Creative COW: RailCam Robotic Systems is based in New Jersey and is an acclaimed provider of moving camera systems to live TV events across USA. RailCam owns several NEWTON stabilized camera systems and the last year they have for example provided them on cable suspended platforms and telescopic rail systems to the Oscars and the Democratic National Convention. For the broadcast of Superbowl 2021, they brought one Mini-C and four NEWTON stabilized heads mounted on telescopic towers and rail systems, placed around the stage of the halftime show with the artist The Weeknd.
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I never would have realized that all the cameras covering the halftime show were robotically operated. I am so used to seeing cameramen either lugging their rig around on their shoulder or on a Steadicam, or operating a large camera boom, both for stadium shows like this or live broadcast events from theatres. Frankly I could not tell the difference between this recording and any hand-operated recordings I’ve seen in the past. Granted, the cameras were remotely operated by hand by real people, but the way that the robotics were able to capture the feel of a handheld or tripod or boom based camera is very impressive. I obviously know how precise robotics are these days, but such precision also feels very artificial in general. These robotic camera systems are able to mimic the human operated feeling very very well. The article mentions as well that each robotic camera is operated by a separate person, which also surprised me. For some reason, I would have expected at least two people, maybe even more. It does make me wonder, though, How easy it would be for an experienced cameraperson, with no experience operating such a robot, to learn and how it would affect their shooting style.
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