Tracking Vehicles
Camera cars, crane arms and stunt work
Tracking vehicle work has been a regular source of fun — and a decent physical workout — throughout my career.
It’s a corner of the industry I particularly enjoy. It’s also one where experience counts twice — once for getting the shot, and once for knowing what can be done safely… and what can’t!
What a tracking vehicle actually gives you
A camera car with a crane arm mounted on the back does something no other rig can: it keeps pace with a moving subject while the camera moves independently of the vehicle carrying it. That means you can rise over a car mid-corner, drop to wheel height, swing across to a second vehicle, or pull back to reveal the landscape — all in one continuous move, at speed.
Shooting the same sequence from a fixed position means cutting it together from separate passes. On a tight schedule with an expensive car and a closed road, one continuous take is usually worth more than three cuts.
The vehicles
Over the years I’ve designed and project managed the build of several tracking vehicles with crane arms, including the one that appears in most of the photographs on this page. They are still working, and I still have access to them through the associates who run them now.
So when a job needs one, I arrange the vehicle and operate on it. Knowing a vehicle because you drew it up and built it is a different proposition from turning up on the day and working out where everything is.
Matching the vehicle to the arm
There are two choices here, not one: the vehicle, and then the arm or rig that goes on it. They have to suit each other, and getting that pairing right is most of the job.
The arms and rigs:
- 3-axis head Jimmy Jib
- Gyro-stabilised head
- Russian Arm
The Russian Arm needs a very bespoke vehicle — it isn’t something you can mount on whatever happens to be available. A Jimmy Jib sits perfectly on the vehicles I designed; it will go on a generic tracking vehicle, but it’s more of a faff. A gyro-stabilised head earns its money on rough ground, while an ordinary Jimmy Jib head is fine on tarmac.
Three things drive the decision: how fast you’re going, what the surface is like, and how much room there is. Happy to talk it through before anyone commits to anything.
Getting one booked
Tracking vehicle hire takes more planning than a standard jib day. Road closures, police approval, suitable locations, communication between the camera car and the subject, suitable speeds, and how the shoot is going to be organised — all of it so you get the shots and everyone gets home safely.
The earlier you ring, the more options there are.
I’m based in London and travel for this work, in the UK and abroad.
If you’ve got a project that needs vehicle tracking sequences, ring or message me and we’ll work out how to do it.