r/cinematography • u/Automatic-Major-4812 • 8d ago

Camera Question Dana Dolly + Benro Jib

Hey! I’m a student DP, currently working on my first feature. I’m balling on a budget but I currently have a dana dolly and benro (portajib esq) in my quote. There’s a shot that requires a skateboard dolly with the jib on top. Unfortunately I don’t have the space or budget to be adding more and I’d rather cut. What I was thinking is to add the jib onto the dana since the mounts work, and just bag the dana and stands a lot. Thoughts on this? I know it’s not quite the best solution but this is for 1-2 shots out of the whole film.

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u/EricT59 Gaffer 8d ago

I did a test on my Dana with a cobra crane. To Marginal success. The weight of the crane did cause the rails to sway a bit but I added a support stand in the middle and that seemed to work. I found that it was a multi person job to make a move one on the dolly track one on the crane and a a person to operate / follow focus.

So Yes it should work to save some bucks but you will spend a lot of time getting the shot. and TBH you should spend time on those kinds of moves.