Pipe Lighting, the German company that makes inflatable LED fixtures, has revolutionized the film production lighting game. The company's lightweight offerings require minimal rigging compared to heavier predecessors, cutting down on production time and improving safety.

That said, plenty of production companies still own warehouses full of old-school heavy lighting gear, which they'll continue to use to maximize their return on investment. And that's given rise to relatively new objects like this Air Climber, by manufacturer Matthews Studio Equipment.

It's essentially a heavy-duty telescoping stand on a wheeled base. Once positioned, the rigger lifts it off of its wheels using leveling jacks. A portable air compressor is then plugged into the unit, and with a light (or camera, or other piece of equipment) mounted on top, can be telescoped skywards pneumatically.

The pneumatic action not only takes care of the heavy lifting, but provides a safe, steady ascent and descent. (Competitor's units are hand-cranked, meaning there's a risk of runaway loads.)

The Air Climber is designed for situations where you'd normally use a crane or a cherry picker, but are limited by cost or space constraints. It can reach a height of 25 feet and support 200 lbs.

If Pipe Lighting's products become the wave of the future, as it's easy to imagine they will, the 450-lb Air Climber will look like a dinosaurish piece of equipment. However, it's still an impressive piece of engineering, and could perhaps be adapted to serve the construction sector.

If you're curious about this kind of stuff, the operating instructions are below.

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