The challenge
SnorriCam develops customizable, professional camera rigs that attach to actors to get dynamic and immersive point-of-view shots. As a customizable, complex and niche industry product, the rig is constantly undergoing design iterations, and the device itself comprises a huge number of metal parts that need to fit together perfectly. Traditional manufacturing slows down the design process, and even finding manufacturers to produce tiny numbers of specialized parts is tricky.
How Hubs helped
Hubs’ quote builder and service offerings helped SnorriCam transform the first professional iteration of the rig into a robust piece of filmmaking equipment. Being able to compare many quotes instantly allowed SnorriCam to iterate rapidly and perfect the design, and Hubs’ extensive network of CNC machinists provided high tolerance and durable parts to spec. This helped SnorriCam bring the latest version of the rig to market quickly and cost-effectively.
Cinephiles and casual moviegoers alike have all seen films with at least a few shots from a SnorriCam . From amplifying the narrative of Darren Aronofsky ’s Pi to getting dynamic close-ups of Tom Holland and Zendaya in Spider-Man: No Way Home , the SnorriCam has made its mark on cinematic history.
Developed by Eiður Snorri and Einar Snorriin in the early 90s, the SnorriCam is a camera rig that attaches to an actor’s body to capture an actor’s point of view. In its current iteration, the rig comprises a standard body harness that can be fitted with many different types of camera arms for different kinds of shots and filming techniques.
To safely attach to an actor’s body, allow for a dynamic range of motion, swivel and lock seamlessly without dropping a 5 kg camera and the SnorriCam rig has to be made of sturdy, highly toleranced stuff. It’s a premium piece of equipment, so every component has to be of professional quality and fit together perfectly while being manufactured in minuscule quantities. It’s a tall order for traditional manufacturing and a perfect fit for Hubs.
Creating the first SnorriCam
Before developing the SnorriCam, Eiður was a director and filmmaker with no aspirations to become, as he puts it, an “equipment guy.” Any rig he built was for telling stories in a unique way, rather than creating commercial products. So when he and Einar first developed the point-of-view rig that would become the SnorriCam, it was more to “see what a character was feeling.”
The duo was shooting a low-budget music video for a women-led punk band and thought it would be more interesting to get into the heads of the band members through this innovative design.
Eric Watson, a mutual friend of the Snorri’s and burgeoning director Darren Aronofsky, saw the creative potential of the rig and asked to borrow it. Aronofsky ended up using it to film key sequences of Pi (his first film and an award-winner at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival) and according to Eiður, “it ended up being a big part of the look and feel of the film.” The name “SnorriCam” actually comes from Aronofsky himself.
Aronofsky’s cinematic style, amplified by the use of the rig, generated immediate and lasting interest in SnorriCam. Eiður says, “everyone was really interested in this strange camera style.”
