Hey everyone basically I am doing A level Design Technology and as my project I am looking at the idea of filming fast action sports i.e. Mountain Biking/ Snowboarding from an elevated angle. I need a client base as part of my project if anyone is willing could they keep a tab on this for posts from me. As it will contain questions etc about filming.
And to kick things off I have a couple of questions...
How do you get the aerial shots that you require?
Does this process require more than one person?
Is this a complex process? (I.e. is it time consuming?)
Is it possible that the process can be hindered by the natural environment? (weather/terrain)
Is the process/product commercial or is it homemade?
Open to anyone all comments welcome
Thanks :)
A lot of moviemakers have become helicopter pilots, and they now strap a GoPro Hero beneath a sophisticated model helicopter and remote-control it from the ground. The results are impressive if you can put up with the CMOS jello. There was a Gadget Show demo of this about 3 weeks back.
tom.
Also, the head cams are used in exactly the way the name states - depends if that s elevated enough for your needs!
Take a look at the links below
Hey guys thanks for the info good help!...
Got a couple more questions for a questionnaire section. Again still looking at the idea of filming fast action sports i.e. Mountain Biking/ Snowboarding from an elevated angle.
When making a film do you aim to produce high, medium or low quality footage.
Would you prefer to use a pre made product or a home made one. (Aerial shots Cable cam esk)
How much would you spend on this.
£0-200 £201-400 £401-600 £601-800 £801-1000 £1001-2000 £2001+
How often would you use it.
Every Day twice a week once a week monthly Yearly
Would you want it to be easily portable
Yes No
Would you prefer the camera to be built in or would you use your own.
I know this is a bit unorthodox but if you would kindly take the time to answer each question that would be fantastic thanks!
Thanks for all your help!
Tom
The results are impressive if you can put up with the CMOS jello.
Don't think you have any choice on that these days, unless you buy a secondhand camera.....
Seems a bit odd, having to tell people new to the craft, that if you are intending to film fast sporting type events, you would have got better results from equipment available a couple of years ago! :)
Don't think you have any choice on that these days, unless you buy a secondhand camera.....Seems a bit odd, having to tell people new to the craft, that if you are intending to film fast sporting type events, you would have got better results from equipment available a couple of years ago! :)
Best get a 35mm camera then as they have been around for decades and still do the job giving a more future proof archive.:D
What was interesting was the fact that on the silly GadgetShow the model helicopter footage was heavily marked down as being 'far too shaky', whereas in fact what we were seeing was 'far too much CMOS jello'. I'd never seen anything like it before, real eye-opening stuff. The helicopter platform was steady enough, it was just the jello was ceaseless and sick-making.
Tom, why would anyone go to the trouble, expense, time and hassle - with the aim of taking low quality footage? What sort of question is that?
'pre made product or a home made one?' You can't make your own microphone or GoPro. How much would you spend? How much is the client prepared to pay? How long is a piece of string? Unanswerable questions I'm afraid.
tom.
I read the original post again, and wondered if the use of 'aerial' made everyone think of 'airborn' - when he might have meant pole-cam style or cable suspended over the action area? So we're really talking support systems, not gopros in helicopters, fun though they are.
There's nothing wrong with a gopro on a model helicopter if the thing can be flown in a manner that can produce good shots - and that means sedately - something little r/c aircraft are bad at doing. The dreaded bends, I just can't use the American word, only happens when things move too quickly, and I've seen some excellent aerial stuff shot with gopros.
I build a small adaptor that goes on the end of my sound boom - and using the gopro open housing, I can run a cable to a small monitor, and get it up quite high. The weight of the boom and the inertia of the camera swinging remove a lot of the wobble and the shots look pretty good. I cannot pan and tilt of course, but as for me, the point is just the high vantage point, I can live with that.
To use your first set of questions, and to be honest - using a dedicated questionnaire site would be better as you can review all the answers - this really only has a few drawbacks, weight being the main one, and I do need two people, because you need to swap to let your arms recover.
You mention snowboarding - which as a skier, is the spawn of the devil, but I couldn't track a moving boarder (or biker) - you need a proper crane, or polecam for that so you can pan with them. Cranes and polecams can be single person operated. However, the trend nowadays is not for individual general operators to buy this kind of kit - far too expensive. I have a 2m small jib and it's on it's first outing for a year next week - frankly it was daft buying it. It has eventually paid for itself, but it would have been more sensible to hire one.
I suspect that if you are thinking of building a crane for your DT project, that would be the simplest. parallel motion, a remote pan and tilt head will stretch you - but best thing is that there are internet forums where people's home-brews can be read about. They won't be cheap to make, because the components are expensive.
Have a look here for info
http://homebuiltstabilizers.com/jibsandcranes.htm
The forum is pretty good too and will answer many of your questions.
Paul