The Arri Group () is a German manufacturer of
motion picture
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
film equipment. Based in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment.
Hermann Simon mentioned this company in his book ''Hidden Champions of the 21st Century'' as an example of a "
hidden champion". The
Arri Alexa
The Arri Alexa (stylised as ΛLEXΛ) is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. First introduced in April 2010, the camera was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after previous efforts such as the Arr ...
camera system was used to film Academy Award winners for Best Cinematography including ''
Hugo
Hugo or HUGO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese
* Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback
* Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...
'', ''
Life of Pi
''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, India who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. He s ...
'', ''
Gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
'', ''
Birdman'', ''
The Revenant'' and ''
1917
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
* January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...
''.
History
Early history
Arri was founded in Munich, Germany on 12 September 1917 by August Arnold and Robert Richter as Arnold & Richter Cine Technik. The acronym ''Arri'' was derived from the initial two letters of the founders' surnames, ''Ar''nold and ''Ri''chter.
In 1924, Arnold and Richter developed their first film camera, the small and portable Kinarri 35. In 1937, Arri introduced the world's first reflex mirror shutter in the
Arriflex 35
The Arriflex 35, released by Arri in 1937, was the first reflex 35mm production motion picture camera.
Function
It was built around the spinning reflex twin-bladed "butterfly" mirror shutter designed by Erich Kästner, chief engineer at Arnold & ...
camera, an invention of longtime engineer
Erich Kästner
Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including '' Emil and the Detectives''. He received ...
. This technology employs a rotating mirror that allows a continuous motor to operate the camera while providing
parallax
Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...
-free reflex viewing to the operator, and the ability to focus the image by eye through the viewfinder, much like an
SLR camera for photography. The reflex design was subsequently used in almost every professional motion picture film camera and is still used in the Arri Alexa Studio digital camera. The first Hollywood film to employ an Arriflex was the 1947 Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall film ''
Dark Passage
''Dark Passage'' (1946) is a crime novel by David Goodis. It was the basis for the 1947 film noir of the same name. The film implements extensive use of the first-person camera technique.
Plot
Vincent Parry, wrongly convicted of murdering hi ...
'' in 1947. Over the years, more than 17,000 Arriflex 35s were built. The design was recognized with two Scientific and Technical Academy Awards in 1966 and 1982.
1950–1989
![Stafford Air & Space Museum, Weatherford, OK, US (59)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Stafford_Air_%26_Space_Museum%2C_Weatherford%2C_OK%2C_US_%2859%29.jpg)
In 1952, Arri introduced the
Arriflex 16ST
The Arriflex 16ST, also Arriflex 16S, is a 16mm MOS production motion picture camera released in 1952 by ARRI. The camera utilizes a voltage of 8.4 volts DC
Function
Like earlier models, the ARRI 16ST was built around the spinning reflex twin-bl ...
, the first professional 16mm camera with a reflex viewing system.
In 1965, a self-blimped 16mm camera was released: the Arriflex 16BL. The Arriflex 35BL
The Arriflex 35BL is a 35mm motion picture camera released by ARRI in 1972.
Function
The Arriflex 35BL was the first silent 35mm camera (BL stands for blimped). It uses a fixed butterfly reflex shutter, which gave the cinematographer an exact r ...
followed in 1972 as a lightweight, quiet alternative to the rather heavy and cumbersome blimped cameras of the time. Also in 1972, Arri pioneered the development of daylight luminaires with the Arrisonne 2000 W. The Arriflex 16SR
The Arriflex 16SR is a motion picture camera product line created by Arri, introduced in 1975. This 16SR camera series is designed for 16 mm filmmaking in Standard 16 format. 'SR' Stands for Silent Reflex.
In 1982, Arri released the 16SR2, for ...
, launched in 1975, featured a redesigned viewfinder with a through-the-lens light meter. The Arriflex 765
The Arriflex 765 is a 65 mm movie camera created by Arri in 1989.
