Well there’s an angle you don’t see everyday. UK surfer and owner of Lunasurf, Ian Battrick, has brought a unique perspective to the POV surf realm with his brand new invention, the Brain Pole. Battrick told Grind TV that the Brain Pole was “initially inspired by a mountain biking friend Matt Noel who had some interesting pole angle clips with a view looking back at him riding.”
“I was actually prepping my van for my European winter trips and had all my tools out,” continued Battrick. “I discovered that someone had left a Gath surfing helmet in my garage, and being caffeinated up, I started calculating a few new ideas to nail some tube footage, using a weighted pole.”
At first glance, the Brain Pole looks like any other camera boom arm, but there’s a little more to it. And it took a little ingenuity to create. “The pole was on a swivel ball, so I had to tie it into position,” said Ian. “The first wave I got drilled on and it snapped the tie. So I had to get out, go back to the van, fix it, then paddle back out again. Sure enough, the same thing happened on the next wave. In the end, luckily, it was third.”
A radical invention or a useless contraption? Ian’s barrel delivered a unique perspective, but it seemed to be getting in the way a bit, as the camera caught the lip of the barrel a few times. Additionally, it’s great that it’s hands-free, but the camera position is uncontrollably at the mercy of the swivel ball. It kind of has a mind of its own. Whether it has its place in POV filming is for you decide, but what is less debatable is how awesome these airs using the Brain Pole are:
