shooting from helicopter

dlang

dlang

Well-known member
What's up guys,
I was hired to shot a peice of land, approximately 600 acres. The guy who hired me wants to get some aerial footage and knows a guy with a helicopter. I'm pretty excited cause this will be my first time shootin' from a heli, however I'm a bit nervous because I really have no idea what to expect. I was wondering if anyone who had experience shooting from a heli could tell me how to get a smooth shot? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking of maybe bringing up a glidecam 2000...would that be that right way to go?
 
"shoot 600 acres" and "knows a guy with a helicopter" leads me to believe this is a real estate agent wanting some footage to show clients, and the helicopter is probably a small personal machine - (robinson, enstrom, hiller, old Bell (think MASH) - probably piston vs turbine powered...

If I've got that right, you're enemy is going to be vibration - lots and lots of vibration. (don't even THINK sound) You'll need to be acting as a human shock mount. You'll most likely be strapped in a seat with probably a full shoulder harness (very limited mobility), excellent visibility (clean the plexiglass and be sure to ask how first), a pannable field of view of maybe 120 degrees. You won't be able to dig in your bag for extra tapes, batterys, filters, lens cloths, etc. A vest full of pockets (think fishing) works great. You'll be wearing a headset and will very likely need to push a button to talk on the intercom (or yell loudly), so plan on growing a third hand or discuss your exact route and speed for each pass in advance. About speed - helicopters can easily go very slowly - say down to 20 kts or so - with no problem. Below that, you pass through "translational lift" to hovering type flight. Power requirements and vibration jump dramatically as you pass thru this speed range, then vibration will settle somewhat as you start to hover. Hovering - going slower than 20 kts- should ONLY be done close to the ground. A helicopter has been described as 20,000 highly critical parts in loose formation. Where a plane wants to fly, a helicopter possesses all the natural flight ability of a rock. There are three controls, a stick (cyclic) and pedals like a regular airplane, plus a lever alongside the seat called the collective. Try very hard not to interfere with any of them - flying a light helicopter is a lot like balancing a marble on the end of a pin. Where you can trim and take your hands off the controls of a light airplane, a helicopters natural flight tendency is to turn upside down and cuisinart itself. Your pilot will NOT be able to hold anything while you change tapes, etc. He or she quite literally has their hands full from takeoff to landing.

Aside from all this, you've probably figured out they're just an incredible amount of fun and you're going to have a ball. You'll get some great footage, just be sure the client understands those movie shots from helicopters he sees at the 20plex entailed megabucks of highly sophisticated gear. The fine print in your user agreement demands you post some footage here also.:beer:
 
See if they can take the door off to give you a better shot out the side.

1162295343.jpg


I've done some shooting from helicopters before and you can get a decent shot without a gyro stabilizer but it makes your life so much easier if you have one.

At 6'6" they had to take the seat out so I could fit in the damn thing to be able to shoot out the side.
I put one foot on the strut to steady myself and got some great footage.
 
Fly without a door if possible. Tie down everything, I repeat: everything, as things falling out are likely to hit the tail rotor. I have used climbing slings. Plan to shoot with mostly WA as the shake is quite bad. Heavy camera works better than a light one.
 
Thanks so much for tips guys. I'm gonna go ahead and have two cam's (one out each side). There will be no doors so we don't have to worry about cleaning the glass, only freezing are tails off(: One cam will be on a glidecam and the other not sure yet, maybe on a bean bag??? would that work? I figure between the two we'll have a pretty good edit. Thanks pixelated for all the great info, and if it's worth posting you can count on it. The shoot is tommorrow so if anyone has any other tips please let me know ASAP
 
heli

heli

I did some shooting from a chopper when I was in the military. The most important thing that comes to mind was the gunners belt that was holding me in as I leaned out the door to shoot.
 
Hmmmm... no doors. A big AMEN to Retaf99's comment - plus maybe one for the camera. Seriously, a lanyard on the camera tied to you means you'll at least stay together. 2 camera - 2 cameramen?? In light helicopters weight is everything - more people = less gas. Beanbag? - I dunno. The vibration is going to be toward the higher frequencies and no two aircraft are alike. Think shooting from the bed of a pickup truck on a washboard dirt road at 50 mph and you've got the idea. It's fast enough so you're skimming the tops with that occasional blam to keep things interesting.