History
The camera was conceptualized by Otto Blaschek, who had already engineered the Arriflex 35BL and the 35 III, for which he won the "Scientific and Engineering Award" of th ...
, a 65mm camera, was released in 1989, partly in response to the growing industry demand for 70mm release prints.
1990–2009
The Arriflex 535
The Arriflex 535 is a movie camera product line created by Arri in 1990 to replace the Arriflex 35 BL line.
As such, its potential applications are widespread, and thus it is regularly used as a primary camera on feature films, second unit work ...
camera was released in 1990, followed by the Arriflex 535B and the Arriflex 16SR 3 in 1992. The Arriflex 435
The Arriflex 435 is a movie camera product line created by Arri in 1995 to replace the Arriflex 35III line. The number reflects its position as a successor camera to the Arri III and the fact that it is designed for 35 mm film. The 435 cameras a ...
was released in 1994.
Arri partnered with Carl Zeiss AG
Carl Zeiss AG (), branded as ZEISS, is a German manufacturer of optical systems and optoelectronics, founded in Jena, Germany in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe (joined 1866) and Otto Schott (joined 1884) he laid the f ...
in order to develop and manufacture advanced lenses for the motion picture industry. In 1998, Arri released the Ultra Prime lenses.
Development of the Arrilaser
The Arri Group () is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. Hermann Simon menti ...
, a postproduction film recorder, began in 1997 and it was released for beta testing in 1998.
In 2000, Arri purchased the company Moviecam
Moviecam is a motion picture equipment company specializing in movie camera systems for 35 mm film.
History
Originally started in Vienna, Austria as an in-house project of Fritz Gabriel Bauer and Walter Kindler's Moviegroup film production ...
and developed Arricam
Arricam is a 35 mm movie camera line manufactured by Arri.
Description
It is Arri's flagship sync-sound camera line, replacing the Arriflex 535 line. The design was developed by Fritz Gabriel Bauer and Walter Trauninger, and is heavily deri ...
, a 35mm camera platform. In 2003, Arri developed its first digital camera, the Arriflex D-20, which later evolved into the D-21. The camera used a 35mm CMOS
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss", ) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFE ...
sensor (instead of CCD) and allowed cinematographers to utilize standard 35mm lenses. This technology was further developed and improved for the Arri Alexa
The Arri Alexa (stylised as ΛLEXΛ) is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. First introduced in April 2010, the camera was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after previous efforts such as the Arr ...
camera.
Arri revealed its Arriscan prototype during IBC 2003. The 16mm/35mm film scanner worked alongside the Arrilaser to support the increasingly popular digital intermediate route through postproduction. Later, the Arriscan became a widely used tool for film restoration work and was recognized with a Scientific and Engineering Academy Award in 2009.
Arri released the Master Prime lenses in 2005, designed for a super-fast aperture of T1.3 without breathing and distortion. In 2007, the Master Prime 14mm and 150mm lenses were released.
The Arrilaser 2 was released in 2009, with new client-server architecture and speeds twice as fast as the original model. In 2011, the Arrilaser was recognized with an Academy Award of Merit.[
]
2010–present
In 2010, the Arri Alexa
The Arri Alexa (stylised as ΛLEXΛ) is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. First introduced in April 2010, the camera was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after previous efforts such as the Arr ...
camera was released. The camera had the ability to compress 1080p footage to ProRes QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is avai ...
formats and allowed direct-to-edit workflows. Later models added to the range included the Alexa Plus, Alexa Studio and Alexa M, which was designed to get the camera closer to the action. The Alexa Plus 4:3, like the Alexa Studio, allowed the full area of the sensor to be used with anamorphic
Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. It also refers to the projection format in which a distorted ...
lenses.
The 16mm Arriflex 416 camera and Ultra Prime 16 lenses were used in the filming of the 2010 film ''Black Swan
The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon c ...
''.
