Aerial Documentary

B

Brett Horton

Member
Hey Guys / Gals,
I am new to the forum, so be gentle....
We would like to introduce ourselves....
My name is Brett Horton and I own and operate Vista Aerials Inc. We are a low level, Aerial Videography and Photography business utilizing remote piloted Helicopters. We currently own and carry the HPX 170, but just finished a shoot for a documentary carrying the Sony EX1.

Below is a link to some pictures of the shoot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/toddsheridan/sets/72157614316338667/
Below is a link to the NY times about the moving of the House:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/14/nyregion/14lieb.html

The "lieb" house was a house design and built in the late 60's, the process was to move the house via barge from NJ to Glen Cove NY via a barge going up the Hudson River, Through the East River and so forth.
We had a great time shooting this project and if we can help you in yours let me know!
Please visit our web site for more info about us!
Again thanks!
www.vistaaerials.com
 
Hey Brett,

Welcome to DVXUser. There's a good group of people on here. Enjoy!

Your business sounds interesting. How did the doc turn out? Is the story based around aerial photography?

-Andrew
 
The doc is turning out great, I think??? We just provided some footage of the move of the house from NJ to NY on a barge up the Hudson and east river. The footage turned out great that we shot. I have some footage I am going to edit into a very short (3 to 4 minute) clip I will post in a few days.
Thanks for asking!
 
Love to see the footage. I remember the story. It made the news here and remember seeing it on a number of outlets. Also, love to see some behind the scenes shots of what choppers you're using. I'm an R/C guy too but haven't had the nerve to put one of my cameras on as payload.
 
We actual hired a Local (Wilmington) Producer / Director to Document us Document the Documentary! I have all the footage currently, just need to sit down and edit it.....
Will have in a couple days.
 
I also would love to see some footage. With my very limited experience with RC flight just the idea of flying around with expensive equipment on-board is frightening. I've had 3 different aircraft. All ended up destroyed sooner or later.
 
Here is an old sample of some footage we did several months ago usinf the HPX170....
I will post the NYC footage soon.
http://www.vistaaerials.com/html/video-main.html
click on the right link (better resolution)

We actually are getting better footage currently than even then!
Also keep in mind that ALL the footage is in its raw state, no deshacker or smoother at all, just cuts.....
 
Awesome footage. Do you use a wireless TV signal to monitor what the camera sees. And how did you do the shot following the motorcycle. You must have been following in a car. How do you eliminate camera vibration from the motor? Sorry for all the questions. It's just fascinating.
 
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yes and yes ;)
Real time down-link to the camera operator, he can independently control the camera gimble in 3 axis, pan - pitch - roll, all three gyro stabilized.
Not a car......... a van!
questions not a problem.....
 
You will probably get more replys if you place this in the HPX170 , Screengrabs and Video section. Do you have pictures of the Heli that flew the HPX170?
 
Fantastic, really!! I could use your services for my doc, but since it is being shot in DC, I guess we can forget about that with security and all.

I wonder about the legal aspect of doing this ... don't you need a permit for aerial filming? Also, hovering along on a road at low altitude seems pretty dangerous to me :evil:
 
I thought we would have trouble in NYC! But the Local FISDO, TRACON, Mayors office, NYPD Aviation Unit, Coast Guard.... had no trouble with it at all. There are currently NO laws against the use of our type of Aerial Platform..... Safety is a number one concern for sure! we NEVER fly over people. We are very conscious about safety all the time. Give us a call if we can help!
I will have a link to the short documentary (10 minutes) we did for the job in NYC posted shortly.
 
I noticed from the credits you are the aerial camera man. Just curious, I guess you have to set the EX-1 iris on automatic because of the different angles you shoot at.
 
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