Arri Group

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Arri AG

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1917
Seat Munich , Germany
Number of employees 1500
Branch Film cameras
Website www.arri.com

The Arri Group is a global supplier of motion picture equipment. The company based in Munich was founded in 1917. It manufactures professional film cameras, lenses, lighting, and post-production equipment. The Arri cinema, which often shows special screenings and a cinematic program, is also located on the company's premises in Maxvorstadt .

The company has been part of Stahl Beteiligungs-GmbH , Riedering , since 2013 . Other subsidiaries of the group include ARRI Media GmbH , BA Produktion GmbH , Arnold & Richter Cine Technik GmbH , Arnold & Richter Cine Technik GmbH & Co. Betriebs KG and ARRI Manufacturing and Distribution Company for Precision Mechanical Products mbH .

history

Arri, Türkenstrasse , Munich

In 1914, the two schoolmates August Arnold and Robert Richter converted a manual cinema projector to an electric motor and added a self-made arc lamp as a brighter light source . In addition, the two of them replaced the 60 m drums with a self-made 300 m drum. Together they met Martin Kopp , film pioneer and reporter from Munich, as a student . This teacher turned, developed and copied in his own workshop. Here Arnold and Richter were allowed to work as copiers and shoot themselves. In 1915 both met Peter Ostermayr . He ran a glass studio for feature film recordings on Karlsplatz in Munich. Here Arnold and Richter learned the technique of making feature films.

Before the outbreak of the First World War, Robert Richter went to the USA and worked as an assistant waiter , as an automobile mechanic in New York and as a machine fitter at Ford in Detroit . At that time under the name of Famous Players-Lasky , he helped Paramount Pictures to construct the first fully automatic film developing machine. Most recently he worked in Hollywood as an assistant cameraman in the studios of William Fox . He returned to Germany.

Richter studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich and then did his doctorate, Arnold went to study at the Technikum Mittweida and later received a Dr. ing. hc from the Technical University of Munich.

On September 12, 1917, both founded the Arnold & Richter company . Initially, business objects were “filming” and “running a photo and film-chemical laboratory”. Money was earned through camera work, film screening and mechanical work. The first own copying machine was built in order to finally be able to copy yourself. However, Arri became known through the development of the mirror shutter in film cameras led by Erich Kästner . With the mirror shutter presented at Arriflex in 1937 , it became possible to see the exact image section and the sharpness distribution through the optical viewfinder without parallax errors .

Arri manufactures devices for the complete workflow , including spotlights, film projectors , laser devices for data exposure on film and medical cameras. The company has received nineteen times the Oscar for technical innovation in the film industry. The design of many cameras from 1987 to 2010 was done by James Orrom .

After the turn of the millennium, it was time to switch to digital cinema . Arri threatened to fall behind the newcomer Red Digital Cinema Camera Company and obtained technical expertise from the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits . Together they developed the CCD sensor and the electronics for the ARRI D-20 / D-21 digital cinema cameras . Arri has been focusing on the digital sector since 2009. In addition to cameras, these include, above all, Digital Intermediate , ARRILASER and ARRISCAN.

For cinema copies, Arri has been selling digital cinema mastering including digital cinema packages (DCPs) since 2005 . At the International Broadcast Conference in September 2008, Arri introduced the ARRIQCP (ARRI Quality Control Player). In addition to the playback functionality of DCPs, the DCPs can be checked for SMPTE and DCI compatibility. The device was developed in collaboration with Cinecert LLC.

The company received negative international headlines in 2007. Due to an unexplained error, film material from several days of shooting of the A-budget production Operation Walküre - Das Stauffenberg assassination was damaged in the Arri copier factory area , which is why several days of shooting had to be repeated.

In 2010 Arri received the honorary award at the German Camera Prize for his technical innovations and his services in international film.

On October 1st, 2012 it was announced that the son of the company co-founder August Arnold, Robert Arnold, would sell his 50% shares in Arri AG to the descendants of the second company co-founder, Robert Richter. For this purpose, its shares are to be brought into Stahl Beteiligungs-GmbH. After approval by the Cartel Office, the 95-year partnership between the two families will end.

At the end of 2015, Arri closed his copy plant for analog cinema films; a streamlined department continues to work on the restoration of old film material.

Financially, by switching to digital film production, Arri overcame a crisis due to dwindling analog sales: While Arri had a loss of 15 million euros in 2009, sales and profits recovered from 2011 onwards. For 2015, Arri expects sales of more than 300 million euros.

In April 2016, ARRI acquired the artemis camera stabilization system developed by Curt O. Schaller from Sachtler / Vitec Videocom.

