The Department of Film & Video at Columbia College Chicago is the recipient of a unique piece of film equipment courtesy of two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer, film producer, director and Chicago native Haskell Wexler. Wexler donated a refurbished remote camera head known as a Hot-Head to the college. The refurbished Hot-Head is valued at $43,550.
“I think real people should be able to make art and have adventures and express themselves. In a modern world you need modern tools to get things done. That’s why I wanted Columbia to have access to this piece of equipment. They have real people creating art and getting things done,” said Wexler. “I take great pleasure in donating this incredible piece of equipment to Columbia because I would like for non-Hollywood people to take advantage of its sophistication.”
The Hot-Head has been in use for more than a quarter of a century. It is a camera head designed to allow camera operators the ability to manipulate camera movements by remote control. It was created by Laurie Frost, Peter Hannan and Richard Loncraine, all of whom recently received an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement for their development.
Wexler was one of the very first directors to utilize a Hot-Head. Today the term “hot-head” has become a generic term for “remote camera head.”
A few months ago Wexler had his original Hot-Head sent to Egripment USA, Inc., in Van Nuys, California to see if it could be restored and donated to Columbia. Wexler’s Hot-Head system was one of the very first ever built, and full restoration was not economically feasible, according to Egripment’s Managing Director Boots. “Even if it were in working condition, it would be an obsolete piece of equipment for a film school or anyone to use for educational and/or training purposes,” said Boots.
However, Boots spoke to the owner of Egripment, Constant Tresfon, and learned that Wexler was one of Mr. Tresfon’s industry heroes. Their solution was to refurbish a Hot-Head of equal quality, donate it to the college on Wexler’s behalf and provide training to Columbia’s faculty and students. Wexler’s original Hot-Head now sits on display at Egripment’s factory in Holland.
“Throughout his extraordinary career, Haskell Wexler has been an innovator, dedicated to finding ways to engage audiences and put them right in the action. He is a strong supporter of Chicago filmmaking, particularly the young, aspiring filmmakers at Columbia College,” says Bruce Sheridan chair of Columbia’s film and video department. “By facilitating our acquisition of the Hot-Head, Haskell has ensured that our student will have the opportunity to experience first hand, this extraordinary technology and what it can do for the art they dream of making.”
During the mid-1980s, Sheridan was managing the rental operations of a camera company in Auckland, New Zealand when he took delivery of the first Hot-Head in that country. “I remember the joy of being able to put the camera in new places and, most importantly, move the camera in controlled ways in real time,” said Sheridan.
“It was a beautiful, complex piece of engineering and many of the camera crews that came by looked at it as a revolutionary new car or motorbike. It never affected me that way. I was just amazed at the perspectives it would deliver. The first real job we used it on was a commercial spot featuring Captain Mark Phillips (then married to England’s Princess Anne) and Mark Todd, the New Zealander who was the reigning Olympic equestrian champion. Normally, the Hot Head operated on the end of a crane. We dug it into the ground on each side of a stone wall and followed the jumping horses as they both approached and passed over the obstacle. When edited together the result was 180 degrees of continuous motion without any optical, analog or digital effects.”
Wexler’s relationship with Columbia College began back in the 1950s. One evening while having dinner with then Columbia President Mike Alexandroff at a State Street restaurant, Alexandroff consulted with Wexler and two other filmmakers regarding the possibility of starting a film school. In 1968 he was one of 46 individuals to accepted Alexandroff’s offer to attend a conference on the arts and the inner city. In 1990 the college awarded Wexler with an honorary doctorate degree.
Columbia College Chicago, an urban institution committed to open access, opportunity and excellence in higher education, provides innovative degree programs in the visual, performing, media and communication arts to more than 11,500 students in over 120 undergraduate and graduate programs, including film & video, art & design, arts management, television, radio, music, interactive multimedia – all within a liberal arts context. Founded in 1890 as a communications school for women, Columbia College Chicago was revisioned in 1963 as a liberal arts college with a “hands-on minds-on” approach to arts and media education and a progressive social agenda. Under the current leadership of President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D., Columbia is aggressively pursuing this mission. Columbia is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The college is accredited as a teacher training institution by the Illinois State Board of Education. For further information visit www.colum.edu.
Media contact: Priscilla Hunter, 312.344.7805, 312.286.6624 or phunter@colum.edu