Prinz PI And Sachtler Ace Bring Hallo Music To Life

Prinz PI, famous for singles like "Gib dem Affen Zucker" (“Give the monkey some sugar”) and "Königin von Kreuzberg" (“Queen of Kreuzberg”), describes himself as the best German theme rapper.
This summer, the "Prinz PI & Band Festival Tour 2012" took place. Along for the ride were camera operator Jonathan Muehlhause and not one but two Sachtler Ace M tripod systems with mid-level spreader, which he used simultaneously. Sachtler is part of Vitec Videocom and a Vitec Group company. Muehlhause is a qualified audio-visual media designer and worked for four years as a camera assistant before he became a camera operator in 2010 and went into the diverse world of TV, promotional films, music videos, and web films.
Lightweight and multifunctional – optimal companion of music culture
Festivals are loud, colorful and diverse, young and fast. Ace M, the compact and lightweight tripod system by Sachtler, followed everything from sound to technology and modern lyrics. In the fraction of a tone, the special moments of an extraordinary event can be missed: Weighing in at only 4.4 kg (9.7 lbs), the compact tripod system, which is perfect for camera set-ups of up to 4 kg (8.8 lbs), enables especially fast changes in location and position between interviews, live concert recordings, and "behind the scenes" documentary films. Muehlhause explains: "The tripod can be set up and dismantled quickly, is very lightweight and still very stable." Thanks to the fluid head made of fiberglass-enforced plastic and its weight of only 1.7 kg (3.7 lbs), the tripod, which collapses to 85 cm (33 in), can be transported comfortably through concert crowds or narrow backstage areas. In addition, when on the go, the Ace can be easily stowed. Muehlhause talks about the tour: "During production, lack of space was a constant problem. Prinz PI's band and crew consist of 10 people, the camera team, and the bus driver, who together with luggage and equipment spent four days and nights in the Nightliner. We used the last free bed in the tour bus as 'equipment storage'. In a space of about just two square meters, we stacked camera bags, tripods, sliders, peli cases, rigs, and hard disks. There, we also viewed and copied the filmed material, recharged batteries, and set up rigs for the cameras, as it often rained cats and dogs outside."
Reliable performance on and offstage
Jonathan Muehlhause captured a 60-minute documentary and live concerts at three different festivals. In keeping with the title of a 2011 Prinz PI album and the 2012 motto of his 2012 tour, he performed under the same motto at the Frauenfeld Festival in Switzerland as well as at Splash and Summerjam in Germany: "Hallo Musik". Ace performed valuable service and proved to Muehlhause and his cameras, among them a Canon EOS C300 and an EOS 5D Mark II as well as an EOS 550D, how exceptionally reliable it is. "The tripod offers solid and good support even during extreme weather conditions," says Muehlhause. The shooting location at a festival is just as variable as the weather: "Outdoors and indoors, during heavy storms and sunshine, in a very narrow tour bus, sometimes standing ankle-deep in mud," he says recalling filming conditions. Ace is easy to adjust and also provides reliable support outside of even-leveled concert halls with the mid-level spreader. In addition, it can also be tilted from +90° to -75° and, with the patented SA drag™ (Synchronised Actuated Drag) it offers perfect support for precise pans. Three vertical and three horizontal grades of drag as well as a zero setting are available to the user for panning and tilting and enable fine nuances. Patented versatility and a masterful performance are the Sachtler Ace's top features – all of this at an excellent price/performance ratio.
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