In May 2017, the foundation stone was laid for a new company headquarters in Parkstadt Schwabing , where the company moved at the turn of the year 2019/2020.

Products

Camera lines

ARRIFLEX 16 from 1972, with compendium and on a wooden tripod
ARRIFLEX 16 from 1972, the legendary 16mm silent camera
Blimp for the ARRIFLEX 16
ARRIFLEX 35 II HS, the high-speed camera in use, AEG 1964
Digital Arri Alexa while shooting

Film cameras are used in various fields. A distinction is made between the product classes according to the medium to be exposed in

The cameras used for this are either digital cinema cameras or film cameras .

Arri history in the 16 mm segment :

  • 1951–52 ARRIFLEX 16, only from the 1960s with the addition ST (andard)
  • 1953 ARRIFLEX 16 with blimp
  • 1962 ARRIFLEX 16 M (agazine)
  • 1965 ARRIFLEX 16 BL (16 ST with blimp)
  • 1975 ARRIFLEX 16 S (ilent) R (eflex)
  • 1979 ARRIFLEX 16 SR HS (HighSpeed, 10–150 images per second )
  • 1982 ARRIFLEX 16 SR II
  • 1982 ARRIFLEX 16 SR HS II automatic
  • 1992 ARRIFLEX 16 SR III (convertible Normal-16 / Super-16)
  • 1999 ARRIFLEX 16 SR III advanced
  • 2006 ARRIFLEX 416

Arri history in the 35mm film segment

  • 1937 ARRIFLEX
  • 1946 ARRIFLEX II
  • 1953 ARRIFLEX 35 II A with Blimp (SyncSound)
  • 1960 ARRIFLEX 35 II BV
  • 1960 ARRIFLEX 35 II HS (HighSpeed, up to 80 B./s)
  • 1964 ARRIFLEX 35 II C
  • 1972 ARRIFLEX 35 BL (ARRIFLEX 35 with Blimp, SyncSound)
  • 1975 ARRIFLEX 35 BL II
  • 1979 ARRIFLEX 35 III
  • 1980 ARRIFLEX 35 BL III
  • 1982 ARRIFLEX 35 III C
  • 1986 ARRIFLEX BL 4 (SyncSound)
  • 1986 ARRIFLEX BL 4 s (SyncSound)
  • 1990 ARRIFLEX 535 (electronic ramping possible, SyncSound, replaces 35s)
  • 1992 ARRIFLEX 535 B (SyncSound)
  • 1994 ARRIFLEX 435 ( MOS )
  • 1995 ARRIFLEX 435 ES (MOS)
  • 2000 ARRICAM ST / LT (replace 535s)
  • 2004 ARRIFLEX 235 (MOS) & ARRIFLEX 435 Xtreme (MOS)

Arri history in the 70mm film segment

  • 1989 ARRIFLEX 765 (SyncSound)

Arri history in the 35 mm digital cinema segment

  • 2004 ARRIFLEX D-20
  • 2008 ARRIFLEX D-21
  • 2010 ALEXA
  • 2011 ALEXA PLUS
  • 2011 ALEXA M
  • 2012 ALEXA STUDIO
  • 2012 ALEXA PLUS 4: 3
  • 2013 ALEXA XT
  • 2013 ALEXA XT PLUS
  • 2013 ALEXA XT STUDIO
  • 2013 ALEXA XT M
  • 2013 AMIRA

Current portfolio:

  • 2010 ALEXA
  • 2013 AMIRA
  • 2014 ALEXA 65
  • 2015 ALEXA Mini
  • 2016 ALEXA SXT
  • 2016 ALEXA SXT Plus
  • 2016 ALEXA SXT Studio
  • 2017 ALEXA SXT W
  • 2018 ALEXA LF
  • 2019 ALEXA Mini LF

Lenses

Arri distributes, rents, and sells lenses for 16mm / 35mm film cameras and digital cinema cameras with Super 35 sensors.

To date, three series of spherical cinema lenses with fixed focal lengths and a macro lens have been developed in cooperation with Carl Zeiss :

  • Ultra 16 series (nine lenses for the super 16 mm format)
  • Ultra Primes series (15 lenses for the super 35 mm format)
  • Master Primes series (16 lenses for the super 35 mm format)
  • Master Macro 100 (Macro lens for the Super 35 mm format)

In spring 2013, Arri and Carl Zeiss also presented a new series of anarmorphic cinema lenses with fixed focal lengths:

  • Master Anarmorphic series (seven lenses for digital cinema cameras with 4: 3 Super 35 sensors or the 35 mm 4 perf film format)

To date, four spherical zoom lenses have been developed in cooperation with Fujinon :

  • Alura Studio Zooms (two zoom lenses for the Super 35 mm format)
  • Alura Leightweight Zooms (two particularly compact and lightweight zoom lenses for the Super 35 mm format)

Arri established lens connections according to the Arri PL standard and developed the ARRI Lens Data System (LDS), which can transmit metadata to the camera via the lens mount .

