Nothing says adventure porn like super slow mo of snowboarders hucking cliffs, Kelly Slater turning his head, and a skateboarder tricking into big air off the lip of an empty pool—and proves once again that nobody does it better than they do. Their 2012 highlight reel features all of fancy stuff you've come to expect, and a bunch of stuff you might not, wolves leaping through fresh powder, the slowed-down beat of a white butterfly's wings, and aerials of grizzlies trudging across a snow-covered landscape.
As we've covered in ϳԹ before, they can do all of this because of a stable of high-powered technical toys—high-def cameras mounted to trucks, atvs, snowmobiles, helicopters, and more. They've pushed the edge of quality in the adventure film world, and they're doing it again. Around the time they released the highlight reel above three days ago, they also put out videos of their newest toys.
The is a digitally-stabilized camera and mount that is smaller in size than past models so that it can be packed more easily for travel, yet it still pushes the limits of high def video. That's all to say, it's a smaller, sleeker upgrade to the camera the production house used to film . Brain Farm put the Cineflex ELITE through BETA testing recently and cut a film showing the camera's results on their web site. It's a super-compact, digitally-stabilized 35mm (ARRI Alexa M camera and Canon Premier lens) that mounts faster than other , and can still deliver a smooth shot when attached to something that's moving and shaking at high speed—a helicopter, a truck, or boat. The camera uses the same type of technology that the military uses on surveillance cameras to deliver shots of the enemy, and that BBC filmmakers use for those . Check out the video below to see the end product.
“We are proud to have been a part of the creation of the Cineflex ELITE as the new system will take digital cinematography to the next level. This new system will inevitably be a major game changer in the world of digital cinema production,” said CEO Curt Morgan. “We are currently testing the boundaries of use on various projects from mounting and controlling the system wirelessly on everything from a jet ski to an unmanned helicopter and we are extremely excited for its release to market.”
As of yet, there's no price listed for the camera, just in case you we're out looking at your Honda Civic for mounting options.
The second toy uses a Cineflex camera and remote control helicopter to deliver aerial shots. Just watch the video below.
–Joe Spring