Bob Fisher
ICG (Usa)
November, 2000
Fore Love and Valor
Michael Ballhaus, ASC goes par for the course in The Legend of Bagger Vance
Several shots also benefit from a Flying-Cam mounted on a remote controlled mini-helicopter. Invented by Emanuel Previnaire (winner of 1995 Sci-Tech Academy Award for his invention), the Flying-Cam carried a custom-made, lightweight 35mm camera in a patented housing. The mini helicopter designed by Flying-Cam for this purpose can supply a stable or a moving platform remotely controlled on the ground. The camera roll 360 degrees and pan-and-tilt at 180 degrees.
In one scene, the apparatus offers the audience a breathtaking shot from a golf ball perspective. Hit by Junuh, the ball flies trough the thick branches of a patch of trees before soaring into the air. Previnaire controlled the helicopter himself, and when shown that shot's storyboard, his first instinct was to deem it impossible. (that happened to be the day prior to the move being shot). He plotted a flight path and requested three tries at the shot he made in the first time.
On another shot, the flying-Cam lent a stable aerial platform for a medium format still camera that record the ball's flight from a unique point of view at a rate of 1.6 frames per second. Pacific Data Images scanned the pictures, converted them to digital format and coupled them with CG imagery to create the extraordinary tracking shot of a flying golf ball. |
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Pictures
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