Olympic fame for Polecam

Polecam takes its place at ‘Olympic Games: Behind the Screen’ exhibition in Lausanne, Switzerland

A Polecam rig, fitted with the FishFace underwater system, has gone on display at an exhibiton entitled ‘Olympic Games: Behind the Screen’ at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Polecam, the lightweight and portable carbon fibre crane system, has been used extensively for broadcast coverage of many genres of sport, enhancing the viewing experience and excitement by getting close-in action POV shots and moves that would not be possible by any other means. (You will be able to see Polecam in such action with a skilled operator at the GTC Day in the Country as well as other exciting camera mounts and rigs from GTC sponsor companies.)

Polecam for sport

This success in sports coverage has been facilitated by the low-profile camera and remote pan and tilt head, which can deliver broadcast HD to the feed without blocking the view of spectators or getting in the way of participants. Health and safety issues are minimal because of the lightweight boom, head and camera, unlike many other crane systems, while the fact that it can be rigged or derigged in as little as 10 minutes allows Polecam to change viewing positions, even during an event.

Polecam FishFace

The Polecam FishFace system made its debut at the Sydney Games in 2000 with Camera Corps, broadcast equipment supplier to events worldwide. Steffan Hewitt, the designer of Polecam found a way to make the pan and tilt head waterproof so that he could mount the minicam in use at the time in a waterproof housing, enabling Polecam to shoot above water then dive down beneath the water and continue shooting. This could be used to follow a diver on the way down, the entry to the water, the recovery below water, then up again as the diver exited the pool, all in one continuous shot. For swimming it could be used to show the swimmer’s style from above and then below the water, and for an underwater view of the turn.

More recently, the FishFace system has progressed even further and can now include the ultra-motion Antelope PICO. See www.polecam.com/latest-news/679-fishface-pico-slow-motion-swimming.

Matteo Tassi, Programme Manager for the Cultural & Educational Programmes Unit at the museum said: “The exhibition is going very well and people are fascinated by the Polecam. We have a small screen showing images taken by the Polecam, together with an animation movie showing how it works along with some technical details.

The exhibition has recently been visited by a number of international museums and institutions who have expressed interest in having the exhibition after January 2016."

About the Olympic Museum

As well as its permanent exhibition, The Olympic Museum offers temporary exhibitions and a varied cultural programme throughout the year. Special programmes are created for each edition of the Games. The Olympic Museum organises two or three major temporary exhibitions every two years, and most of these go on to travel around the world. The permanent and temporary exhibitions are designed to highlight aspects of Olympic culture and its relationship with the world around it. The themes are linked to sport and the Olympic Games, from a topical cultural angle. See more at: www.olympic.org/museum