Helicopter Shoot

avp

avp

Well-known member
Tomorrow I'll be shooting a promo for a helicopter tour service. We will be shooting air to air (with another helicopter) as well as beauty shots on the ground.

I've never shot from a helicopter before (just fixed wing) so I'm looking for tips from those who have experience in this area. We will have the doors off but I have no idea what the configuration of the seating is and I certainly don't have access to a gyro system. I will be shooting either handheld or off the sticks if room allows.

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks, Jeff
 
Been there, done that. There's a good chance tight framings are out of the question..... The Helo I shot out of was a Robinson R22, and let me tell you........not smooth. Everytime I tried to zoom in tight, we'd hit turbulence, and I'd lose my framing. So gave up on the tight shots.

So, give yourself plenty of "air" around the other copter, and plan on zooming in on your video editor. Also, if you have any kind of "stabilizer/shoulder mount" use it. I put the camera on my lap, mounted on my DVrigProHD, and shot from there for stability. Make a safety tether for your camera rig. And maybe a safety harness for you too, if your pilot is going to allow you to be out of your seat.

Watch for the rotor downdraft. Put the camera too far out of the slipstream, and you will be in for a real surprise

Believe me, shooting out of a helo is a real experience. I had my legs out the door, sitting sideways (still belted in)

Aerial Cam Op.jpg

Plus, get one of these kinds of pics. Definitely will go in your scrapbook. I look back on mine, and always say, "That was freakin' cool!"

The kind of shots I loved, were the subject helo at a slow forward and we 360'd around him, filming. And flyby's.
And have FUN!!!!!!!

So you can see what we did (geez, back in 2007):


LOL, BTW, those are my guns and uniforms too.
 
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Thanks for your response, Doc

I noticed you prioritized the safety tether situation - camera first and then "maybe" one for myself. I just thought that was kinda funny.

To note, I do have a safety tether for the camera.

Jeff
 
LOL, I just realized that too. Oops. When I had my HVX, let's just say if I broke it or dropped it, I would rather be dead. I haven't broken myself of that mentality.
 
Smoothest air is going to be early in the morning. Once the ground starts heating up things start getting bumpy, esp. close to the ground. Keep your eyes on the horizon to minimize the motion sickness.
 
And shoot wide, unless you have some sort of gyro stabilization. Long lenses will be too shaky.
 
You didn't say what type camera you have- I'll assume a small camcorder- HVX/HPX (though I just noticed a shoulder mount camera in your avatar)

Stay wide
OIS
Shoot from your lap using a small pillow or some sort of padding (more for vibration than shakiness), but don't let it get sucked out
Keep the horizon level in the shot
Overcrank if possible- things will look smoother (unless you need the sensation of speed)
Stabilize in AE or your NLE if necessary
Eyes on the horizon if you get dizzy, and don't have either a completely full or completely empty stomach
The pilot will tell you this (but it always bears repeating)- stay away from the rear of the aircraft and the tail rotor!
Have fun!
 
groveChuck...

I will be shooting with a JVC GY DV5100u. This is a fill size ENG camera. I cannot overcrank with this camera. As for post image stabilization if needed, what is a good plugin for AE (6.5) or Sony Vegas 10?

I generally don't get motion sickness but I'm not as young as I used to be.

Thanks for the tips

Jeff
 
I shot the Helicopter Promo yesterday and I wanted to share some of my experience. I did receive sound advice form folks who responded to this thread and much thanks goes out to you all. I was in a Robinson R44 in the left front seat shooting another R44 air to air. Some adivice I did use: ~ Shooting from my lap (however I did shoot form the shoulder as well with decent results. It just depended on position of subject chopper). ~ Leave early in the AM (best air and less turbulance). ~ Avoid zooming (Of course I had to try but it is near impossible to get any stability w/o some sort of gyroscopically stabilized rig - not in our budget.)

A couple of other things that worked for me:

I used a wireless lav setup and just stuck the mic in the earpiece of my headset. I was able to pick up very usable audio of me talking with the pilot as well as pilot to pilot and aircraft to tower conversations. This likely will not be used in the video but was nice to listen to in post. This is a simple alternative to tying in to their com system and works very well.

Come up with a very detailed shot plan and be sure both pilots have a good understanding of what needs to be done (There is no way that I could have referred to a shot list and still operate cam. Loose papers in a chopper with doors off are a huge no no.)

My conclusions: Be prepared, have detailed communication with all players, keep focused, and last, no matter how seasoned you are as a shooter, it is extremely difficult to get stable footage w/o a stabilizer rig.

I did some post on footage using a free image stabiliztion software called Deshaker. I am rather surprised and pleased with the results.

I will add some footage in a bit

Jeff
 
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