Matthews Studio Equipment is now shipping its newest support device, The Matthews Elevator system.
“Today’s filmmakers are often taxed with the challenge of capturing exciting footage, but doing it on a conservative budget,” said Robert Kulesh, MSE’s VP of sales and marketing. “Directors are always asking for dynamic camera moves, but production often hasn’t budgeted for the additional support equipment that will allow crews to make that happen. Enter MSE’s new Elevator system. It assists filmmakers and shooters of all calibres, on large and small sets, in creating dynamic vertical camera moves without the additional cost of conventional dollies or cranes.”
The Elevator is a simple counterbalanced elevation tower that serves a dual purpose. It allows for 25.5 inches of smooth vertical movement (covering the range between sitting and standing positions) and 360-degree panning, both equipped with drag control.
As with most MSE support products, the Elevator system is platform agnostic. It works with heavy-duty sliders, tripods, pipe dollies, high hats and bazookas – most systems that use an elemac mounting base.
The Elevator has simple 1:1 counterweight (Olympic size barbells) and multiple 3/8-16 threaded holes for mounting accessories and/or triangulation. It can support any camera/fluid head combo up to 23kgs or 50.5 pounds.
Sliders, pipe Dollies, and doorway dollies have become essential for most filmmakers, but are somewhat limited given that they only allow lateral movement. Combining the Elevator with any lateral moving camera support piece creates a multi axis system, greatly expanding shooting capability while maintaining a small footprint. One person can easily carry it up a flight of stairs, or around set.
“When coupled with any of the myriad of available dollies or other camera transport devices, both the rising camera POV and rotational possibilities of the Elevator offer new and previously almost impossible image capture with ease for the budget-conscious filmmaker,” added Kulesh.
