Hardware

We'll be using cameras & lenses. Natch.

I've got a couple of Canon 7Ds with lenses from 14 ~ 200mm. Even got some great old glass from my Pop that he used with his Contax. The 25 & 135 are especially sweet.

Since a bit of the footage needs to be shot on the water, from a moving boat (note to self: finish the story so that part is obvious), and we don't want the viewer(s)* getting seasick, the camera should be stabilized.

So, I'm building a 3-axis gyro-stabilized mount around a 7D.

The thing it's not yet attached to, nor seen in the photos, is a trolly that'll hang from an aluminum extension ladder. (We're gonna need a ladder anyway for shooting up in the trees, might as well make it pay for itself in as many ways as possible). It'll hang out from the deck of Favorite so we can shoot "young Eric" from a variety of low angles ahead/alongside/behind him as he runs his skiff over the water.

The "trolly" also has motorized wheels so it can crawl a line stretched through the woods, spider-cam style.

This whole gadget is radio controlled, with a video downlink so we can frame the shots. I have all the bits here - just need to complete the assembly. I don't have a good enough monitor, nor is the video signal HD, so we won't be able to pull focus accurately on the image, but if there's enough time set aside to get this thing done, we can pull focus to pre-determined points.

Here it is so far:

* There might be 3 viewers besides the group of us film-makers...