Curt Oswald Schaller (born June 22, 1964) is a German

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

, Steadicam operator and

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

. He is also the developer and designer of

ARRI Arri Group () (stylized as "ARRI") is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. It ...

's camera stabilization systems: in 2025 he was awarded an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for the concept, design and development of the

Trinity 2 The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three di ...

system.

Career

In 1984, Schaller began training as a camera assistant and then as a cameraman at the Bavaria film and television studios in Munich, Germany. Following his training, he worked as a cameraman and as a Steadicam operator in German TV series, films, shows, and documentaries. At the end of the 1990s, Schaller used his experience as a cameraman and Steadicam operator and began to develop his own camera stabilization systems, from which the artemis series by

Sachtler Sachtler is a manufacturer of film and video camera support products. The company was founded in 1958 and was bought by the United Kingdom's Vitec Group (now Videndum) in 1995. History Wendelin Sachtler was a cinematographer, actor and inventor, ...

/ Vitec Videocom emerged in 2001. The artemis series was the world's first modular camera stabilization system when it was launched at the 2001

NAB Show NAB Show is an annual trade show produced by the National Association of Broadcasters. It takes place in April, and has been held since 1991 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show's tagline is "Where Content Comes to L ...

in Las Vegas. In addition, the artemis HD systems were the first full HD camera stabilization systems in the world at the time. In 2015, Curt O. Schaller developed the (artemis) Trinity system together with the engineer

Roman Foltyn Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

. It is the world's first camera stabilization system to combine a mechanical stabilization system with an electronic one: and it is considered the most advanced camera stabilization system in the world, used in films such as

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. In April 2016, he moved with his entire artemis product portfolio from Sachtler / Vitec Videocom to

to drive the further development of the (artemis) Trinity systems as product manager for camera stabilization systems. In 2025, Curt O. Schaller was awarded the

Academy Scientific and Engineering Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

for the concept, design and development of the Trinity 2 system.

Camera stabilization systems

ARRI TRINITY 2 Arri Group () (stylized as "ARRI") is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. It ...

* ARRI ARTEMIS 2

Awards

* 2016: Cine Gear Expo Technical Award for the development of the ARRI (artemis) Trinity * 2016: cinecAward for the development of the ARRI (artemis) Trinity * 2017: BIRTV Award for the development of the ARRI (artemis) Trinity * 2025: Academy Scientific and Engineering Award for the concept, design and development of the Trinity 2 system

References

External links

TRINITY 2 & ARTEMIS 2
at ARRI
Curt O. Schaller, Academy Award winner
at schaller media
ARRI Trinity 2 , Curt Schaller and Dr. Roman Foltyn , 2025 Sci-Tech Awards , Oscars
at YouTube

at Crew United * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schaller, Curt O. Film people from Munich German cinematographers Photographers from Munich German industrial designers 21st-century German inventors Living people Recipients of the Scientific and Engineering Academy Award 1964 births