GEAR. STABILISERS
range of applications for active stabilisation. “We love the purist, mechanical side of Steadicam, but are also bringing on new engineers. We’re getting more involved with electronics because we understand its relevance and importance.” Active stabilisation, Parmenter confirms, is starting to supplement many grip options. “Companies like Arri and Motion Impossible deal in electronic stabilisation devices, which we do as well, across a few areas. This could be on a camera mounted to a crane, a tracking vehicle – or handheld. All that technology is starting to filter into other devices.” Comparing Steadicams and gimbals has
NAME IN LIGHTS Igor Savatovic gets to grips with the new Arri Trinity 2
“Since its early successes, the Arri team has not been idle, with second editions of both Artemis and Trinity announced in April”
Since its early successes, the Arri team has not been idle, with second editions of both Artemis and Trinity announced in April. In London, anyone interested in these systems is likely to encounter Optical Support, a company that’s specialised in just that type of body-worn stabiliser for over a quarter of a century. Rentals manager Mike Parmenter recognises the huge
BVK SOA, is the man behind the Artemis mechanical stabiliser, which moved from Sachtler to Arri in 2015 – a year before the actively stabilised Trinity system was shown. “It was at that period where gimbals began to affect the Steadicam business,” Schaller recalls. “But I said: ‘You can’t replace the operator, it’s more than just moving a camera from A to B.’” THE HOLY TRINITY Unification of Artemis with the Arri Trinity, which might be thought of as either gimbal or stabilised head depending on the predilections of the observer, created something genuinely new. Although Schaller knew seasoned operators would expect a familiar experience. “Artemis is classic, mechanically,” he goes on. “We wanted to make sure operators have access to the traditional way of working. We didn’t want stabilisation on the pan axis, but tilt and roll. This is also why, on the Maxima handheld stabiliser, there’s a feature allowing you to stop the pan axis – and the result looks more handheld. Roger Deakins preferred it – for him, horizon and headroom are everything.”
UPGRADE The Artemis 2 is a purely mechanical system – and the latest model has improved counterweight balance
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