THE ORBIT
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THE ORBIT
The pioneering Comodo Orbit
is the only rig designed to full
all the demands of ‘single shot
cinema’ lm-making and is
perfectly suitable for use as a
conventional camera stabiliser
too.
Single Shot Cinema is an intimate
cinema-vérité lm technique that
enables a scene to be shot in a
single take using just one camera
moving uidly around the subject -
recording all the camera angles that
express the lm-maker’s personal
perception of that moment. The
camera movement itself becomes
the primary cinematic expression.
Designed by Leonard Retel
Helmrich, the multi-award-winning
Dutch cinematographer and
lm-maker and manufactured
exclusively by Bowens, as part
of the Comodo camera rig and
grip range, this pioneering rig is
designed for use with camcorders
and HD-DSLR cameras.
Orbit’s patented twin grip
stabilisation allows operators
to move freely with the action,
nessing the camera into places
hitherto impossible with other
support systems - thus enabling
a true Single Shot Cinema
experience.
The twin-grips also reduce
operator fatigue inherent with
single grip stabilisers and, uniquely,
enables the Orbit to be smoothly
and easily passed across from
one operator to the next, allowing
the camera to appear to ‘y’
through windows, doorways and
other narrow spaces to achieve
shots that previously could only
have been partly replicated using
cumbersome camera cranes with
all their associated restrictions and
time-consuming set-ups.
Retel Helmrich, a world-acclaimed
director and guru of the Single Shot
Cinema shooting technique, plus a
raft of related technical camera
innovations, has gained honours
at both the Sundance Film Festival
and the International Documentary
Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).
He says: “Now an operator can
move inside an event and go with
the camera to the right spot, at the
right moment…that’s what Single
Shot Cinema is all about. Big
things and small things are equally
important.”
Orbit from Comodo allows camera
operators to create breathtaking
orbits, sweeps and even crane-
style shots - all from a exible and
highly versatile handheld camera
rig.
Adds Retel Helmrich: “You can
almost y around. Choose to stay
low to the ground or go high up
to the ceiling – you’re very free,
yet still very steady. You can use
your camera like you write – and
you can describe the scenes with
your camera movements. That’s
actually the essence of Single Shot
Cinema – capturing the moment
as much as possible in one shot,
to be later condensed into shorter
scenes with minimal editing – it’s
about cutting from movement to
movement.”
New York Times critic John
Anderson notes in a 2011 review of
Retel Helmrich’s production: Shape
of the Moon: “In this lm a barefoot
man crosses a railroad trestle a
thousand feet above an Indonesian
valley, stepping briskly along a
beam barely wider than his feet.
We see him from behind. We see
him from above. Most alarming, we
see him from the side, by means of
a camera that seems mounted in
mid-air. It’s breathtaking, what the
subject is doing. But a man with a
camera is doing it too.”
Rob Moss, lm lecturer at Harvard
adds: “Retel Helmrich’s camera
glides through spaces in a way that
just seems impossible. Sometimes
you stop looking at the movie
and look at the shot. I think it’s
delightful.”
Of course, the Comodo Orbit is
perfectly suitable for use as a
conventional camera stabiliser too,
even if you’re not looking to shoot
using the Single Shot Cinema
technique.
Look out for more advanced video
tutorials on Single Shot Cinema
techniques at:
Comodorigs.com
Join the Single Shot Cinema
Facebook community for advice,
tips and tricks and online master
classes:
Facebook.com/orbitrig
‘Leonard Retel Helmrich’s camera glides through spaces in a way that just seems impossible.’
Rob Moss, film lecturer at Harvard University
