$/day or week end.
No use to buy such stuff for specific shots ^^
June 26th, 2011 at 2:47 am
If you hadn’t done the BTS video, Emm, I’d have thought those were shot with 2 people on a motorcycle – one riding and the other one operating the steadicam.
Or Tilman Buttner (of Run Lola Run fame) paid a special visit and decided to have a bit of fun with you guys heh.
June 26th, 2011 at 3:39 am
Nice !! Wondering if a simple bike and filming from the back seat would have worked too, in case you are even more on a budget
June 26th, 2011 at 7:46 am
@Laurens – You will need both of your hands free to control the stabilizer, so maybe if someone else was steering the bike. But that person would also be in the shot too.
June 26th, 2011 at 7:48 am
@J Toha – We have some shots that are super smooth. We’ll show more on that soon. The first time out was a practice run, and it was very very windy. Next footage you see should be pretty amazing.
June 26th, 2011 at 7:49 am
@Them – I’ll have to look into that, but we also didn’t want to find a way to transport it to locations.
June 26th, 2011 at 8:02 am
Great video! What camera was used to shoot towards the shoes, and how was it mounted? It’s an interesting POV, and must have been a small camera
June 26th, 2011 at 8:07 am
@mike_tee_vee – We just mounted a GoPro with a Friction Arm.
June 27th, 2011 at 12:40 am
U rock Olivia
June 27th, 2011 at 11:23 am
Hey Emm, Quick question. How slow can this sucker go? Could it be used as a dolly replacement in a pinch? I know its sometimes hard to be real stable on a skateboard if you’re going too slow, but just wondering if you guys tested out the lower end.
D
June 27th, 2011 at 11:29 am
Are you planning on renting this setup once complete? I may be interested in the next few months as I don’t want to shell out the cash to purchase it for a one time shoot.
June 27th, 2011 at 11:34 am
@D – it can go pretty slow. We will set it up for a test.
June 27th, 2011 at 11:35 am
@Derek – Possibly we could.
June 27th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
When I shot a Free Run / Parkour, I just snapped on some In Line Skates *Old School* but the footage that came out was very stable, I didn’t have the money for a Steadicam rig so I had DIY, yet everything came out quite nice.
June 27th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
@Lcaudio Voicu – Yes that’s a great way to get fast shots, but we are testing against grass and gravel as well.
June 29th, 2011 at 1:53 am
Kudos to Olivia on her balance and prowess and thanks to you, Emm, for your continual ingenuity and yet another informative article!
June 29th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
Hi Emm, is there any reason that you choose blackbird over all the other glidecam /steady cam stabilizer? Or is it just what you happened to have with you? Also, do you find the blackbird easier to balance than other stabilizers?
June 29th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
@Yiow – Olivia needed a vest to carry a stabilizer, and the Blackbird works well with it (except it was windy). It definitely is easier to balance than most other stabilizers. I’ll try a few different stabilizers myself once I can balance on this board.
June 30th, 2011 at 1:37 am
Hi Emm – I really like the look of the blackbird. Would you recommend it over the Merlin even with the Merlin vest and arm? Seems like the Blackbird + Merlin Vest and Arm is a great combination!
June 30th, 2011 at 6:54 am
@Shauno – Between the Merlin and the Blackbird, the Blackbird is easier to balance and fly. The Blackbird will not fold up as small as a Merlin when traveling, but the Blackbird can handle much more weight than a Merlin.
July 2nd, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Shot on the public bike path around Oracle HQ, where I earned the money I blow on things advertised on cheesycam.
July 5th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
I think a great cheaper alternative for this specific task would be using roller blades. although they might not be suitable for some terrains, you’re in control of the speed and steering.
July 5th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
@Christina – So far i’ve found this board much easier to learn than roller blades. I can step off of it at anytime, as opposed to roller blades. Terrain was also something I was trying to consider. The electric board also has brakes so you can come to a stop if needed. I just need a few more hours on it, and i’ll have some excellent footage to share.