Three years ago, action-sports film maker听 gambled听on a new company called 听(GSS) and its stabilized camera platform, which could听strap to a helicopter and hold ultra-high-definition听cameras like the听.
TGR鈥攖he听first customer of the northern California tech startup鈥攈ad to take out a massive loan to cover the camera system鈥檚 $700,000 price tag. But they thought it was worth the investment.听鈥淭his is a camera system that will impact the entire film industry, from Hollywood down,”听TGR co-founder Todd Jones said at the time.听
Turns out, Jones was right. The system has now been used in productions like the upcoming Bourne movie, the Super Bowl 50, The Bachelorette, and Discovery Channel's听Deadliest Catch.听On Tuesday,听Jones will be in New York City for the annual Emmy Awards, for their camera work, including Outstanding Camera Work and Outstanding Serialized Sports Documentary. It's the听first Emmy nomination听in the company鈥檚 history.
Both nominations are for TGR鈥檚 latest TV series, Higher TV, which is appearing now on 国产吃瓜黑料 Television (full disclosure:听翱耻迟蝉颈诲别听magazine is affiliated with 国产吃瓜黑料 Television)听and documents big-mountain snowboarder Jeremy Jones鈥 quest to ride听some of the world鈥檚 most rugged听snow-capped locations. The 10-episode听series, which debuted last fall, is a spin-off of Jeremy Jones鈥 movie trilogy, Deeper,听Further,听and Higher.听
鈥淚 stumbled across GSS in 2013 and I fell in love with their approach,鈥 says Todd Jones. 鈥淚 knew it was a risk, but I saw it and I said, 鈥業 want the first one.鈥 This is one of the most powerful camera systems in the world and it was really fun and exciting to be the ones taking this thing from the lab to the field.鈥
By field, Jones means jagged, remote peaks from Alaska to the Himalayas. In Nepal, where they shot for Higher,听they captured footage from high-altitude helicopters flying up to 25,000 feet with the GSS mounted to the chopper. 鈥淭he weather would move in so fast and we鈥檇 get bumped around by turbulence, but this system is laser sharp,鈥 Jones says.
That鈥檚 all part of the camera platform鈥檚 high-tech design. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a five-axis camera system that鈥檚 gyro stabilized, so it takes out all vibrations from a helicopter, airplane, boat鈥攁nything that moves or vibrates鈥攁nd provides that perfectly steady image,鈥 says Jason Fountaine, co-founder and managing director of GSS. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like a tripod you can take anywhere. Plus, it鈥檚 environmentally sealed, so you can shoot in any conditions, like rain or salt water, and it鈥檚 fully controlled from a laptop-controlled unit by the operator.鈥
Fountaine says they can鈥檛 take credit for TGR鈥檚 Emmy nominations, but they did provide the equipment that helped them get there. 鈥淲e provide the technology, but they鈥檙e the filmmakers,鈥 he says. 鈥淣ot that our system wins the award, but it gives them the platform they need to reach their creative capacity.鈥
https://player.vimeo.com/video/121045965
听