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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Chopper advice

Ah,

Just read the link on the LTE accident (post happened while I was trying to figure out how to spell). The "Lack of awareness of the pilot" and "if not corrected" portions explain what I was confused by.

Nick
 
arrinick said:
Hi Mike,

I in no way mean any disrespect, I am just clairifiing a few things, or perhaps opening them up for discussion.



Not sure what you mean here, a Tyler side mount is way more difficult to get past than a camera hung in the doorway, I have done this on US Coast Guard, and whatever the EU version is, and they are serious sticklers for regulations.



Not sure again what you are refering to here. Helicopters are happy to pirrouette a lot more than 180 degrees with no loss of lift, and an increase in rotor pitch would correct any problem there. The US coast guard very often flies helos in extreme (50 knots plus) wind conditions while performing difficult rescues.

One thing that should be mentioned, is that depending on the altitude that you are operating at, and the ceiling of the Helo, you may not be able to hover, and your airspeed may have a minimum to maintain lift.

Cheers,

Nick Gardner
Click to expand...

Nick,
you've made some intelligent observations!
There isnt any stats but I reckon next to war zone work, filming hand held or side mount from helicopters is probably the next risky activity for camermen so it does deserve a bit of attention.

When operating a Tyler sidemount you are already half out the door so egress isn't an issue unlesss you have someone in the back with you.
Having said that it could be quite hard for some of the side mounts to pass new EASA rules which in summery state that in a survivable crash (survivable in respect of G force loads) that a pasenger should have a clear exit and that equipment will not intrude into the cockpit and hurt anyone.
When Wescam sidemount was re certified recently they had to do a lot of work on this crash worthiness aspect (even though the bracket had been flying for 15 years!)


If you are sat on a seat with something between you and the door that will slow down your egress or that isn't secure then it is illegal. Camera on a home made bungy falls into that category in my view. If you are sat on the floor with legs on the skid then no problem, there isnt much between you and the outsde world, but two crashes in Uk Ireland in last two years cameramen were very lucky not to lose their legs (one jetranger lost its skids in the crash and it ended upright on its belly.)

A tyler camera op was not so lucky in California not so long ago when the aircraft clipped a cliff whilst following a car and ended up on its side.
Everyone else survived. Also a side mount op perished when they hit power lines and he was reportatly crushed by the side mount.

The sad case of the cameraman from Blair Witch who could not free himself from his apparently home made harness and camera rig and drowned when the fixed wing ditched. Everyone else onboard extracted themselves before it sunk.


Some pilots will not allow you to sit on the floor with legs dangling unless you have an approved aviation dispatcher's harness that has a quick release.


In respect to piroettes, would love to be able to have the power available in the types of heli the us coastgaurd use.
But light utility helicopters like jet ranger, EC120 R44 have comparatively little rudder pedal left to counter gusts when flying sideways, especially on a windy day.
Here is a report on a filming accident involving pilot running out of pedal. http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cach...jetranger+accident+filming&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1
AS350B2 B3 and EC 130 have more power.

Most pilots do not regularly fly sideways, low and have to track a subject on the ground without at least having a choice of which side to swing the tail. If you are shooting out the left hand side and there is a director in the front seat then part of their forward vision is compromised. So for this reason try and shoot out of the pilots side of the aircraft.


Pilot choice is the key!




Mike Brennan
 
Guys. Thanks for all the advices!


The shoot went well (for what we should shoot), not at least thanks to your mental preparation.

I will definitely do stuff a bit different the next time, because by then I have some (very little) experience, but the pilot was super good and also happy with the brief, and of 7 planned shots in an hour, we got 6, and the last is there, but we were to late for the sun...

Thanks for all the experienced advice. I'm definitely worn out in legs and arms, but it was quite fun, and all went down well.

The only little scary moment was when the pilot handed my assistant a knife and told him to cut me loose if the circumstances so demanded... :)

Quite logical, when you think of it, I just hadn't really thought of that.

