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Porta Head 5 brushless gimbal on steadicam

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Andreas Kielb

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Two weeks ago we did first tests with the Porta Head 5 brushless gimbal combined with steadicam and a custom bracket like Larry McConkey built. The bracket allows to move the camera during the take from ground level to over head height by rolling over the gimbal 180 degrees.

The first system was custom built for the dp and camera operator Lorenzo Senatore. I visited him during the prep week for a new feature in Bucharest to deliver the system and give an introduction to the setup. He won't need the rollover function for this movie actually but we wanted to make sure that the basic idea works with his new Porta Head.


Best regards,
Andreas Kielb

www.portahead.de
 
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That pointless move steadicam ops do when we first start operating is finally useful... Ha!
 
For this video I used the Porta Head 5 together with the Sony FS700. It was not shot with the direct combination between steadicam and gimbal but it as mounted to the steadicam arm with a bracket equal to the Walter Klassen Gore-Link (big L bracket on the steadicam arm with belt). Only the indoor scenes were shot with the gimbal.


10157412_788080944536726_6351853285754273166_n.jpg



www.portahead.de
 
Here is a new music video made with our Porta Head systems that shows very well what I have in mind about putting a 3-axis gimbal on a steadicam. Surprisingly it was done handheld but Christian, who also works with me in optimizing those systems, did a great job with hiding his own footsteps. The result is a kind of "out of this world" aesthetic like the moves towards the bathtub in the clip. I think such a look can be best achieved with a system that stabilizes all axes as all moves can be like drawn at a line. The clip was operated as single user with follow mode.


I also edited some tests I did two months ago in a skatepark. Some of the scenes where shot walking handheld with the system and others while running behind the skaters. Like the clip above every shot was operated as single user with follow mode. As far I understood from the specs and manuals of the MoVi and the upcoming DJI Ronin follow mode in combination with low to high mode on a steadicam will only be possible with Alexmos based systems at the moment. That is because the Alexmos software allows to enable follow mode separately for tilt and pan while MoVi and Ronin only allow to select between two operator mode and majestic in general.


Later I plan to offer the system in combination with the steadicam rollover bracket, if somebody is interested. Probably this offer will be combined with a 2 days introduction visit to go through the setup and also in order to tune the system to the camera and remote focus configuration which is going to be used.


www.portahead.de
 
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