Arri announced a strategic partnership with Zeiss and Fujinon in 2010 to create new lenses that incorporated enhanced electronic lens data transfer in order to simplify visual effects workflows in postproduction. The Arri/Fujinon Alura Zooms were released that same year, while the Arri/Zeiss Master Anamorphic
Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. It also refers to the projection format in which a distorted ...
lens series was released in 2012.
In 2013, Arri created ''Arri Medical'', a business unit that utilizes its camera technology for medical purposes. Apart from a medical imaging documentation service, it has developed a fully digital 3D surgical microscope called the Arriscope.
The Arri Alexa 65, released in 2014, was used in the filming of '' The Revenant'' as well as '' Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation'' and '' Star Wars: Rogue One''. The Arri Amira camera was also released in 2014.[ In 2015, four of the five nominees for the cinematography category of the Academy Awards were filmed using the Arri Alexa.
Arri's subsidiary postproduction and creative services company, Arri Film & TV, was renamed Arri Media in 2015 as part of a company restructuring. At NAB 2015, the SkyPanel LED fixtures were introduced by Arri. The SC60 and the SC30 have a full color tunable LED option.
In April 2016, Arri acquired the Artemis camera stabilizer systems developed by Curt O. Schaller from ]Sachtler
Sachtler is a manufacturer of film and video camera support products and reporter lighting equipment. The company was founded in 1958 and was bought by the United Kingdom's Vitec Group (now Videndum) in 1995.
History
Wendelin Sachtler was a cine ...
/ Vitec Videocom. As a result, Arri became the exclusive seller of Artemis Trinity stabilizers. At NAB 2016, Arri unveiled its version of the Trinity system.
Awards
Products
;Camera lines
* Kinarri 35
The Kinarri 35 was the ARRI's first 35mm camera, released in 1924.
Function
This was Arri's first camera, constructed by August Arnold. The Kinarri 35 was a hand cranked 35mm camera, in a round aluminum camera body, which was inspired by the Akele ...
(1924)
* Kinarri 16
The Kinarri 16 was the ARRI's first 16mm film, 16mm camera, released in 1928.
Function
The Kinarri 16 was first released as a hand cranked version, in a round camera body. The crank was on the right side and the framerate was obviously completely ...
(1928)
* Arriflex 35
The Arriflex 35, released by Arri in 1937, was the first reflex 35mm production motion picture camera.
Function
It was built around the spinning reflex twin-bladed "butterfly" mirror shutter designed by Erich Kästner, chief engineer at Arnold & ...
(1937)
* Arriflex 35 II
The Arriflex 35, released by Arri in 1937, was the first reflex 35mm production motion picture camera.
Function
It was built around the spinning reflex twin-bladed "butterfly" mirror shutter designed by Erich Kästner (camera designer), Erich Kä ...
(1946)
* Arriflex 16ST
The Arriflex 16ST, also Arriflex 16S, is a 16mm MOS production motion picture camera released in 1952 by ARRI. The camera utilizes a voltage of 8.4 volts DC
Function
Like earlier models, the ARRI 16ST was built around the spinning reflex twin-bl ...
(1952)
* Arriflex 16M
The Arriflex 16ST, also Arriflex 16S, is a 16mm MOS production motion picture camera released in 1952 by ARRI. The camera utilizes a voltage of 8.4 volts DC
Function
Like earlier models, the ARRI 16ST was built around the spinning reflex twin-bl ...
(1960)
* Arriflex 35 IIC
The Arriflex 35, released by Arri in 1937, was the first reflex 35mm production motion picture camera.
Function
It was built around the spinning reflex twin-bladed "butterfly" mirror shutter designed by Erich Kästner, chief engineer at Arnold & ...
(1964)
* Arriflex 16BL
The Arriflex 16BL is ARRI's first silent 16mm production motion picture camera, released in 1965. It was replaced by the Arriflex 16SR in 1975.
Function
The functionality is similar to the Arriflex 16M. It is built around the spinning reflex ...
