knows that pro skaters have been captured on film countless times. So, when he took on the task to shoot a project showcasing two of the best aggressive inline street skaters in the world, Montre Livingston and Jeff Dalnas, and other skaters from the USD Skate Team, he decided he needed to shoot a fresh look – on a modest budget.
“That’s why the Ace L was perfect for this job,” he says. “I wanted to show up and coming skating filmmakers that there is a good option to shooting different kinds of footage with a good fluid head tripod that isn’t going to break the bank. The Ace L is a great tripod, in a number of ways. The price point is one main factor. But more, it gives you smooth panning and tilting that you expect from Sachtler – at almost a third the price.”
To prove his point, Pisciotta put the Ace L to the test. “And it performed well,” he says. “On past shoots I couldn’t trust similarly priced fluid head tripods to give me consistent fluid movements. Frequently, I would experience a jerking motion in the beginning and end up panning and tilting and that would ruin the shots. Never happens with the Ace L. The smooth pan and tilt is a huge factor, since often we have only one chance at getting a shot. The Ace L never made me worry about its ability to perform.”
For this project, Pisciotta took the Ace L through various urban street locations in Northern Virginia, Baltimore and Washington D.C. as well as to the largest action sports camp in the world, Camp Woodward.
“We had to battle natural light, because we were scheduled to film right when a lot of cloudy days and abnormal rain were hitting the D.C. area,” he explains. “We also were also challenged with getting set up for a shot of rail jumps and other tricks. Where most cinematographers would like an hour to prep a shot like this, I’m given 10 or 20 minutes at the most. Having equipment that sets up fast and that I can trust is a must. The Sachtler Ace L is there for me, no matter what I need.”
Nick Pisciotta specializes in sports cinematography and time-lapse photography. His most recent project with Jeff Dalnas will be released December 10 and can be seen on Vimeo.com/conferencetv and www.usd-skate.com as well as www.youtube.com/user/usdskatesofficial.
It will also be posted on skating websites and blogs such as Be-mag.com, Rollernews.com, RB-news.com and DealWithitSF.com.
Sachtler www.sachtler.com