Cheers!

Gunleik
 
This question comes up about twice a year on steadicam boards, with a new operator being asked to "do steadicam" in a helicopter. The first 3 posts will always mention that the producer doesn't know crap about steadicam, because if they did they'd understand a steadicam is not at all built for that sort of work.

Then the next 10 or 20 posts go on about how dangerous heli work is, and given that there are a lot of VERY experienced guys on there, a few people will mention by name the operator friends they've lost doing that sort of work.

My only point is to emphasize just how dangerous it CAN be, especially if you or the pilot haven't done much of it. Be very careful, my friend.

There's some operators that won't do heli work, period, because they've been around long enough to lose some friends in crashes.
 
If you are going hand held or ever do.
DO not and i cant stress this enough Do not Zoom in at all.
Stay as wide as you possibly can. Shook 4K if you can and zoom in in post.

You will not feel it but the vibration of the chopper is so bad it will ruin your shot and you wont know it until you see it.
Due to the fact that your able to play back so fast do some play back and watch your footage right after you shoot it.

Are you going hand held?
Do you have any sort of gyro?
 
Certainly the real estate that red offers allows good scope for stabilising hand held footage in post.
This concept works if you have a few killer shots, doesnt work for TV "shot gathering jobs".
Helps to have very high quality wide glass.

If you want to stabilise shot in post use at least 1/125th shutter or youll get an odd unexplained focus "fizz" that is one or two blurred frames (caused by camera movement) matched to steadier sharp frames.
But High shutter speed will create some strobiness so a little motion blurr needs to be added in post.


Mike Brennan
 
Vibration in a helicopter is greatly dependent on what kind of helicopter, and as I understand a three blade rotor makes a lot less vibration than a two blade rotor. (Four blades would be even better - In theory the more blades on the rotor, the less vibration. Or at least so I have been told.)

I have done a lot of handheld stuff from three blade rotor helicopters and that all worked fine, bearing in mind that the cameras used were a lot lighter than RED ONE, I would expect very good results using RED.
 
I personally love helicopter shots. Nevertheless there are some things to be considered.

Do I have enough budget to finance a helicopter shoot in the best possible configuration, meaning safety first:

1. Pilot must have a long experience in film shoots. Pilots are human and make mistakes and can evaluate situations wrongly. I know that because I have a PPL A. Producer must be aware of this. Asking questions is meaningful.

2. Helicopter must have 2 engines and be prepared for filmshoots.

3. Cameramount must be at least a Tyler mount.

4. And most important: Weather. For a safe shoot you need calm air and clear VFR visibility. You want that for your pictures as well. In summer shoot early in the morning.

5. You need budget to say no, if the weather is not perfect.

6. Operater must know that helicopter shoots are dangerous.

7. None on board who is not absolutely neccessary.

8. Any show-off situation (client on board) is dangerous.


If you want great results get a spacecam.

Its gyro stabilised and the camera is mounted in a kind of bubble. Vibration is minimised and one can use longer lenses (of course there are limitations). Also the fact that all doors are closed brings down stress a lot.

Hans
 
Hey Gunleik...glad your shoot went well.

What was the Pilot's name?...I shot with one of the best pilots I have ever shot with, in Norway back in 94, shooting a piece on the Men's Downhill for the Winter Olympics (shot a month or so before the Olympics) for CBS. He was amazing...shot handheld out the door (standing on the skids) chasing ski racers down the course...the Roussi jump was incredible ...chased the skiers right over the jump a few meters behind (The Roussi jump is one of the biggest in Olympic history). The skiers (a few guys from the Norway Ski Team)said that our downwash bouncing off the snow helped them...ok that was probably not true, but they were nice. You have a really great country, and very nice people.

I've done a bunch of this kind of shooting and he was the best ...he had an A-Star Helicopter. Can't remember his name now...maybe I will remember if I hear it.

Anyway, glad you enjoyed it...it's a blast.

Larry Gebhardt
 
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