P3D Re: "Feeling like you're there" movies

[roberts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (John W Roberts)]

>Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 14:30:29 -0700
>From: Marlin Linger <linger.1@xxxxxxx>
>Subject: P3D "Feeling like you're there" movies

>I don't know who else to ask about this, but maybe someone out there knows
>the photographic conditions necessary for creating that effect you get from
>some movies when an airplane is flying through a mountain canyon or a car
>is driving down a narrow, twisty highway - it feels like you're actually in
>the airplane or car and your body wants to sway with the motion.  Is there
>a name for this effect?  

Don't know.

>Are any special condtions required to achieve it if you do the photography 
>yourself?

1) Get someone else to drive/fly while you operate the camera. :-)
2) I believe professionals usually use sophisticated stabilization /
     motion compensation equipment, some of which may be related to
     devices used to take high-resolution photos from spy planes. On one
     of the educational channels, I saw a program showing how such a system
     was used to shoot scenes from a high-speed boat.

If you've ever seen the third "Star Wars" movie, which features the flying
sleds zooming through a forest, you may have noticed there were some
forward-looking shots like you described. If I recall correctly, those shots
were made by people walking forward slowly while carrying stabilized cameras,
then the motion was artificially speeded up.

John R


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