Cannes Film Festival 2017 Robotic Pod Installation for AFP

Robotic Pod at Cannes Film Festival Captures Incredible Photos

FOR THE SECOND YEAR RUNNING, AFP (ASSOCIATED FRENCH PRESS), HAS USED THE ROBOTIC POD TO CAPTURE STUNNING IMAGES FROM A LOCATION THAT IS COMPLETELY INACCESSIBLE TO PHOTOGRAPHERS DURING THE FESTIVAL.

Using the Robotic Pod, fitted with a modified Nikon D5 and 80-400mm lens, AFP could easily zoom in on the stars as they made their way down the red carpet and capture photos that would be virtually impossible to capture otherwise. The Robotic Pod has three axis of movement, which allowed AFP to frame each picture precisely, all from a remote location far away from the red carpet. Given the Pod’s ability to be controlled over IP, photographers can be located at any remote location and have complete control over the Robotic Pod. As an example, back in 2014, during the Sochi Winter Games, AFP controlled one robot (mounted high up on the mountains ski slopes), from their press centre over 50km away in real time.

A UNIQUE ANGLE IS IMPORTANT TO STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD, THE SHOT ABOVE SHOWS 100’S OF PHOTOGRAPHERS CAPTURING THE SAME IMAGE. THE ROBOTIC POD HOWEVER, ALLOWED AFP PHOTOGRAPHER ANTONIN THUILLIER TO CAPTURE THE ANGLE ABOVE THE RED CARPET.
The Robotic Pod’s ability to capture unique and incredible images was instantly demonstrated at the Cannes festival, when Rihanna used one of the images caught by the Robotic Pod, on her Instagram feed (with 53 million followers), to show her arriving at the event.
Using the Robotic Pod at red carpet events and other shows has a number of interesting benefits, not only in terms of capturing unique images, but also in terms of photographers’ time – with the robot installed in advance, photographers won’t need to stand around for hours waiting for the celebrities to arrive.
It’s also possible to pick elevated angles that will give a clean background – or in some of the photos you can see here, use other guests and photographers as the background. The Robotic Pod also offers an incredible level of repeatability, so the same shot of each and every celebrity can be easily captured.
For more information on the Robotic Pod click here