To support the camera assistants and for the video assist , Arri developed the "Lens Data System". This allows the detection of u. a. Focus , f-number , zoom status , depth of field , hyperfocal distance , near focus, frame rate , exposure time , battery voltage , footage , remaining film, and setting length , and the transmission of these values ​​to a special distance display or in the video assist system. A component is the Arri PL - "Lens Data Mount" bayonet.

Since 2018 Arri has been marketing the "ARRI Signature Primes" with focal lengths from 12 mm to 280 mm and equipped with an LPL mount.

lighting

Headlights and lamps for film, television production and event technology are manufactured by Arri. The Arri Lighting division received orders from New Zealand for the production of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and the recording of the 2008 Olympic Games. Although Arri has only a small market share in the market for digital TV cameras, cameras from other manufacturers are used for studios and lighting devices from Arri are used.

  • ARRI Fresnel (1937)
  • ARRI Giant (1952)
  • ARRI Sun 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 (2015)

equipment

Arri manufactures additional equipment for film technology, for example compendia like the MB-20 or MB-14 and focus pulling devices like the FF-3 and FF-4. Today these are also used for cameras from other manufacturers. In addition, Arri has developed support systems for lenses and camera accessories, which have become established standards. The "Arri rosette" introduced in 1972, a disc with 60 radial grooves attached to the camera housing based on the Hirth serration principle , on which accessories such as handles or viewfinder holders - adjustable in angle - by means of an M6 thread, also became the manufacturer-independent standard the center of the rosette and corresponding screws can be attached to the accessories.

Camera stabilizers

  • artemis Maxima Stabilizer
  • artemis Trinity
  • SRH-3

Film recorder

The Arrilaser film recorder is used for the film-out process.

Film scanner

For the digital cinema production, Arri developed the ARRIRAW raw data format , which is used in the D21 and Alexa models. It allows the recording of raw Bayer sensor data in the format of 2880 × 1620 at 23.976 fps, 24p and 25p and 2880 × 2160 pixels at 23.97 fps and 30p, each with 12 bits per color channel. Due to the amount of data of 10 GB per minute of filming time, storage was initially only possible via a special ARRIRAW transmission protocol called "T-Link" (transport link, an ARRIRAW transmission protocol mapped into an RGBA dual link HD-SDI stream in accordance with SMPTE 372M) ) designated interface to external storage devices (e.g. from Codex Digital) possible. For further processing with conventional editing programs, a conversion using a converter (APX) into a further processable format such as. B. DPX necessary. The introduction of the so-called XR modules for mounting on the camera (retrofittable for the Alexa models, standard with Alexa XT) made it possible to record ARRIRAW directly in the camera from the beginning of 2013. The storage takes place on "XR Capture Drives" that use SSD storage.

software

ARRI develops and operates the web-based application ARRI Webgate. ARRI Webgate was specially developed for dailies / rushes and post-production and offers filmmakers functions for video and file management as well as video collaboration, presentation and distribution of media.

Camera production

Arri, like its competitors Panavision and Aaton , ended the production of film cameras in 2012.

Since the turn of the millennium, digital cameras are increasingly used instead of film cameras, such as. B. the D-20 and D-21 . As in still photography, where digital technologies supplanted film, digital 35mm cameras are sold today rather than devices based on photochemical film. The proportion of 70 mm film is negligible . This format was used in the 1960s because of its superior image quality to 35mm film, for example for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey . Today it (or 65 mm camera negative) is rarely used, for example when shooting parts of The Lord of the Rings (according to Arri customer magazine) and sometimes at Tom Tykwer's The International .

The 16 mm segment was often used in the budget and TV sector, especially for the production of television games. Today, many broadcasters, such as the British BBC, no longer accept 16mm material because the quality is too low for HDTV. 16-mm is used for productions where a “film look” is required, e.g. B. Image trailers from broadcasters and companies, music videos, advertising.

Today Arri, Aaton , Blackmagic , Sony , Panavision , RED and Phantom share the market for the production of professional cameras suitable for cinema films with 35 mm and S35 mm (18 mm × 24 mm) sensors.

