Aerial cinematography.

[Finnegan]

I've always admired aerial cinematography, but only recently have I developed an interest in adding it to my skills as a cinematographer. I figure I'm still young and could probably invest in a photographic/cinematographic specialization. The only problem is I have absolutely no information or resources on the matter. Does anyone around here have resources or experiences with it to share with me?

 

[Ryan Patrick O'Hara]

In my experience....

I've been DP on shoots where we shot from inside helicopters and from remote helicopters.

I've never done an airplane proper.

As far as helicopters... if you don't have special mounts already built into the thing, get a gyro-stabilizer. A must.... or be prepared to pray for good weather, low wind, a good pilot, and use very wide focal lengths.

The remote helicopter is a bit more tricky. It costs less, but IMO and past experiences is very difficult to get the good shot. Wind throws the little guy around, and the pilot needs to be amazing. Not to mention it is a two person RC job. One steers the heli while the other controls the remote head. It's not an easy thing. We spent days trying to get our shots.

Real helicopters have been way more successful and easy for my past experiences.... however permits and price are an issue!



What exactly are you interested in? Because in real helicopters the pilot pilots and the cameraman can really be anyone. Experience helps, but I've cam oped all my heli flights. So you either want to be a pilot or you want to be a cam operator. You can't do both.

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

I've always admired aerial cinematography, but only recently have I developed an interest in adding it to my skills as a cinematographer. I figure I'm still young and could probably invest in a photographic/cinematographic specialization. The only problem is I have absolutely no information or resources on the matter. Does anyone around here have resources or experiences with it to share with me?

I've not done 'aerial' photography, just photography at elevations, and 'vistas' where water vapor in the air becomes significant. Hence, for B&W aerial photography, heavy filtration of 'blue' is frequently necessary. And polarizing filters would do good as well.

For color photography, filters that cut 'blue', but still retain reasonable 'color', as well as the polarizing filters, would be recommended.

As for actual 'cameras' on craft, again my own 'experience' has to do with using some form of inertial system to stabilize the camera... as opposed to 'handheld' techniques... but the main thing is 'everything moves and vibrates', so I don't think it is enough to just point your camera out a window...