Technocrane
Telescopic camera crane
A technocrane is a telescopic camera crane widely utilised in the film industry and in television production. Originally commissioned, manufactured, named and marketed by Technovision Ltd. in London, United Kingdom, the first TechnoCrane was exhibited by Technovision during Photokina Expo in Cologne, Germany in September 1986.
Today, TechnoCrane derivatives are available from several different manufacturers, such as SuperTechno, MovieBird, Filmotechnic, Servicevision among others, and come in many different sizes and various specifications, with extended arms reaching 10 feet (3.0 m) to 100 feet (30 m).
The camera is mounted on a remote head on the end of the crane arm and is remote controlled by a camera operator at a control desk. The Technocrane can telescope at variable speeds on demand. It allows camera moves that cannot be achieved using a jib arm crane and camera dolly, and the telescoping can be used to compensate for the camera moving in an arc called "arc compensation".
01History
The Technocrane was first introduced to Hollywood by Simon Jayes in the late 1980s who was one of the first Technovision trained crane technicians in London. Similar camera crane technology was also introduced to the Soviet film industry by Ukrainian Academy Award winning cinema engineer Anatoliy Kokush ( Filmotechnic ) at the same period of time.
In 1999, the Society of Camera Operators (S.O.C.) presented their technical achievement award to Technovision, Gyula Mester and Keith Edwards for the "First Telescopic Camera Crane" and for their significant contributions to the Art, Craft and Safety of the Camera Operator.
In 2005, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards to Horst Burbulla, Gyula Mester and Keith Edwards for the invention and development of the Technocrane.
02Usage
Productions that have used the Technocrane or the later SuperTechnocrane include Titanic, the Harry Potter films, the Lord of the Rings films, and all the James Bond films of the late 1990s and 2000s, among many others.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Technocrane”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Commercial For Black Visa.JPG by TCC inc Telescopic Camera Cranes, CC BY-SA 3.0
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.