If the wx report is accurate you might want the beanbag for insulation. Air should be nice & smoth but break out the ski gear - there are few places colder than a helo with the doors off. Piss before you go - that shake can also work wonders on the kidneys . . .

Be forewarned - this mode of sightseeing can be extremely addicting. You're going to have a great time. Do everything the pilot tells you and don't believe anything he says - they're all crazy. Looking forward to the clips. . .:beer:
 
whoooooohoooooo....if you haven't done it do it, that was amazing! Thanks all for the replies the footage turned out fine. next time I'll bag the glidecam, it limited me to shooting out the front windsheild. Luckily the second cam was there for back up. between the two we got some awesome shots. Not sure if it just the type of copter we were in but the ride was relatively smooth. Can't wait for the next job that requires aerials. I'll just have to up sell so I can get up in the air again...huh(:
 
Gawd.. well, I'm glad everything went well and you are back on solid ground.

Reading these posts this was a gig that was poised for disaster.

HELICOPTERS ARE DANGEROUS! All Arial work is. It's something that must be left to experienced crews who know how to do it SAFLY.

They know things like taking a Glidecam (Steadicam, whatever..) up in a helicopter is VERY DANGEROUS. I've written about thoses risk on there many a time before. Try running a Search for Helicopter and Steadicam. There are SO many things that can go disasterously wrong in the blink of an eye.

No offence meant at all, but: A person hired with no expreience to do some arial work in a helicopter that belongs to a friend of the clients (again, with presumably no arial filming expreience) is a BAD BAD thing to get involved in.
I was going to post that you should walk away from the gig, but then I saw that it had allready happend. Seriously, these gigs (done like this) are not worth the risk.
I'm glad you had fun, and are back safly. You are lucky, don't ever count on luck with your life.

This is one of those things that if you have to ask for help on an public online forum, you shouldn't be dooing it.


- Mikko ... held his breath while reading this thread.
 
What did you use to stabilize the second camera? I will be shooting about 10 minutes from a CH147 (Marine Corps equivalent to a Chinook) or if we are unlucky a CH153.

Shihan
 
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mikkowilson said:
HELICOPTERS ARE DANGEROUS! All Arial work is. It's something that must be left to experienced crews who know how to do it SAFLY.
Click to expand...


Ya think? HA I did 21 years of TV news in helicopters and only crashed only once & hit a building another time.....

You are correct about any flight being dangerous but I'll still take copters over standing up on the gates of a station wagon/SUV chasing the President down a
interstate being the press pool camera of the day.....
 
I shot from a Helicopter with a DVX100 and used the Tyler Middle Mount. It's a crazy gyroscopic machine that rents for a thousand or two. But I think it was mandatory. A tyler rep came out and installed the thing the day before we were to shoot. It's crazy, vibrating, windy and cold up there. Yes - take the side door off and strap yorself in really good.
 
I shoot with a Sony 1000 in a Camera mount under the Helicopter. I control the Cam from the inside with a joystick. We do not use any gyro. The pictures are very nice. Sometime a little shaky depends on the vibration from the Helicopter but that does not disturb. If you want, you can see this Footage here: http://www.revostock.com/FileCloseup.html?&ID=6780

(I’m still in the uploading process so there are a lot more to see in the next days.)

Rudi
 
For professional side mount shooting, you'll want to look at one of these, or other gyro system:

http://www.tylermount.com/equipment_frameshome.html

Also, make sure you have an appropriate quick release harness. I had a friend who was tragically killed in a plane crash while shooting. Everyone else survived, and he would have survived had as he been wearing the correct harness.

Don't ever cut corners with ariel work.

I.
 
I'd recommend renting "Dust to Glory"................. the helo shots are absolutely fabulous! Depending on where you live you might consider contacting the principals for advice.

Regards
JohnG
 
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