Movi and Red Epic

Colorado is a wonderful place for production and car commercials. The snow, the clear blue skies, the stunning mountains… it all can add up to something incredible.

The story of this shoot began with my good friend Seth Schaeffer at Hoptocopter Films recently purchasing a Movi and has been capturing killer footage with it the last few months. When we had a client come in requesting running footage for a Volkswagen dealer,there was an immediate “yes we’re using the Movi on this shoot” feeling in the air…

The primary challenges for us were a tight budget and small crew, but we knew we were going to rely on our Red Epic package to capture the shots worthy of a captivating commercial.

One tricky part of the setup is that the Red Epic ranges right around the max weight of the Movi package, so we had to choose lenses carefully as well as determine the best battery operating setup. Initially we had thought of using the lighter, smaller Redvolt batteries that fit into the sidehandle on the Epic, but with a running time of only 25 minutes or so, it didn’t seem like the best option. We decided to strip the camera down and use the heavier, but much longer lasting Red brick batteries. With a run time of 90-120 minutes, and 5 extra batteries on hand, we felt confident in that power solutions-especially being out in the wilderness where power is hard to find (and we’ve had a few negative experiences with car inverters).

For lens choice, we started with the lightweight Canon 50mm F1.4. In times past, in order to get somewhat stabilized shots (that can then be fixed in warp stabilizer or a similar post stablization), I’ve opted to stay wider and punch in on the rich 5k Epic image… but with the Movi, the beauty is that you can use a longer lens (though 50 isn’t terribly long) to get wonderfully smooth shots. It also allows for a compressed background to push the car up against some beautiful scenics.

For monitoring, we used a wireless HDMI video transmitter and sat facing forwards in the van while Seth controlled the Movi’s pan/tilt on camera. I used the Redmote to start/stop recording, adjust focus, and fix exposure as needed. Meanwhile, an operator stood near the back of the van and “man gripped” the camera (as Shane Hurlbut might say) and attempted to absorb a few extra bumps. One tricky part of shooting on snowy roads… the roads tend to be very inconsistent and bumpy. Having a man on camera was another attempt to keep things a little more smooth.

Hours later, another good friend, Jesse from Condor Cam showed with his modified production van that has a huge lift coming out of the top. There was a nearby bridge at our shoot location that was perfect for his big lift.

The Condor cam van….

We also mounted the Movi and Red Epic to the Condor Cam lift.

With a solid team, the Movi rig, and Red Epic, we were able to come away with some great shots on a tiny budget.

The Movi was just a touch finicky on the shoot, it turns out that the cold was messing with the Movi Lipo batteries. The tip (from Seth) is to keep the batteries at room temperature until right before use. Don’t let them get too cold or their discharge rate will affect the motors!

Until next time,

James Drake,
Denver Video Production