a Bolt Cinebot on tracks

The Bolt High-Speed Cinebot is a camera rig that can bring alive movie sequences.

You have probably watched a gun being fired and the bullet hurtling towards the target, at an impatiently slow speed, till it hits the bull’s eye and disintegrates. Then, there is the cork ejecting out of a Champagne bottle, again slowly, while wine cascades out of the neck in slow sparkling bubbles. You have seen a bottle being smashed to smithereens on the head of the villain, as the fragments fly agonisingly slowly in different directions, even as blood splatters all over. All these high-speed action sequences are filmed at super-high speeds using new technology robots and 4K HD digital movie cameras, and played back at very slow speeds for dramatic impact. Hollywood has made extensive use of the unique Bolt High-Speed Cinebot in many of their top blockbuster movies, including Avengers: Age of Ultron , Jupiter Ascending , Skyfall and Maleficent. The world’s fastest camera robot was also involved in the Marvel production, Ant-Man.

“High-speed motion control photography was needed to shoot some exciting explosions and fires at high speed, but down at the scale of an ant! Using small lenses to get the camera close to the model sets, the Bolt High-Speed CineBot was the ideal tool for these shots — combining its high speed with accuracy, precision and synchronised triggers for firing miniature explosions and fires,” says Peter Rush, senior quality manager, Mark Roberts Motion Control, U.K.

Making pictures realPeter Rush and Harish Samtani of Stereovision (left)

The Bolt is a multi-axis precision motor-controlled robotic arm fixed to a stationary base, which, in turn, can be moved on hi-tech rails at the speed of four metres per second, while the arm can swivel in a 180-degree arc, in any direction.

“Logically, what we are making is art. I am an engineer who makes these highly complex machines. The people who use them create works of art. The camera at the end of the Bolt arm is first positioned at the beginning of the sequence of movement that has to be filmed. This is programmed into the software. Then, the end of the movement is determined and programmed, along with any intermediate positions or angles. We always remember that the visual is the product, and at no point of time should the machine overwhelming detract the viewer from the product. The machine facilitates movements in such a way that they can be repeated precisely and accurately as many times as required to get the perfect take. It also facilitates multiple shots of the same sequence to enable special effects at the post-production stage,” explains Peter.

He adds, “Mark Roberts Motion Control makes Bolt and we also write the Flair software that operates the Cinebot. Flair facilitates 128 axes of motion for the robotic arm,” states Peter. This is now in India, courtesy Stereovision.

Gopal Shah ( Veer ), Director of Photography, who is currently working on a film produced and directed by Anil Sharma (featuring his son Utkarsh Sharma as hero) is to use the Bolt in several sequences. “The new Bolt is ideal for conveying emotions,” he says.


Cinematographer Binod Pradhan ( Rang De Basanti , Munna Bhai MBBS ), who is in the final stages of making the English film Heidi , plans to use the Bolt for scenes that require high-speed sequences. “Playing back at super-slow motion speeds is one thing. But, if action scenes are speeded up; the visual effect will be really heightened,” feels Binod.

Mahesh Mathai, who has done pioneering work in music videos and commercials, is exploring using the option of using Bolt for a film on the life and accomplishments of astronaut Rakesh Sharma, which he is directing.






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Source : The Hindu
Nikhil Raghavan