Mike Ferra
1932-2007
Mike Ferra, a camera operator who developed the Ferraflex line of cameras
that are used in action film chase sequences, succumbed to mesothelioma
on March 4, 2007. He was 74.
Mike landed a job at Warner Brothers in 1963 and became an assistant cameraman in the mid-'70s. As he moved up to camera operator, he saw the need for specialized cameras and housings to meet the needs of action shoots, and he founded Ferraflex Minicam Systems Inc. as a second unit director of photography on movies and TV shows including "Meteor," "Below Utopia," "Flashfire," "The Mountain Men," "Baby Makes Six," and Steve McQueen's little seen adaptation of Isben's "An Enemy of the People."
In December 1999, Peter Skinner of Rangefinder Magazine published the following profile of Mike Ferra: An Inventive Genius Who Thinks Small to Create Big:
In the world of fantastic illusion that is the hallmark of great movies, cameraman and inventor Mike Ferra takes small things to great heights in creating action-packed imagery that astounds even veterans of the industry.
Most readers will have seen classic action scenes in major films that have been shot on equipment created by Mike Ferra. While the actors, cinematographers and directors bask in the glory of what appears on screen, behind the scenes is the genius of the man who made the equipment that made the shots possible.
“It can’t be done,” they said. “You’re nuts, outa yer mind.” “Wanna bet?” was the response. And so, around Hollywood, and in the movie industry anywhere, the word is: “Want a great crash shot; get Mike Ferra!”
And that’s quite a compliment for the 65-year-old inventive genius who maintains he hasn’t got a technical bone in his body. Of course there are those who would contend otherwise, that far from being a mechanical dunce, Mike Ferra has extraordinary vision.
Rightly, they would point to the way in which Ferra has taken vintage gear and refined it into small, compact equipment that has enabled the makers of blockbuster movies such as Titanic and Armageddon to get the shots they absolutely must have.
Ferra, the creative mind and driving force behind the FerraFlex MiniCam System, is quick to heap credit on those who have helped shape his ideas into cinematic reality…
Through a combination of years of hands-on experience as a camera operator, the vision to see in his mind’s eye the action-packed possibilities and the people skills to assemble an enthusiastic production team, Mike Ferra has come up with the goods. And those goods have been used by the producers of countless television shows, commercials and movies.
A partial list of the feature films Ferra’s camera systems have been used on includes Titanic, Con-Air, Water World, Batman, Batman Forever, Under Siege, Heat, Lethal Weapon, Speed 2, The X-Files, The Postman, For Richer or Poorer, Armageddon, and Mask of Zorro…
Ferra’s varied career in the movie industry laid the foundation for his current enterprise. His parents, Italian immigrants who farmed in Sharpsburg, PA, instilled in him the value of being able to work with one’s hands. That, combined with an inherent mechanical aptitude stood him in good stead when he drifted to Los Angeles after serving as an infantryman in the Army. Spare time was spent at The Ragdoll, a nightclub his brother Tony owned in North Hollywood and it was there he met various people from the film studios. One thing led to another and, even though he didn’t know what a grip was, he managed to land a two-day job with Warner Brothers. That two-day stint in 1968 extended into 16 years with Warner Brothers during which time he did everything from operating a large construction crane to gripping, film loading, and camera work. It could be said he learned the movie industry from virtually every angle except in front of the camera.
The mounts and harnesses Mike Ferra and his team have invented allow cameramen to shoot forward and backwards at the same time—with two cameras shoulder-mounted and equipped with virtual vision space goggles and a built-in monitor. And there are mounts that enable the camera to be attached to and facing the actor for tight head shots; or that allows the camera to be shot over the shoulder of a motorbike rider or bicyclist.
Not one to sit still and wait for things to happen, Mike Ferra’s always coming up with ideas. Some work, others don’t. But that inventive mind keeps ticking over. By the time this article is in print, there could be another Ferra innovation in the works. You don’t think so.