In preparation for my thriller 'Breath', I tested out ways in which I could achieve a smooth, professional looking tracking shot on a budget. As a professional camera dolly went into the thousands of pounds, I thought of another, far cheaper method of achieving the high standard tracking shot I am aiming for. I used and old skateboard and a 3 meter by 20cm plank of wood. The wood is long enough and wide enough for the skateboard to glide across it, to give a smooth and fluid movement. I first tried testing this method with corrugated cardboard, but this made the camera shaky as it ran over small lumps on the material. With the woods smooth finish, I was able to place my camera onto the skateboard an achieve a smooth sideward glide. The video below shows the difference in footage when shooting gliding over corrugated cardboard and wood.
Looking back at the footage, I chose to run on wood. The equipment cost me £5 altogether, the skateboard being £3 from a car boot sale and wood being £2 at a wood off cut shop. This made the set up a worthwhile investment and far from the £1,000 to £2,000 price bracket of professional grade camera dolly's. Below are pictures of my homemade tracking set up.
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