Getting Into the Race: Easing Difficult Shots With the Pictorvision XR

Watch the Seabiscuit Shot Story

“You could not have gotten the shots we got with any other head”
John Schwartzman, ASC
Cinematographer, Seabiscuit

The memorable race scenes in Seabiscuit have an “I wonder how they did that?” quality to them. Tight shots, stable horizon, and very little shake.

The Pictorvision XR made these shots relatively easy despite the challenges faced by production. The camera car, travelling at 40 mph on a dirt track, had to follow the action from a safe distance to avoid spooking the horses. The white infield fence magnified any vibration that entered the shot and because the horses quickly grew tired, production had very few takes to overcome these challenges.

Using the XR on a camera car allowed the cinematographer to manage all of these issues. The stable 550 mm lens that production was able to use provided the stunning images seen in the movie.

Quite simply, no other remote head could have stabilized a lens long enough to capture the spellbinding images.

Cinematographer, John Schwartzman, ASC, understood the unique shots made possible by using the XR with an 11:1 zoom lens and a doubler:

“This was the only way to get the detail on the eyes of the jockeys and the horses, showing the horse’s nose flaring, and so on. The XR was crucial because… we had limited takes to get it right”