Features of the F35
• Super 35mm‐sized CCD sensor
• Full resolution 1920×1080 RGB images.
• Fully selectable frame rate from 1 to 50 fps
• 4:4:4 or 4:2:2 recording

Specs:
• Up to 30 min record times at maximum resolution 4K 16:9
• Angenieux HR 10:1 comes standard

Advantages
• No Image Skew Problems
• No Rolling Shutter Issues
• No Dropped Frames

“With SnakeHead, we provide a totally unique and exclusive technology for aviation cinematography to bring never-before-seen screen quality,” said Ron Goodman, founder and president of SpaceCam Systems, and recipient of the 1996 Academy Award for Scientific and Engineering Achievement.  SpaceCam is used on 80% of the major films made in Hollywood today.

With nearly full spherical coverage (360 degrees pan and tilt), SnakeHead permits almost total freedom to the aerial cameraman.  It is the first fully stabilized optical system utilizing solid state flight attitude sensors and a digital signal processor.  This capability enables the camera aircraft to perform maneuvers up to its structural limits when following or pursuing the aircraft being filmed.  The entire optical system includes  heaters to avoid condensation fogging within the optical system.

Initial installation of SnakeHead is on the nose and tail of an Aero star 700 aircraft, with a top speed of 230 knots (370km/hour), and on the nose of a Lockheed T-33 ‘T-Bird’ two place jet trainer, with a top speed of 546 mph (879 kph).  Top speed for the aircraft with Snakehead installation is planned to be 450 mph. Planning is also underway for installation on a Lear 35 business jet and other private and military jets.

Snakehead allows for a 3x-plus zoom capability in two ranges for 35mm film and HD video use.  This corresponds to either an 18 to 60mm or a 28-90mm zoom on a 35mm film on an Arriflex F20, Panavision Genesis or Red HD camera.  It also accommodates 35mm 8Perf format with the 28-90mm optics.  Adaptors
will accommodate  the super large IMAX 65mm format.  Computer modeling suggests a resolution capability of 180 to 200 line pairs per millimeter equating to some of the best lenses available—in stark contrast to older periscope systems now in use.

To date, SnakeHead along with SpaceCam recently contributed a major sequence to the next Bond film, “Quantum of Solace”, involving some 4 weeks of filming in Mexico.

SnakeHead has also been involved in filming of a specialized commercial and is slated to participate in the pilot for a major HDTV series centered around aviation.

Designed by Dieter Siefert of SpaceCam, the camera features a new approach to large format film movements providing 100% capture of the negative during all phases of transport.  The mechanism features 8 pull down claws, 3 registration pins and utilizes SpaceCam’s proven 1000’ CCG magazines. At present the camera speed range is from 1 to 32fps, but as a second movement is completed testing will commence to achieve the full design speed of 48fps.  The camera has a single blade full speed focal plane shutter and a half speed, bow tie mirror shutter.  Vibration levels have been reduced drastically over the entire speed range.

Video viewfinding on such a camera is extremely critical and two systems  are utilized.  The first system is reflexed through the taking lens and utilizes a specially designed viewing screen and fresnel optic as well as precision relay lenses and a high  resolution video camera.  Swing-in ND filters and a servo controlled iris provide immediate control of the video picture during shooting.  Excellent video imaging is achieved even when the 30mm Zeiss fisheye is used.

The second video system is a bore-sighted high resolution system with interchangeable lenses. This set-up allows for tighter field of view to be presented when utilizing wide angle film lenses or when extreme undercranking is desired.  In this way exact tracking of small objects may be easily done.

The new camera also employs the SpaceCam developed Laser Focusing System for longer focal length lenses.  This infra red eye-safe laser will automatically track focus within centimeters at distances up to 300m.  It has been successfully used by SpaceCam for several years in the feature film industry.  With the increase in overall system stability, much longer focal length lenses can now be utilized in this format opening new creative possibilities to the film maker.

After several weeks of conversion time, a flight test over Los Angeles was conducted and the results were as impressive as anything SpaceCam has done with film. Mounted to the nose of an Astar model helicopter flown by film pilot Craig Hosking and operated by Goodman, the newly designed system captured perfectly steady images.

“The initial evaluation test was very successful,” said Goodman. “The stability we get with the HDTV camera is actually better than we get with our film systems because there are no mechanisms in motion that can cause instability.”

