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Testing the Waters with the KASBAH Ātman Shoulder Rig
Whether you’re shooting a documentary on the Manchester ship canal or grounded narrative features, a shoulder rig is great for creating smooth shots whilst maintaining authentic handheld-like camera movement. Our KASBAH Ātman Shoulder Rig system has become an essential for many filmmakers: providing a comfortable shoulder rig for any camera system.
Recently, a team of filmmakers took a KASBAH Ātman down to the rugged Cornwall coast, giving them the freedom to shoot their short film Mordros. Now that production has wrapped, we caught up with Noah Berridge and Yuli Freed to find out why they used the KASBAH Ātman.
“Mordros” is a Cornish word referring to the “sound of the sea”. With 300 miles of coast along the southernmost tip of England, it’s no wonder the people of Cornwall needed their own words to describe it. But the short film is about much more than its namesake:
“Set against the rough Cornish coastline, inspired by the bond of friendship: the film follows the journey of Jack and Keegan, two close friends united by their love of open-water swimming. Others will never understand why they love the ocean, but they always have and always will.
We want Mordros to tell a story of swimming through rough waters, the beauty of growing up, and the courage it takes to dive into the unknown.”
– Yuli Freed
It’s a great logline, but how do you bring those ideas to life? When you’re working to the limits of a budget, matching the scope and style to your script is always a challenge. Shooting on the Sony A7SIII with G Master lenses, the team kept their camera rig minimal and efficient. However, they found that old-school handheld shots would be too unstable – especially with the inconsistent landscape.
“During our research and development for Modros, we knew we wanted whoever watched it to feel visually immersed in Jack and Keegan’s world – but we didn’t quite know how to do that. This led to us going on a recce in Cornwall a few weeks before we intended to have our principal photography.
During this test shoot, we realised that one way we could make the camera feel immersed in our scenes was to have a lot of dynamic handheld shots following our characters through the rough, Cornish coastline.
These long continuous shots with a documentary-esque style really embodied the visual feel we wanted to film to have. However, we soon came to realise that we would need some form of shoulder rig in order to make these shots look stable enough to be usable. This is where Bright Tangerine’s KASBAH Ātman Shoulder Rig came into play.”
– Yuli Freed
Yuli and Noah reached out to our team, and were lent an Ātman for their production – where it helped both the practical and stylistic aspects of Mordros during the eight-day shoot:
“Having the KASBAH Ātman shoulder rig on set meant that I could walk confidently and safely over wet and rough rocks while still maintaining the smooth and dynamic feel we were chasing.
Another huge advantage to having the Ātman on set was the ridiculously fast setup changes we were able to achieve, thanks to the BUD plate. Having a quick-release, two-axis plate mounted directly to the bottom of our camera meant that I could switch to a more minimal handheld setup in less than 15 seconds or so; and then go straight back onto the shoulder rig when it was required.
The light weight of the Ātman allowed me to operate the camera with a single hand, freeing up my other to pull focus. In 30mph winds and heavy rain, having such a quick and reliable setup really saved us!”
– Yuli Freed
Thankfully, the wind and rain didn’t dampen the entire shoot, and the Mordros team were able to authentically capture the Cornish coast.
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