Shooting from an ultralight plane.

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Pierre Petit

Well-known member
I was wondering if anyone have any word of advice. I was looking to rent an helicopter but it turns out to be to expensive. I was offered to shoot from one of those ultralight plane. I have never done this before. I wonder how to go about with it. Do you usually go for hand held? I am afraid to be limited angle wise if using a tripod . Also i figured my arms would damp any vibration better. I also wonder how to secure the camera. I'm sure i will figure out something but some insight from more experienced operator would help me greatly. Thanks in advance.
 
Been there, done it, it's a poor substitute for a helicopter. But, hey, if you're poor, I guess you have to go with the substitute.

Your arms may dampen vibration, but if you go handheld you're going to get wildly shaky footage. If there were any way to strap the camera down using a CineSaddle you'd greatly improve the quality of the footage (at the expense of not being able to move the camera around). Helicopters use expensive gyroscopic mounts to get rid of vibration while allowing the camera to move; without that you're not going to get comparable results. If you want smooth footage, strap it to a CineSaddle and try to get the pilot to aim at what you want shot. If you want glassy smooth footage on the cheap, try taking a camera on a tripod up in a hot air balloon. If you want smooth footage with freedom of motion, shell out the bucks for a proper helicopter.

You can try using post stabilization software; we didn't because we shot letterbox (one of the few times I've been "bitten" by shooting letterbox).
 
which type are you referring to? I once shot from one of these http://www.airborne.com.au/pages/ml_xt912.html I have to agree with Barry, it was hell. I had attached the camera with 2 magic arms at a clear angle and plenty of safety chains and that was the only successful part, it didnt drop. Without any sort of gyroscope your footage will vibrate, and any filters will come loose too. Also its up to the pilot's ability to get your shot right and they usually are not from the film industry, mine worked at the local sewerage board by day. If there's any hills in the area expect it to feel more like a rollercoaster ride as wind behaves quite different when you're up there.. Oh and watch out if you're fiddling with a remote control, the rotor will be right behind you.
 
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ok thanks guys your input is very appreciated. I'm in indonesia and i was drooling over flying shots of steaming volcanoes. Doing some research on the cinesaddle. I might do it just for the thrill with no expectation regarding the project.
 
I don't have any airborne filming experience, but I do have a lot of flight time, and I can tell you that the last type of craft I would want to be flying around a steaming volcano is an ultralight. Ultralights have extremely low wing loadings, which means they are very sensitive to turbulence, up/down drafts, mountain waves, gusts, etc. Why do you think they mostly fly them at dawn and sunset?
 
nudge said:
Maybe worth looking into these gyro stabilisers from Ken-Lab too.
Click to expand...

That's the only good solution you have, but if you are in Indonasia already, it will not be helpful if I give you the Ottawa contact for the Gyro. Here it is for your next occasion :

JOHN MCQUARRIE PHOTOGRAPHY
192 BRUYERE ST
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
CANADA K1N 5E1
TEL: (613) 241-1833
FAX: (613) 241-2085
mcq@magma.ca

n.b.: Il y a une boîte de production en banlieue de Montréal qui a un stabilisateur avec 4 gyros pour hélicoptère ou avion...top notch.
 
Hi,

One more thing. Go as wide as you can. The wider footage the better as far as the appearance of 'shakiness' than telephoto.

Good luck.

The gyro will make a lot of difference.
 
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSnowyRiver

Plenty of shots from a microlight...I shot this stuff last year... personally I think they can be fantastic you can get really low and go very slow...

Best to shoot early in the morning or late afternoon as they do get buffeted by the wind...

I shot 1080i for this project and smoothcam was used extensively in the edit...

If I'd do it again though I'd shot 720pn at 50fps.. although the footage will be at 1/2 speed it would be much smoother..

You need a pilot with filming experience as you'll need to shoot from the side to get a clean view... slightly tilted down will get you through the wires that hold the kite...

Also be sure to remove the lens hood... as I was looking from left to right of the pilot I clipped the back of his seat which dislodged the hood and it flew into the rotor fan...

Luckly we had just come down from about 6500ft and there was a road nearby for a forced landing... we still had some thrust but the rotor was shreded by the lens hood.. cost me about $600 to replace his blade and lost about 5 hours as he had to return back to his airport to get another blade...

Good Luck...

Cheers

www.les.herstik.com


PS there's also some aerials less the smoothcam in my gallery site..

http://www.les.herstik.com/gallery2/main.php

It's in the stockfootage section..

Maybe some here but I'm still building this site..

www.thesnowyriver.com
 
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