(1965)
* Arritechno 35 (1970)
* Arriflex 35BL
The Arriflex 35BL is a 35mm motion picture camera released by ARRI in 1972.
Function
The Arriflex 35BL was the first silent 35mm camera (BL stands for blimped). It uses a fixed butterfly reflex shutter, which gave the cinematographer an exact r ...
(1972)
* Arriflex 16SR
The Arriflex 16SR is a motion picture camera product line created by Arri, introduced in 1975. This 16SR camera series is designed for 16 mm filmmaking in Standard 16 format. 'SR' Stands for Silent Reflex.
In 1982, Arri released the 16SR2, for ...
(1975)
* Arriflex 35BL II
The Arriflex 35BL is a 35mm motion picture camera released by ARRI in 1972.
Function
The Arriflex 35BL was the first silent 35mm camera (BL stands for blimped). It uses a fixed butterfly reflex shutter, which gave the cinematographer an exact r ...
(1975)
* Arriflex 35BL III (1980)
* Arriflex 35 IIIC
The Arriflex 35, released by Arri in 1937, was the first reflex 35mm production motion picture camera.
Function
It was built around the spinning reflex twin-bladed "butterfly" mirror shutter designed by Erich Kästner, chief engineer at Arnold ...
(1982)
* Arriflex 16SR2
The Arriflex 16SR is a motion picture camera product line created by Arri, introduced in 1975. This 16SR camera series is designed for 16 mm filmmaking in Standard 16 format. 'SR' Stands for Silent Reflex.
In 1982, Arri released the 16SR2, for im ...
(1982)
* Arriflex 35BL 4
The Arriflex 35BL is a 35mm motion picture camera released by ARRI in 1972.
Function
The Arriflex 35BL was the first silent 35mm camera (BL stands for blimped). It uses a fixed butterfly reflex shutter, which gave the cinematographer an exact ...
(1986)
* Arriflex 35BL 4S
The Arriflex 35BL is a 35mm motion picture camera released by ARRI in 1972.
Function
The Arriflex 35BL was the first silent 35mm camera (BL stands for blimped). It uses a fixed butterfly reflex shutter, which gave the cinematographer an exac ...
(1988)
* Arriflex 765
The Arriflex 765 is a 65 mm movie camera created by Arri in 1989.
History
The camera was conceptualized by Otto Blaschek, who had already engineered the Arriflex 35BL and the 35 III, for which he won the "Scientific and Engineering Award" of th ...
(1989)
* Arriflex 535
The Arriflex 535 is a movie camera product line created by Arri in 1990 to replace the Arriflex 35 BL line.
As such, its potential applications are widespread, and thus it is regularly used as a primary camera on feature films, second unit work ...
(1990)
* Arriflex 535 B (1992)
* Arriflex 16SR 3
The Arriflex 16SR is a motion picture camera product line created by Arri, introduced in 1975. This 16SR camera series is designed for 16 mm filmmaking in Standard 16 format. 'SR' Stands for Silent Reflex.
In 1982, Arri released the 16SR2, for ...
(1992)
* Arriflex 435
The Arriflex 435 is a movie camera product line created by Arri in 1995 to replace the Arriflex 35III line. The number reflects its position as a successor camera to the Arri III and the fact that it is designed for 35 mm film. The 435 cameras a ...
(1994)
* Arriflex 435 ES
The Arriflex 435 is a movie camera product line created by Arri in 1995 to replace the Arriflex 35III line. The number reflects its position as a successor camera to the Arri III and the fact that it is designed for 35 mm film. The 435 cameras a ...
(1995)
* Arricam
Arricam is a 35 mm movie camera line manufactured by Arri.
Description
It is Arri's flagship sync-sound camera line, replacing the Arriflex 535 line. The design was developed by Fritz Gabriel Bauer and Walter Trauninger, and is heavily deri ...
