HELICOPTER SHOOT - My first... so please give your advice.

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The lens hood fell off on the second take off after dumping the cards... luckily we had just come down from 6500ft to a couple of hundred feet.. I had good views from left and right and as I was changing positions the hood clipped the back of the pilots chair and went into the rotor...

Did not use the hood after as I guess it must have disintergrated.. no real problems with sun flare...

Main issue is wind... I found the best shots was to lock myself into position.. so I had a clear view with no wing or guide wires in shot and then tell the pilot to turn or rotate the craft to get the shot... after a bit of pratice we kinda had it down so he was the tripod head and I was the base plate holding it a steady as I could...

Cheers
 
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In my limited experience of shooting out of ultra lights, gliders, single engine planes and helicopters the number one thing i learned is to wait for the ideal flying/filmng conditions and not to force it. also make sure your helicopter has more than 2 blades in the rotor if you are not using a gyrostabilizer. i tried to shoot hand held out of a 2 blade chopter and the footage came out mostly unusable. The helicopter coast $1200 an hour. We ended up shooting out of a small single engine plane and getting much better lower vibration footage for $100 an hour.
 
Obviously I am a bit biased but I truly believe that for most type of aerial work my arrangement provides the best overall results. The remotely piloted helicopter platform is able to get shots from every angle and altitude from ground level to 1000' AGL without most of the restrictions and obstacles faced by full sized aircraft. Imagine a scene where the camera circles around a building and then flies right through the front door. How else can this be done? Imagine the possibilities of such a versatile camera platform.

Wendell
[Moderator note: Link removed as advertising]
 

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Yeah, boomstrike, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout, bra! I could sure use one of those puppies to shoot footage here in the swamps!
 
IMHO, remotely controlled aircraft are a specialized tool just like conventional piloted aircraft themselves. There are shots where the R/C aircraft is the logical choice, but if you are going to chase after an extreme skier or snowboarder who is going to drop thousands of feet down a mountain and disappear behind rocky outcroppings only seconds after the start of the run, I don't think a R/C helicopter is a viable option.
 
For a cheap stabiliser consider a Fig Rig. I have done a dozen shoots this year in choppers and the fig rig has made a massive difference to the stability of my shots and its a cheap solution. It will 'improve' your shots, its won't make them perfect.

Make sure and use a focus/zoom control with it.
 
That is exactly what I'm thinking... the FIG RIG. I think it will work for many applications for the shoot I'm doing, everything from helicopter shoots to following boarders and skiers down the mountain.

I recently spoke to my helicopter pilot who has done multiple flights for video / photo applications. I'm looking forward to it...
 
It works brilliantly as a follow cam rig. With the optical stabiliser and fig rig, follow cam is as smooth as any I've seen. In the pipe its very smooth and even on slopestyle at high speeds we got great results.
 
THoff said:
IMHO, remotely controlled aircraft are a specialized tool just like conventional piloted aircraft themselves. There are shots where the R/C aircraft is the logical choice, but if you are going to chase after an extreme skier or snowboarder who is going to drop thousands of feet down a mountain and disappear behind rocky outcroppings only seconds after the start of the run, I don't think a R/C helicopter is a viable option.
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Both the R/C aircraft and full size have specific areas that they work better as well as a few where either will work or overlap. Since the R/C route is somewhat new, I find most people aren't aware of it's capabilities. Usually R/C helicopters require line of site to fly with a horizontal visual range of up to 1000 feet for one of the largest like ours. The skiing shot you describe can readily be done with an R/C helicopter. It would require two or more pilots stationed along the path of the shot in radio communication. As the helicopter reached the end of one pilots visual range it would be picked up by a second pilot using the same transmitter frequency. The benefit over full size is being able to keep the camera much tighter on the subject if needed without risking life and limb. Depending on the terrain, the radio range for the R/C helicopter once airborne is about 1-2 miles.
 
Richard Sutcliffe said:
It works brilliantly as a follow cam rig. With the optical stabiliser and fig rig, follow cam is as smooth as any I've seen. In the pipe its very smooth and even on slopestyle at high speeds we got great results.
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Are there any web links to the Fig Rig? Thanks.
 
I'm not convinced that the R/C helicopter would work. For my shoot, we're talking altitudes of over 5000 feet, strong winds and very cold temps. If your range for R/C is 1000 feet... it for sure won't work on a project like mine.
 
craigjharris said:
I'm not convinced that the R/C helicopter would work. For my shoot, we're talking altitudes of over 5000 feet, strong winds and very cold temps. If your range for R/C is 1000 feet... it for sure won't work on a project like mine.
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You might be right. I know I have enough reserve power and lift to handle the altitude. I try to avoid windspeeds above 30 knots. The cold would be the biggest problem. If my fingers get numb I can't keep flying. Standing beside heat helps a bunch.:)

Wendell
perfectperspectivesaerial.com
 
A wizened old experienced Gaffer gave this piece of advice to a couple of DP friends of mine a few years ago that I never forgot.

"Fellas, you guys are young hot cameramen with a bright future ahead of you. Let me give you some advice from an old man who's been around.

Don't go up in helicopters... Just don't do it... Its not worth it. "



Lenny Levy

- still alive at 57
 
Some of you make helicopters out to be death traps. Where I live, helicopters are used more than public transit. I think that those of you who are fearful of helicopters should go up just once and then make a post. Any thoughts?
 
Personally I know 3 guys who've crashed and one is dead.

I've gone up when I feel I have to and it's sometimes been great (over the mountain peaks in Glacier National Park) but I avoid it like the plague.

I'm certainly no expert about it since I don't do it often, but I don't like the odds and suspect that shooting may be more dangerous than general commuting.

I posted just to let people know what at least one guy whose been around the movie business a long time had to say.

- Lenny Levy
 
I know of two pilots who have had long careers. One retired without a single accident. The other does a lot of industrial flying and had a few accidents, due to mechanical failures, and walked away from every single one. I've flown with both of these guys on a number of occasions.

There's another friend now flying for the Army. His problem is that people occasionally shoot at him in Afghanistan.

I've been up many times in civilian and military birds w/o a problem. The crashes that happen here are often tour helicopters: some hot dog pilot who take huge risks and flies into fog, thinking he knows where he's going but actually ends up piling up into a valley or mountain. Reckless flying.
 
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