In the 16 mm camera sector, there are providers of camera technology, some from the (formerly) semi-professional market, and some from the traditional news and documentary film sector. Some of the film sets survived longer than their manufacturers (e.g. Mitchell, Beaulieu). For film production , the cameras are often rented out to the production companies via rental companies.

Film production

Film producers use so-called "rental" houses (i.e. companies that rent out professional film equipment and lighting technology) during production. There is also other equipment, such as the Arri Lighting headlights . The business models of Arnold & Richter and Panavision are very different. Panavision produces digital cinema cameras and 35 mm SyncSound film cameras and rents them out worldwide through its own camera rental houses. In the area of 35mm - MOS video cameras Arri cameras are bought and "panavized", it is only changed the lens mount. Arri produces MOS and SyncSound cameras. These are sold worldwide - also to Panavision - and rented in own and third-party rental houses. The Arri digital cinema camera, the D-20, introduced in 2004, was initially only rented out.

Film market

Market shares for the actual 35mm camera market are difficult to determine. The market is currently in a state of upheaval, as a new provider, RED , was able to sell more than 8,500 digital cinema cameras with a chip similar to that of 35 mm film and thus became the market leader for new devices. However, 35mm cameras have traditionally been used for very long periods of time. Therefore, another picture emerges in the existing market. More than 1500 copies of the Arri Alexa could be sold in the first year, partly to so-called "owners / operators", i.e. filmmakers who have bought a camera for their own use.

The division of the market is not static, however. This is how Arri and Dalsa managed to dispute a contract for the first time since the James Bond film series Panavision was founded. So far, all 21 films of the agent classic have been shot with Panavision equipment. When shooting number 22 ( A Quantum of Solace ) , Arri equipment, including the ARRI D-20, was used for the first time, and Skyfall was used for its successor with the Arri Alexa .

Arri Prize

Arri has sponsored the award for the best foreign film at the Munich Film Festival since 2008, together with Zeiss until 2010 , then alone, since 2013 together with Osram . The prize was initially endowed with 30,000 euros, but is now valued at 50,000 euros.

Web links

Commons : Arri Group  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ arri.com: About ARRI
  2. ↑ Philipp Bovermann: No screw loose. The film company Arri is 100 years old. Stanley Kubrick, Dennis Hopper and Werner Herzog have already shot with their cameras. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of September 9, 2017, p. 17.
  3. ↑ Berliner Tagesspiegel: Why Tom Cruise has to turn
  4. ↑ Financial Times Deutschland: Film veteran Bob Arnold sells Arri stake ( memento from October 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), October 1, 2012
  5. ↑ a b Arri says goodbye to analog cinema. In: sueddeutsche.de. December 23, 2015, accessed March 17, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Curt O. Schaller, artemis developer. In: schaller-media.de. schaller media, accessed on May 12, 2016 .
  7. ↑ ARRI buys Artemis. In: kameramann.de. Film & TV cameraman , accessed May 12, 2016 .
  8. ↑ ARRI presents the artemis Trinity camera stabilization system. In: film-tv-video.de. film-tv-video.de, accessed on May 12, 2016 .
  9. ↑ ARRI buys Artemis stabilization system. In: professional-production.de. Professional Production, accessed May 12, 2016 .
  10. ↑ 2017: A new beginning. In: arri.com. Retrieved February 19, 2020 .
  11. ↑ ARRI AMIRA unveiled ( Memento from September 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ ARRI AMIRA unveiled ( Memento from September 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ↑ ARRI ALEXA 65 . On: arrirentalgroup.com
  14. ↑ Lens Data Mount LDM ( Memento from January 18, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  15. ↑ NAB2018 video: Signature Primes for Arri Alexa LF on film-tv-video.de, April 7, 2018; accessed on November 21, 2019.
  16. ↑ [1]
  17. ↑ Arriraw at a glance . negativespaces.com. June 3, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
  18. ↑ ARRIFLEX D-21 Data Sheet ( Memento from October 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  19. ^ ARC: ARRIRAW Converter . arridigital.com. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  20. ↑ Editorial & Dailies Workflow. Retrieved October 17, 2019 (American English).
  21. ↑ http://www.arri.com/camera/alexa/learn/alexa_xt_faq/ ( Memento from April 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  22. ↑ Official website of ARRI WebGate. ARRI Media GmbH, accessed on October 11, 2019 .
  23. ↑ Oral communication from an Arri employee at a seminar at the Munich Film Festival 2011 on July 1, 2011
  24. ↑ Munich Film Festival: ARRI / OSRAM Award as of 2017

Coordinates: 48 ° 9 ′ 11.8 "  N , 11 ° 34 ′ 39.7"  E



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