Art school graduate Benjamin Pfitzner’s thesis film George 90° focuses on the cohabitation of handicapped and non-handicapped people, the desire to integrate, and the fallibility of each individual.
However, Pfitzner does not rely on tragedy or pity in his film. Using the comedy genre, the everyday problems of a disabled boy are portrayed, which do not differ to those of other teenagers. Nineteen-year-old George is unhappy with himself. He would prefer to be somebody else because his cervical spine is severely deformed by an approximately 90° bend.
For the film, Pfitzner combined a Canon EOS 7D equipped with a PL-mount with the Video 15 SB fluid head and the speed lock CF tripod by Sachtler. Additionally, in some scenes, the Video 18 Dutch was used to portray George’s angle as realistically as possible. This fluid head is special because it features a lateral sliding range of the camera plate of up to 60 mm and a lateral tilt range of ±80°, so that the camera can also be perfectly operated in the third axis.
Personally, the film means a lot to Pfitzner. “I was inspired to do the film while working at the Workers’ Samaritan Federation, where I dealt with mentally handicapped and disabled people. This was something completely new for me so I had to learn how to treat them normally and to perceive them as people with good and bad sides, just like everybody else. For this reason, I wanted to make a film that passes on these experiences and, in doing so, brings people together.”
George’s story was captivatingly realised with the Video 15 SB featuring Touch & Go and the Video 18 Dutch as well as a Panther Dolly. This combination supported the camera team with precise and smooth camera operation and an extraordinary visual effect. The camera perspective frequently changes, resulting in exciting angles for the viewer. The seven diagonal grades of drag (+0) of the Video 18 Dutch provided for smooth camera pans, and the precise scaling unfailingly displayed the exact tilt angle of the camera set-up – for exactly reproducible settings of the set-ups.
The film intends to convey George’s handicap and his environment to the viewers as realistically as possible. For this reason, filming was done exclusively in real settings such as a gymnasium or a church. The team also filmed outdoors for three days.
The durable Speed Lock CF tripod and the Video 18 Dutch also performed flawlessly outdoors. “The simple operation, the excellent mounting of the joints, and the robust craftsmanship were especially impressive,” says cinematographer Christoph Neugebauer when describing filming.