The lightweight camera and built-in recorder, both of which are stabilized inside the SpaceCam ball, also free up the helicopter cabin which facilities flying.

“I remember ten years ago trying to bolt an HDTV camera onto a Jet Ranger, says Hosking. “We had so much bulky equipment crammed inside the helicopter that I could barely get off the ground. We’ve come a long way since then. This is a huge leap for film makers and for film pilots. With the camcorder and SpaceCam’s nose mount we’re now able to provide full, aggressive, SpaceCam type filming for HDTV.”

Christian Nightingale, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for plus 8 Video, is equally pleased about the collaboration with SpaceCam. “It’s a perfect marriage for us because their attention to detail and perfection mentality is in the line with ours. SpaceCam is a proven system and together we look forward to providing the best possible results in HDTV.”

· Creativity - Enables much more aggressive flying for filming, which translates to more dynamic material, with full 360 degree continuous pan and +40, -90 degree tilt while the helicopter rolls +/-120 degrees.
· Versatility – Ensures that the camera enclosure always remains vertical and unaffected by the helicopter angle, even when the camera is pointed 90 degrees down and the helicopter is maneuvering aggressively.
· Safety – Enhances all safety aspects of flight in that no roll limits exist for the film pilot and he may react without the subconscious flight constraints associated with old fixed mounts.
· Cost Savings – Camera resets between “takes” may be done much more quickly with resultant production benefits both financially and creatively.

SpaceCam designed and developed the first fixed hard nose mounts back in 1993 and has offered that option ever since. Other gyro systems have been restricted to the side mount position until just recently. However the resulting nose mount replicas that other companies are introducing fall far short of SpaceCam’s original design as reported by the industry’s top film pilots. While the competition is just now trying to catch up with the nose mount option,
SpaceCam is once again moving forward with the R.A.M.S. which takes aerial cinematography to an even higher level.

Designed in response to the needs of Director Randall Wallace and DP Dean Semler on the Vietnam epic film We Were Soldiers, the SpaceCam Helicopter Omni Mounting System enables the film maker, for the first time, to easily and precisely film actors in actual flying positions. The basic structural design of the system is applicable to all helicopters but has been first applied to the OH-1 model of the Bell “Huey” line. The Huey was a natural for the new system’s first application because of its Vietnam utilization and high visual potential involving pilots, troops, guns and rockets.

The SpaceCam Huey Mount is a fully tested and operational system that was used with great success on We Were Soldiers in April 2001 at Ft. Hunter Liggett, California. SpaceCam system designer and aerial DP Ron Goodman operated the SpaceCam gyro-stabilized camera system with film pilots Cliff Fleming and Rick Shuster doing the flying. The crew filmed various air-to-air formations with transitions to and from principal actors within the picture-ship Huey. Also captured was close up work of Greg Kinnear with radio dialogue and shots with Mel Gibson and Sam Elliot in the open door of the Huey with helicopter formations in trail.

The SpaceCam Huey Mount is a camera mounting bracket system designed to mount the SpaceCam gyro-stabilized, remotely controlled camera module in a variety of positions to effect virtually all flying scenarios involving Huey helicopters. The Huey Mount consists of a modular tubular frame and ancillary mounting arms that may be used to provide over 200 different camera positions on the Huey helicopter. It is the first complete system of its kind. All prior art on this type of installation was on an improvised basis and simply mounted a camera in one position with either pipes, speed rails or other temporary mounts. The components of the SpaceCam system may be mounted singularly or in various configurations to effect camera positions and avoid the filming of the camera support system. A precise counter balance system is also incorporated in the design so that the Huey always stays within approved specifications for flight safety.

With the advent of highly stabilized and controllable gyro-stabilized platforms, more and more cinematographers are tempted to use longer lenses. Using longer lenses can, under many circumstances, create focus problems. With many of the lenses used in shots on gyro-stabilized platforms, like SpaceCam, it’s impossible for the focus puller to accurately pull focus. As a result, some of the desired lenses are not usable when performing certain types of shots. In order to expand the creativity of the imagery, an automatic focus system is absolutely necessary. The SpaceCam Laser Auto Focus System was developed for this reason.

