freeflychef 0 #1 August 14, 2009 Any advice on 4way camera exits.. I searched the post and couldn’t find too much..I have taken on two teams with diverse skill levels. As a result I have hit the formation a few times"Chef Mikel " www.theskydivingchef.com Always remember: Eat safe, & Use condiments Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,400 #2 August 14, 2009 1) Timing is _everything._ You have to jump with the team enough to know exactly when they are going to leave. 2) You need enough RW skill to put yourself where you want to be relative to them. Keeping them in frame is not enough; you have to be able to say "on exit they're going to be there, and I'm going to drop to get their exit, fly up and around as they come off the hill, and then stay at about 60 degrees." Wind tunnels are great places to practice this, although of course there's no hill. 3) You should learn enough about 4-way to know what the exits and blocks will look like. Are they trying to launch a G? Maybe peeling the exit (or leaving earlier) would be a good idea. Are they trying a 13 for the first time? Get higher to capture the (likely widely separated) solo flyers. 4) Peeling exits is a perfectly valid way to film 4-way, and avoids some of the timing/hitting the formation issues. It looks a little odd but it's judgeable and debriefable. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davelepka 4 #3 August 14, 2009 Trailing exits (or peeling) is the way to get started with a new team. Do this until you get to know the counts, and how the different pieces fly right out of the door. Some are more floaty, and others just fall down the hill. Once you're dialed into the count, and you can predict how the different things fly out of the door, you can safely switch to leading the team, and getting the cool shot of the plane as you fall away from it. If you try to lead them too soon, you risk being too early and not being tight on the exit, or being late and exiting into their burble. Even if your wings can keep you from falling onto the team, you'll be so tight that you cut parts of the team out of the shot. Either way it's a failure. By trailing the exit you can guarantee that you'll get the shot, and that's your job as the camera guy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 0 #4 August 14, 2009 What plane? I'm still learning this, but this is my advice/tips (for a Grand Caravan). Trailing is safer but not all teams like this, ask them/their coach if this is ok first. Should you ever miss the count, do not jump off at the same time as the team (unless you are very far away in the door then it may still work - otherwise you're going to hit them) but turn with them and peel off after them. If you want to lead, make sure you have as much separation from the team as possible to start with (ie, right hand on the tail of a C208 if you can reach it, if you're short like me try standing on the end of the step with your right foot, 2 hands on the end of the floater bar and push off slightly backwards NOT UP as you leave to get a foot or more extra separation), make sure you don't jump out to the side but slide down right next to the plane that's your air. I find the easiest teams to film are A and AA. Rookies have a lot of trouble with exits themselves, best trail, although watch out for points jumping out after, lol. We just had our Nationals last weekend, I filmed my first AAA team as a fill-in having never jumped with them before and only 9 training jumps of AAA ever, of which 7 were trailing. Ahem. Managed not to cost them too many points things on the hill happen FAST at this level so trailing with this team was not an option. I sure as hell learned a lot last weekend, and we actually managed to come in third after fighting for it Have a look at our videos to see examples of trailing and leading, on various levels: friday weekend monday Best is to ask a good FS4 camera flyer on your DZ to help you! ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,400 #5 August 14, 2009 >I find the easiest teams to film are A and AA. Definitely! One of my teams is a newer team, and it takes some effort to chase them down. Translation on the 21's. Float on the G's. Separation on the 13's. You get used to it, but it takes some work and anticipation. On the other hand, filming Airspeed is like not even working. Get the framing you want, park it there, and don't move until breakoff. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 0 #6 August 14, 2009 I started out filming rookies, then more rookies, then a team that's less rookie but doesn't get any coaching ever so blocks are... interesting... I then did some training with a good AA team, with a good exit count too. I thought, Hey this is EASY! I can do this!!! And finally managed to learn to fly closer, steeper, and boy was it easy I hardly had to move at all. Big change from chasing teams all over the sky. Hard to go back I think a rookie cameraflyer is better off learning with a A or AA team than with rookies, if said team doesn't mind being smallish in the frame and getting hit once or twice during exit (hopefully only during exit). ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflychef 0 #7 August 14, 2009 Wow fricken great information… A lot to plug in. I have been doing all the organized loads at the DZ which makes it extremely diverse in my exit and all around camera style. In a day I could shoot anything from a 4-way to a 16-way, all with varied skill levels. To take on a single discipline is just another challenge… I will apply all the advice given and pratice pratice pratice."Chef Mikel " www.theskydivingchef.com Always remember: Eat safe, & Use condiments Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
