Search Results for:
Russel Torode (The Batman, F1) on the Prodigy Air Deflector
The Prodigy Air Deflector has become a core product in our range in the years since its release. Our patented design uses compressed air to blast your lens clear of any moisture, dust or other particulates that could ruin your shot.
Camera teams that had previously relied on imperfect rain shields and spinners – which would leave inconvenient black spots on your frame – could now shoot in confidence whatever the weather. Since arriving on the market, the Prodigy has been used on some of the world’s largest productions.
Russel Torode is an Assistant Cameraman with a lengthy career spanning the past decade; including credits in the Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and James Bond franchises. So when it came time to travel to Gotham City for 2022’s The Batman, Torode was in a familiar setting.
Director Matt Reeves and Cinematographer Greig Fraser envisioned a rainy, neo-noir Gotham City: with pouring rain in most scenes. The action-packed car chase between Robert Pattinson’s Batman and Colin Farrell’s Penguin in particular required a bespoke solution to keep rain out of the frame.
The Batman’s camera team initially considered building their own rain deflector system for the car chase – but having seen a prototype Prodigy in action at a camera showcase, they got in touch to request some models.
“[The Prodigy] is basically what we were trying to create when we were making our own.
We put it through its paces on that job, for sure. The whole [film] is dark and rainy, the whole way through, so we used it loads on The Batman. There was torrential rain – indoors and outdoors – all the time. It was used on vehicles, used on cranes – it was used all the time.”
– Russel Torode
Since then, Torode has gone on to use the Prodigy Air Deflector on a number of other productions including Jamie Payne’s Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023), the Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power Season 2 and Joseph Kosinski’s upcoming F1 (2025).
“I used it on Luther, the Netflix movie – we had rain effects on that. We also had a scene in a prison, where the guards were spraying the prisoners with hoses, so we used it for that. On [F1], we had seven of them rigged up to an array vehicle.
The advantage over traditional rain deflectors is not having a spinning piece of glass in front of the lens – the central dead-spot – and there’s no vibration. I’ve had it several times on vehicles, where if the car moves in a particular way, you can see the image shift. But with the air that the Prodigy fires out, you don’t have that issue.”
– Russel Torode
The Prodigy Air Deflector is available to buy now from our website and from our affiliated retailers.
Try Before You Buy
Alternatively, several rental houses stock the Prodigy Air Deflector, so you can take it out as and when you need it. If you want to test the protective power of the Prodigy, here is a list of our affiliated dealers across Europe and the USA:
Share:
