Friday, April 05, 2013

Here's a $15,000 device that replaces a Steadicam. It might be a small for some cinematic HD video cameras, but you ought to be able to get a RED on there. Interestingly, the MOVI camera allows one operator to move the camera, while a second, remote operator aims the camera, freeing each to concentrate on one job instead of two.

I'm a big fan of Steadicams -- we shot ROLE PLAY almost entirely on a Steadi. Anything that makes it easier to move the camera around flexibly is a big plus. Obviously, with a Steadi you can go down stairs, climb into a car, go in and out of an elevator. Less obviously, your cameraman can easily compensate when an actor goes off his mark, saving everyone time and energy.


I'm not 100% sure that this is a big moneysaver. You can get a Steadicam guy to show up with his rig for, say, $1500 a day (Montreal/Toronto rates), less if it's a favor. Even if you have two operators (who can do things the single Steadicam guy can't), you're still probably paying less than that for the rig plus the operators. But not an order of magnitude less.

On the other hand, it allows any working DP to afford a Steadicam-like rig, so he can bring it into work as an option over the dolly instead of having to rely on the availability of top Steadi operators.

2:56 PM

3 Comments:

As of today you can pre-order it ($2500 USD refundable deposit):

MōVI M10 pre-order site

I think you can see from the videos that it can pull off shots that would be impossible with a Steadicam -- the rollerblade-through-taxi-window shot being the most obvious example.

If you can rent a Steadicam, you'll be able to rent a MōVI. I imagine the rental cost would only be a fraction of the cost of a Steadicam rental, say $250/day. So it could potentially be a money saver as well.

As a purchase for an indie-film DP crew, at $15K~? That's a no-brainer. "Take my money!"

By  deanareeno, at 8:28 AM  

This is the other recent announcement that piqued my interest:

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

$995 USD, shipping in July. It's an amazing time to be an indie-film-maker.

By  deanareeno, at 8:34 AM  

One last bit about the MōVI:

FX Guide on the MōVI @ NAB2013

By  deanareeno, at 10:26 AM  

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