Wildtrackers » Camera Tracking

VampyreBATT WORKING WITH BICKERS ACTION AND THEIR RUSSIAN ARM

Duncan — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 15:27:37 +0000

2013 saw the new Camera Tracking vehicle working with Bicker Action as a platform for their Russian Arm. Both BATT and Bickers Action had been approached by a production to film an off road sequence involving tanks on a battlefield in a big Hollywood production being shot in UK. Bickers action got the job and sub contracted Duncan and his vehicle for their Russian Arm which was normally mounted on an Mercedes M Class.
It was few days work in the workshop at Bickers Action to fit the arm and all the associated electronics but once on it looked as if the Arm had been made for the VBATT and whats more the whole setup felt extremely stable on the tracking vehicle.
We shot on two locations in the south of England in a variety of conditions from hard good surfaces to extremely soft wet and deeply tracked/chewed up mud, but all off road. The VampyreBATT performed flawlessly taking the deep ruts and mud in its stride with over 1 tonne of camera equipment and personnel on the vehicle showing that this really is a multi purpose camera tracking vehicle. The only other tracking vehicle that was working alongside the VBATT in these conditions was on tracks!!!
MORE PHOTOS OF CAMERA TRACKING VEHICLE CAN BE SEEN AT: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r1rnnou2ru7roxw/633i1aINR6?n=7187291

Vampyre BATT on highest road in Europe

Bob — Sun, 13 May 2012 20:07:18 +0000

Bob took over from Duncan filming with his Vampyre BATTon the highest road in Europe. 3000m up in the Sierra Nevada, the specialised Land Rover was being used as a mobile base for a Technocrane 30 in both static shots and for tracking people and horses in so fairly harsh conditions. Duncan and Andy have been at the Overland Expo in Arizona where their expertise was being passed on to the ever increasing numbers turning up for this world class Off-Road experience.

A VampyreBATT is born, UK

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:32:34 +0000

Its been a long time in the making but finally the Mk2, Barbour All Terrain Tracking Vehicle has finally seen light of day, and under its own power at last.

The vehicle which is predominately designed for off road camera tracking is pretty much a 4×4 Rally Raid car built for film work. Based on a Land Rover Defender 130 the Mk2 BATT vehicle is a highly modified bit of kit. Powered by a 410 horsepower V8 Corvette engine this will be no slouch off or on road and the suspension which has been designed to smooth out the terrain off road will be equally at home on road for conventional camera tracking work.

Standing on an axle and wheel set up that makes the tracking vehicle 14 inches wider than a standard Land Rover this will provide a secure, stable and safe platform for all kinds of filming applications. The new BATT has been built to accommodate standard cranes, telescopic cranes such as Millennium cranes and Technocrane as well as standard camera rigs, stabilised heads and and the new generation of gyro stabilised remote controlled cranes such as the Russian Arm and the Pursuit Crane.

Next equipment to be fitted is as follows……

Roll cage…fully demountable in 3 sections depending on what is required.
Tilt cover over cage for weather protection. Removable in 3 sections as per roll cage.
12 volt on board power to front and rear platforms
240 volt on board power…(underslung/removable 2.1KVA generator.)
Roof mounting points for Pursuit Arm crane or Russian Arm.
Extra platform for front and rear.
Extra plating for bonnet and roof to enable them to be used as platforms.
Scaffold fittings for rear deck when roll cage is removed.
Peltor Wireless Dectcom intercom system linked to unit radio comms.
Front mounted winch to enable vehicle to act as re-positionable crane base for difficult locations and for self loading of kit onto rear.

There is still some work to do but the back of the job has now been broken and hopefully the ‘Vampyre’ BATT will on the road and ready to start work sometime in the very near future. A big thanks goes to Patrick and his team at Maddison 4×4 to getting it to where it is now.

Latest photos of the project at… http://gallery.me.com/duncanbarbour#100008

Battman takes to the sky!!! – Skyschool Aerodromo, Ordis, Spain

admin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:14:19 +0000

How many of you watched the documentery on Bear Grylls and Giles Cardazo of Parajet in their attempt to fly over Mount Everest in Paramotors and thought ’Wow that would be pretty cool to fly like that’. Not many I guess if I was to go by the comments I have had on learning to Paramotor recently……… Most of them have been quite simply ‘Your mad!!!!’.

Well you know what we say at Wildtrackers, ‘If you are not living life on the edge … Then you are just taking up space!’ . So after the sorry demise of the Yamaha Arctic Challenge Expedition in Scandinavia and the subsequent scouting trip to the wilds of Kamchatka in Eastern Russia, I decided I was taking up too much space and headed off to Spain to learn how to Paramotor.

Slow Tracking in Hampshire

admin — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:35:31 +0000

One of the slowest tracking jobs that Wildtrackers have been involved in took place in Hampshire in mid June. This involved Bob driving an old Massey Ferguson with a trailer of bales with one Richard Hammond sitting on the back doing a piece to camera for a supermarket commercial. Richard had just completed two days filming in a glider at nearby Lasham Airfield for the same ad before literally being brought back to earth.

All the lighting and cameras were mounted on the back of the trailer itself whilst Bob drove at two mph for 30 metres then backed up for another take. All in all over 50 runs were completed with differnt camera angles and light setttings.

Primeval

admin — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:03:35 +0000

After a day in Gloucestershire with the Top Gear team filming for the new series, BATT MK1’s next job was in North Hampshire on an MOD site chasing a Toyota pick up truck for the next series of ITV’s cult sci fi drama Primeval.

Batt Mk 2 Tracking Vehicle

admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2003 23:12:02 +0000

Duncan’s new BATTMOBILE Mk 2 tracking vehicle is now well on the way to completion. Over 10 years in the making the project which started at Midland Rally Team Services at Silverstone moved last year to Maddison 4×4 in Thirsk where the project has moved forward at a much faster pace.

Under the direction of Patrick Smart at Maddison the tracking vehicle has gradually taken shape and now is only requires a rear propshaft to be made and fitted and she will be able to move around the workshop under the power of her 410 horsepower Corvette engine.

The vehicle based on a Land Rover 130 chassis has very little left in the way of Land Rover in it now with many of the components coming from the USA. A completely bespoke vehicle many parts have been specially made. From Dynatrac axles to Aston Martin brake calipers and a starter button from a Rolls Royce Merlin engine. This may appear to be a hodge podge of parts but this will be a state of the art tracking vehicle and will pretty much be a Rally Raid vehicle built for filming…

More details to follow……

First firing of the new BATT motor!