Where is the camera business going?

The new innovations at trade shows have appeared somewhat lacklustre and tired, with very little appearing in real innovation. Don't get me wrong, there have been startling technological advances in camera, lighting, lenses, camera rigs, CGI, sound, post production, distribution and projection. Yet there has been nothing really revolutionary for a few years now. On reading that back that just reminded me of the "What have the Romans ever done for us?", scene in Monty Python's Life Of Brian (1979, DP Peter Biziou BSC), but I digress.

For example, in the camera department we have had truly inspiring ultra-high-resolution sensors built into ever smaller and lighter camera bodies, making the flexibility of movement and rigging cameras in confined spaces a great deal easier.

Lens technology has had to keep up with the huge resolution ramp in camera sensors, and some remarkable glass tools have been produced. In lighting, too, there has been a revolution in LED technology, with less heat output, lower power use and the advent of bi-colour LEDs meaning the lamp can be any colour temperature you now wish at the turn of a wheel – all in the same unit.

Yes, there have been fantastic focus and lens control aids, camera rigging devices and drone technology, and now metadata of all the camera and lens parameters is being recorded and much more.

Yet in terms of camera ergonomics and design it's essentially a box with a large hole in one end where the lens attaches. (Apologies to all the camera designers who go to great pains to produce a visually exciting exterior that is also what the camera department ask for in terms of functions). Whilst this is serving the business and is very functional, there are some small camera systems in the lower-priced end of the market that could be worth looking at and adapting for the bigger sensor cameras.

For example, the DJI OSMO is a small handheld, gyro-stabilised, gimbal camera system that could have potential for some fantastic shots in the right hands. This is a handheld device that has an interchangeable camera head and can be operated by a small monitor and software, or most likely, a Smartphone. The classic shot in the original Rocky (1976, DP James Crabe) film where Stallone runs up the steps of the art museum is now a classic cinema icon, yet that shot was made by the very first uses in a movie of the Steadicam invented by Garrett Brown. That shot made the audience gasp "Wow! How did they do that?", as it had never been possible before. There have been shots that do that to the audience since then, but at the time this was truly ground-breaking.

Since then there have been huge advances in technology and computers to make the stable movement of the camera more readily available, and cameras have been put in places never thought possible even 30 years ago. The thought of using a small, high-resolution camera, the size of a matchbox, in a major science fiction movie would have been laughed at even a few years ago, yet that happened in The Martian (DP Dariusz Wolski) in 2015. Inside the cab of the transporter there are several GoPro cameras used as storytelling pictures in several of the scenes.

Going back to the idea of camera movement and storytelling, the Rocky sequence told a story and enhanced the story. It added a sense of achievement and success over all odds that became a truly memorable scene. Even today, buses full of children pile out and run up the steps to emulate the scene in the movie, and to emphasise there is a way to achieve goals if you stick at it and keep going even when the going gets tough and you feel like quitting. That is how much the movies and camera shots have a positive influence over the audience.

Since then the Steadicam has developed into a highly-sophisticated and superb tool for the DP and director to use to enhance the storytelling process. It's impossible to tell if that film would ever have made it quite so massive and started Stallone's long career without that one classic Steadicam shot.

Cameras are getting smaller, without doubt, and the question is: does that create more creativity, or does it make camera systems very fiddly for the camera crew to operate? Well, both, of course! Camera lens focus rings and other bars systems have developed to be generic to any lens or camera and not specific to any camera manufacturer (with a few notable exceptions, of course). In terms of cars it is like being able to use an engine from a Mercedes in an Audi, for example. It just doesn't work like that in cars, although several cars do use the same platform and floorplan and simply change the bodywork for different markets. VW and Audi for example, and Citroen and Peugeot are made on the same production line next to each other, just rebadged and the trim changed. OK, back to cameras.