Studio and Lite (2000)
* Arriflex 235
The Arriflex 235 is a lightweight 35mm MOS movie camera released in 2003 by ARRI.
Function
The number reflects its position as a smaller and lighter companion camera to the Arriflex 435 and the fact that it is designed for 35 mm film.
In contra ...
(2003)
* Arriflex D-20/21 (2003/2008)
* Arriflex 416
The Arri Group () is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. Hermann Simon menti ...
(2006)
* Arri Alexa
The Arri Alexa (stylised as ΛLEXΛ) is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. First introduced in April 2010, the camera was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after previous efforts such as the Arr ...
(2010)
* Arri Amira (2013)
* Arri Alexa 65
The Arri Alexa (stylised as ΛLEXΛ) is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. First introduced in April 2010, the camera was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after previous efforts such as the Arri ...
(2014)
* Arri Alexa Mini (2015)
* Arri Alexa SXT (2016)
* Arri Alexa LF (2018)
* Arri Alexa Mini LF (2019)
* Arri Alexa 35 (2022)
;Lighting
* Arri Fresnel (1937)
* Arri Gigant (1952)
* Arrisonne 2000 (1972)
* Arri Apollo (1979)
* Arri Studio (1988)
* Arri Compact Daylight (1991)
* Arrisun 40/25 (1992)
* Arrilux Pocket PAR (1996)
* ARRIMAX 18/12 (2005)
* Arri M40 (2011)
* Arri L7 LED Fresnel (2011)
* Arri SkyPanel S60-C (2015)
*Arri SkyPanel S120-C
*Arri SkyPanel S360-C
*Arri SkyPanel S30-C
*Arri Orbiter (2019)
*Stellar Lighting Control App
;Camera stabilizers
* artemis Maxima Stabilizer
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with Selen ...
* artemis Trinity
;Film recorder
* Arrilaser
The Arri Group () is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. Hermann Simon menti ...
film recorder
A film recorder is a graphical output device for transferring images to photographic film from a digital source. In a typical film recorder, an image is passed from a host computer to a mechanism to expose film through a variety of methods, hi ...
, used for film-out
Film-out is the process in the computer graphics, video production and filmmaking disciplines of transferring images or animation from videotape or digital files to a traditional film print. ''Film-out'' is a broad term that encompasses the conver ...
;Film scanner
* Arriscan
Corporate espionage
In 2011, it was alleged that Michael Bravin, an executive of the US-based subsidiary Arri Inc., had unlawfully accessed a rival company email account. A suit was brought before a US court and in September 2011, Bravin entered a guilty plea. Arri Inc. denied knowledge or gains from Bravin's actions, and a separate lawsuit against the company was dropped as a result of an out-of-court settlement.
See also
*Carl Zeiss AG
Carl Zeiss AG (), branded as ZEISS, is a German manufacturer of optical systems and optoelectronics, founded in Jena, Germany in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe (joined 1866) and Otto Schott (joined 1884) he laid the f ...
*Panavision
Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during ...
*Red Digital Cinema
Red Digital Cinema (''Red Digital Cinema Camera Company'') is an American company that manufactures professional digital cinematography cameras and accessories.
The company's headquarters is in Foothill Ranch, California, with studios in Hollyw ...
*Comparison of movie cameras
This article summarized the comparison of movie cameras.
35 mm
The 35 mm film gauge has long been the most common gauge in professional usage, and thus enjoys the greatest number of cameras currently available for professional usage. Th ...
References
External links
*
Arri's cameras histories in CinemaTechnic website
Reviews: D-20 & D-21 on The Reel Show
Arriflex 16 S operating instructions - PDF
* Discussion and demonstration of the Arriflex ST 16mm film camera by ex BBC cameramen Brian Tufano and David Whitson
{{Authority control
Film and video technology
German brands
Manufacturing companies based in Munich
Movie camera manufacturers
Movie cameras
Photography companies of Germany
Recipients of the Scientific and Technical Academy Award of Merit