In the highly competitive $28.5 billion movie industry, filmmakers are constantly seeking ways to innovate and push the limits of technology to create awe-inspiring shots and sequences to impress both critics and audiences.
One such innovative technology is the SnorriCam. This is a camera rig that attaches to an actor’s body to capture immersive point-of-view shots.
The camera was developed by Eiður Snorri in order to add a new angle to video production. Upon its launch, the SnorriCam rig soon gained popularity after being used in Darren Aronofsky’s first film (Requiem for a Dream, 2000) and eventually made its way to Hollywood blockbusters.
In its current iteration, the SnorriCam rig comprises a standard body harness that can be fitted with many different types of camera arms for different kinds of shots and filming techniques. When commercializing this idea, Eiður turned to distributed manufacturing platform Hubs for their expertise. The collaboration not only helped Eiður speed up the development process but also reduce the manufacturing costs.
Why CNC machining?
A SnorriCam rig needs to safely attach to an actor’s body, allow for a dynamic range of motion, swivel and lock seamlessly, all without dropping a 5 kg camera. This requires sturdy and high tolerance stuff, which makes CNC machining appropriate.
In a statement provided to Digital Journal, Snorri states: “When you swing the camera back and forth, it creates an unbelievable amount of force. He adds that the camera itself is not fixed, but can swivel for a broader range of coverage.
Snorri goes on to say: “All the locking mechanisms had to be crazy strong to keep the camera from flying all over the place. If they were too loose, the camera would wobble, and if they were too tight, the mechanism wouldn’t fit together.”
He further adds: “You have a very expensive camera at the end of it, so it has to be perfect.”
As a customizable, complex, and niche industry product, the rig is constantly undergoing design iterations, and the device itself comprises a huge number of metal parts that need to fit together perfectly.
After grappling with issues of design for use and manufacturability, Snorri turned to the company Hubs. This process enabled Snorri to load CAD designs and compare materials and prices. This required the use of Hubs’ Design for Manufacturability (DoF) tool.
Hubs supplies all the metal parts found on the rig, including cheese plates, specialized pins, knobs and wingnuts, arms, swivel mechanisms, support cubes for the arms, and many other complex components.
Snorri is currently exploring the idea of a potential prosumer device that’s more affordable for smaller production companies and indie filmmakers.
