# This camera flies ten metres over the play. No wings, no rotors, no noise.

- Series: [How Cameras](https://miu.fm/howcameras.md)
- Published: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://miu.fm/howcameras/this-camera-flies-ten-metres-over-the-play-no-wings-no

## Story

This camera flies ten metres over the play. No wings, no rotors, no noise. What's holding it up?

Four cables, one from each corner of the stadium. A winch at each corner pays its cable in and out, and a computer works out the lengths, so the camera goes wherever it is steered. It's Skycam: Garrett Brown, who invented the Steadicam, came up with it in 1983, a helicopter's view without the noise. In his words, it sat on the back burner until 1984, "when it shot games galore". In 1985 it flew over Live Aid. Pull in one cable and it slides toward that corner; pull in all four and it rises. Two people fly it, a pilot and an operator, and it can only go inside the box its four corners make.

The field, the pod and the players are our own models, built and lit in code.

Ten metres over the play. Where would you watch from: sky, or sideline?

Sources: Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Garrett Brown; HowStuffWorks, "How Skycam Works".
Music: our own, played on GarageBand instruments. Sounds: made by us.

## Watch

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DfDkXnwlRRG/

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