Getting funky with a custom POV Rig

We had the fun privilege of working with local Vancouver start-up, nTrust, to help create one of their newest video ads. They wanted to create a video that would emulate what it was like to use their cloud money app in a first person perspective.

We put our creative heads together and came up with a way to mount our trusty a7s to fit this need. Our first step was to find a helmet that was sturdy enough to maintain the weight of the camera. We ended up going with a helmet used for motorbikes as it covered the whole head along with wrapping around the chin which made for a crucial mounting point.

From there, we started drilling! We knew we needed a hard mount for the camera along with a monitor and a counter balance. In terms of camera control, we wanted everything to be fairly automated for ease of use so we used the Sony Vario Tessar FE 16-35mm F4 OSS which allowed us to take advantage of the continuous autofocus and optical stabilization. After a few tweaks here and there, a bit of trial and error, and voila – we had our very own first person POV rig!

It was fun running around downtown Vancouver with this rig. People would give us the strangest looks followed by a slight grin – I think they thought it looked pretty silly! Add in a gorilla costume, santa claus outfit and a very bizarre version of the burger king and people must have thought we lost our minds. Little did they know of the video gold that we were getting! Definitely one of the more fun and interesting video productions we’ve done in Vancouver!