Helicopter Shoot Tomorrow Morning

T

theos

Veteran
Hi Guys, we have 2 dvx's and are going up into a helicopter for a 500ft out of the open door ariel shoot . . .very excited . . . we will be harnessed . . .any tips. One cam will be shooting anamorphic and the other not.
 
Cool. The great thing about helicopters is their ability to hover in one place. The downside is the tremendous vibration from the rotors. I suppose it's too late, but renting some gyro stabilizers would improve your results by a huge amount.

http://www.ken-lab.com/

Otherwise, just be sure that no part of the camera touches the airframe, gaff tape the focus ring at infinity and also tape down any other controls that might be inadvertently changed during the flight. Also, have an in-depth discussion with the pilot *before* you're airborne. Have fun!
 
theos said:
. . .any tips.
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Hang on! :laugh: (KIDDING)

I don't have any experience with shooting from a helicopter but if you've ever stood under the primary rotors of one when they're fully engaged then you'll know that everything you need access too needs to be strapped to you (including your camera, you'll want to ask the pilot for the safest way of course, I think they have some serious 'potential debris' rules anyway).

Depending on the size of the helo they can literally thump the air out of your chest, it's pretty cool until you realize your shirt collar is beating you to death (I got to close to a Black Hawk once, freaking wild) . Be careful and have fun :thumbsup:
 
OK . . . . huh . . . will hang on, as for the gyro, wont find any on the island. I suppose tripods are out of the question then, no matter how smooth it is, and our ad for the shoot is a guy that worked on Black Hawk Down in the AD dept :)
 
A tripod would be a complete disaster and would serve only to transmit vibration to the camera and impede movement. No gyro? Try to let your body absorb the vibration and keep the camera aimed and floating a bit. OIS may help a little, but it's definitely going to be some shaky-cam footage.

theos said:
OK . . . . huh . . . will hang on, as for the gyro, wont find any on the island. I suppose tripods are out of the question then, no matter how smooth it is, and our ad for the shoot is a guy that worked on Black Hawk Down in the AD dept :)
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if you feel dizzy, focus on one thing ahead of you. try to sit the direction of the pilot, whenever possible.

there are some interesting stabilization software apps. that may be able to smooth out your shots, also.

good luck and have fun.
 
Chopper shoot was a blast! I expected to be somewhat scared of the 500ft drop but I was at home. Very shaky though as you guys had said, I had no acess to a gyro so tried floating the camera with a small rate of sucess. I will try and get some footage/pics posted when I get a chance . . . I love choppers! . . . and I do now confirm, I do live on a rock!
 
Here are the pics, not sure if this should still be in the cafe ;)

chopper01.jpg


chopper02.jpg


chopper03.jpg
 
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