Hanging from a helicopter!

W

Wilshireblvd

Active member
I'll be in Hawaii in a couple weeks shooting out either side of a small tour helicopter that has both doors removed. I will not have any kind of stabilization and I'm shooting on a PMW-EX1. I'm wondering if shooting 1080 24p running 30fps might help keep things a little less jerky.

Anyone have experience in a shoot like this? Basically we're just shooting broad landscapes, etc. Thanks for any tips and tricks!
 
Shoot the highest possible frame rate your camera will shoot. We put my RED with a cooke 25-250 attached in a 'copter last fall with a stabilizer that was designed for a camera up to probably 10-15 lbs with very little luck. We tried to shoot at 24fps, but we could only get 3-4 seconds of good footage. We then upped the frame rate to 50fps and suddenly got 6-10 second of good footage. Of course, it was in slow motion since we would play it back at 24fps, but it worked great for our use.

Matthew
 
I would try and only shoot out of the right hand side of the helicopter because if on the left hand side and you want to shoot looking forward, to be able to look through the viewfinder is nearly impossible

Bob
 
If you can find an attachment point above the door frame, you might try a bungy cord attachment to "float" the camera. Beware transmitting the vibes of the machine thru your bum /spine/hands to the camera whatever you do. (ie detach ytourself as you would with a steadicam).

Watch your horizons.

Take a sick bag if you havenot done much of this. Looking thru a camera while flying can "mess you up a bit"
 
Consider adding weight to the camera. A heavier camera will react less to sudden movements. Also, consider posting at 720 so you can use the extra frame space to stabilize the footage in post.

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kenlab gyro a must, see if you can find a spot to hang a short bungy cord. my demo of the heli shots are up at kenyon labratory web site. the seaplane shots. had a shoulder mount as well ,shoot 60 fps and play back at 30. stay wide.
 
I feel that I must add be VERY very careful when shooting out of helicopters. Do not do as your thread title suggests and "hang" out of it or stick the camera out of the helicopter doors, the force of the wind could cost you your camera...or worse if you are not experienced. Always do whatever the pilot asks immediately and never do anything without the pilot knowing, he's the only reason you're not succumbing to the laws of gravity at any one point.

Here is a link from DP Michael Brennan's website that I suggest you read for some great information regarding helicopter shoots. And here is a link from the Cinematographer's Mailing List thread that contains some of the same advice and some other interesting tidbits of information.
 
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