Railcam Robotic Systems Tapped for Super Bowl LV Halftime Show

RailCam Robotic Systems, based in New Jersey played a big role in the halftime show at Super Bowl LV as they provided one Mini-C and four NEWTON stabilized heads mounted on telescopic towers and rail systems, placed around the stage of the halftime show with the artist The Weeknd.

Railcam Robotic Systems provided five systems for use at the Super Bowl LV halftime show.

The robotic camera systems that RailCam works with has carefully been selected over the years and Brian Sheid, RailCam Robotic Systems, technician explains the pressure is on for big events like a Super Bowl halftime show.

“When we broadcast the opening shot of the Super Bowl halftime show, you’ll never get a second chance at that,” he says. “As a technician, you develop certain confidence in a piece of equipment. Your job is to keep everything working, so you obsess over the things that might stop that.”

The camera systems included a RailArm in front of the stage, holding a NEWTON stabilized camera head. The RTS RailArm is a rail system with an arm, that can lift the camera from a very low position. The rail track ran 36 feet along the stage and the whole system was operated by Shaun Harkins.

A railtower (left) and telscopic railtower helped capture the halftime show at Super Bowl LV.

In front of the stager there was a RailTower, holding a Nettmann Mini-C stabilized camera head. The RTS RailTower is a telescopic tower on a rail track and Rick Compeau operated the rail dolly while Kevin French operated the tower and camera. Also in front of the stage, there was a new RTS telescopic tower which can lift the camera from 9 to 35 feet. It featured a NEWTON stabilized camera head and was operated by Jay Kulick. Kulick also operated a RTS telescopic tower on the very top of the stage, which shot reverse angles of The Weeknd in the middle of the performance. This tower could lift its NEWTON stabilized camera head from 5 to 11 feet.

Finally, there was a NEWTON stabilized camera head mounted on a MAT XS+ telescopic tower inside the stage as a back up for the wireless handheld camera in the infinity room. This was never used but was ready to be operated Kevin French. “All dolly systems and heads performed flawlessly during the show and we are very happy with the performance,” says Sheid. “For example, The NEWTON heads are something I never really have to worry about. It’s a piece of equipment I can trust, which makes my job easier and protects my company’s reputation.”

For this event, RailCam brought four technicians to install their robotic camera solutions and to be stand by during the show. A few of the technicians had worked at Super Bowl before, but this was the first Super Bowl assignment for RailCam as a company.