The SpaceCam Laser Auto Focus System incorporates a low power infra-red laser that is certified by government agencies to be totally eye safe even under continuous operating conditions. In the SpaceCam Laser Auto Focus System the laser module is precisely bore-sighted 4 inches below the optical center of the film camera lens. The SpaceCam laser module emits pulses of infra-red light through a collimating optic and these pulses are sensed through an infra- red sensor with optics as the subject or target reflects the light back to the laser module. Electronics measure the round trip travel times for each pulse and generate a distance measurement. This signal is then introduced to the SpaceCam computer which in turn causes a precision lens focus motor, specially designed and built by SpaceCam, to drive the film camera lens to the exact focus position requested. The result is continuous and utterly smooth focus tracking. The range of the initial model of the SpaceCam Laser Auto Focus System is 600 feet (dependent upon IR reflectivity of target). The SpaceCam Laser Auto Focus System is fully integrated into the SpaceCam software and the operator may switch between normal manual, remote manual and Laser Auto Focus with a simple touch of a button.

The SpaceCam Laser Auto Focus System will expand the realm of creativity for today’s cinematographer. It enables faster, effortless execution of shots previously considered difficult or even impossible. The system will also provide increased safety and significant cost savings.

The SpaceCam Laser Auto Focus System is tested, perfected and available now.

Examples from our test logs:

Example 1.
Project: EVOLUTION
Page, Arizona December 2000 Camera Operator: Ron Goodman
Jeep @ dusk, w/ dialogue, desert road. 10:1 zoom, shooting stop T3.5, 250mm.
Converging tracking shot helicopter shot 900 ft to 60 ft. +/- 15 feet varying continually.
4 takes. Focus Success Rate: 100%
Example 2.
Project: SWORDFISH
Los Angeles December 2000 Camera Operators: Ron Goodman, Hans Bjerno
Long 250mm study of city bus being carried under Sikorsky Sky Crane Helicopter.
Camera is tilted down at sharp angle and moves from bus to helicopter at 250mm.
Focus Success Rate: 100%.
Example 3.
Project: WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE
Ft. Bening, Georgia March 2001 Camera Operator: Ron Goodman
Helicopter air-to-air 500mm,T 11.6. Head and shoulder shot of Huey helicopter pilot w/dialogue,
distance 60-65 ft. varying. Foreground Huey drops from frame to reveal CU of another Huey
pilot 100 to 120 ft. w/ constantly varying. 8 takes.
Focus Success Rate: 100%.
Example 4.
Project: DON’T SAY A WORD
New York March 2001 Camera Operator: Ron Goodman
Wide aerial est. shot NYC sunny day, East River converging and zooming to 250mm to reveal
vehicle traveling in heavy shade on underdeck of bridge. Shooting stop T16 to T5.6. Final
subject distance 500 to 150 feet. 3 takes.
Focus Success Rate: 100%
Note: SpaceCam Iris Slew feature used to effect 3 stop pull over 6 seconds during shot.

On an elaborate and complex set at the Long Beach Dome, Spielberg and his team (including Co-Producers Kathleen Kennedy and Bonnie Curtis, DP Janusz Kaminski and Key Grip Jim Kwiatkowski) chose a unique combination of SpaceCam, Camera Cars Unlimited and Wiggins Aerial Rigging and for a number of sequences; the specific details of which remain confidential.

SpaceCam’s gyro-stabilized camera system, used primarily on helicopters for aerial shooting, was first mounted to a Lenny Arm on a camera car. The typical SpaceCam ball which houses the camera system and gyros was stripped to reduce the weight and facilitate the smooth operation of the rig. It was driven by Lee Nashold of Camera Cars Unlimited and operated by SpaceCam system designer and Aerial DP Ron Goodman.

Then, in one of the most unique applications ever of the SpaceCam, Earl Wiggins of Wiggins Aerial Rigging was called upon to mount the camera system to his motion control, computer programmed, multiple winch cable rig set up. What resulted was a rig above the Dome that drove the camera system 300′ horizontally, from 60′ to ground level vertically and with camera moves 40º up, 90º down and 360º around – all remotely operated from the ground.

“This is a huge step forward in winch applications,” said an excited Goodman. “What Earl can provide is the smoothest operation in acceleration and deceleration in winches. Combine that with the stability of the SpaceCam and you have an amazing application and incredible possibilities for shooting.”

SpaceCam Systems, Inc. is located in Westlake Village, California (818) 889-6060.
Camera Cars Unlimited is located in Agoura Hills, California (818) 889-9903.
Wiggins Aerial Rigging is located in Santa Clarita, California (661) 296-1924.