6 Pieces of Homemade Filmmaking Gear Van Neistat Can't Live Without
Published June 15, 2021 · 10:04 · 210,386 views
About This Video
Six pieces of DIY filmmaking gear, each one an argument about when to build and when to buy. Six pieces, zero from a store. The overhead shooting rig (2x2s, angle brackets, and VHB tape) traces its lineage to Wes Anderson and Agnès Varda. A retired Canon T2i called "Baby Jesus." A plywood GoPro stand that folds into a pocket. A clip light with a garbage-bag diffuser.
The principle underneath: build when the commercial version doesn't exist or doesn't fit your specific workflow. Buy when someone else has already solved the engineering.
Transcript
so this is the overhead shooting rig and this is like the fourth uh incantation of this device and this is my favorite one it's 2 by tws which are fantastic and then angle brackets to make it all stiff and I did something a little advanced in one of my angle brackets I drilled out like a quarter inch hole I'm not exactly sure the diameter but um enough to tap quarter inch threads into the angle bracket and I tapped the wood cuz why not and so I keep this is the screw for the camera this is from a sign this is from a somebody gave me as a haha van accessible sign so it's like 330 seconds or a 16th inch gauge uh aluminum that I took a jigsaw and just cut the channel for this to slide and then for stiffness I used VHB and I didn't have two of the same size um mending plates I would have done two like this but I was in a rush I cleaned the metal really really well with acetone and then VHB and clamped these guys on and I've been using it for months and it's stiff enough and the VHB doesn't doesn't give way and then these screws are for safety because I was carrying it once with a heavy camera and it like nearly cut my finger not off but nearly nicked my my pinky finger I keep it there so I don't lose it and then this is I don't know what all this I don't know what to call this the rail this is a specialty item you won't find it but quarter inch thread there's a te-nut in the back of here with the teeth in it that digs in okay so this goes up and down depending on how wide of a shot I want and then if I'm using a 100 mm macro lens I can switch and go down really low if I need like a super duper close-up like type like to make type written words full screen and so yeah the overhead shot Wes Anderson used it uh in the opening one of the opening shots of the royal Tenenbaums when the book goes in and it gets stamped and uh but I think before that it came from Agnes Varda in Cleo from 5 to 7 and it's the only color footage in the whole movie I believe and it's uh an overhead shot of a tarot card reader dealing tarot cards to the protagonist but I use it for everything because next to the face I think the hands and what hands do is like the most interesting thing that humans do okay this is a very easy little hopup a strap that goes I think these this is an anchor for maybe a strap that goes around your neck yeah it is um I just do a little hand strap and if you let go of your camera or if you're doing something that's camera intensive or hand intensity you're up on a ladder or something and you need your hand free you can just this stuff is so strong I would even use it on the 1dx and it's basically 2 feet or so 18 in maybe of of uh this like very lightweight webbing but it's super strong and you thread it through the uh shoulder strap anchor and then customize it to your hand tie it off in a knot and then over the years it just sort of like becomes like it just is like an appendage okay this camera is from 11 years ago I've retired it I don't use it anymore but I got a lot of use out of it it's probably my favorite camera and it's a T2i Canon from I think 2009 or 2010 I put this wind screen on the mic see there's a flush mic it's four little holes right here but it's really susceptible to wind so I just got this open cell foam I don't know what it was from probably from packing material or something and I just sort of cut it and then made a little roof and hot glued the roof and then I wrote the date and the name I call it uh baby Jesus because it's the second coming of camera it was like the first um card-based camera that shot HD footage before that we were using tapes I made this plywood for a movie called love light letter to plywood out of fur pieces and I glued these together clamped them and this is little gadget is basically a little stand for your DSLR so that it doesn't see they they like fall over um but with this even with a big even with a big lens on it it's pretty diesel and it'll you know it's just a nice little thing to have when you're shooting you can you fold them away and one thing I've discovered this this little guy hasn't been retired yet because though I've retired this camera it's great for a GoPro or an insta 360 uh let me see I think I got a GoPro in here yeah and so you can fold it up and put it in your pocket I had it in my motor I was wearing a motorcycle jacket and it fit in a it fits in a you know medium sized to large sized pocket and then you got a little GoPro thing or if you need to angle the shot you can put little box under here or turn it around and have it point down yeah it's like 2 and a half by five this it says it has the date on it 50420 for Zoom meetings during the pandemic and this is also a handy little guy it's just I like this one ruos it's like an Amazon probably made in China company and I don't know maybe it was $12 or something and it's got the spring that holds that holds your iPhone and it's good for Zoom meetings but it's also good for you know shooting if you need to shoot stuff it's a good little thing and it's just a whatever how big is this it's just a uh 3 and 3/4 by four and 3/4 piece of plywood or whatever scrap you have I put felt feet on it I love felt feet so it slides around really easily clip light I go into the clip lights in um in uh in the how to make a destroyer lamp for Dad video and one of the things I don't talk about is uh how to make a diffuser and the diffuser is just so that there's no harsh shadows when you're shooting and I use it a lot for overhead um lately I haven't been using a diffuser a lot cuz I like the shadows for some reason but it's a a great way to get rid of the shadows and this diffuser is just a white 13 gallon garbage bag and you cut this off with a scissor you cut this off with scissors you cut the left seam with scissors you cut the right seam with scissors you cut the bottom crease with scissors you have two sheets and you cut them into four so you cut them in half you cut them in half again each of those quadrants are the perfect size to make your diffuser which you fold the corners and then you tape the corners and then you just put gaffer's tape or this 2in clear packing tape to hold the diffuser to the lampshade and it sort of lasts forever $14 at Home Depot it's called a heat lamp don't get the one that's like a clip light it's just not as high quality and the clamp isn't as strong and it it won't really work so okay cheaper to buy them store-bought easier to buy them store-bought probably better they'll probably last longer but I don't know the satisfaction they won't look as nice they won't be the perfect you know size for your setup and that's why that's why I do it that's why I build them