AERIAL FILMMAKER FRONTIER LAND
LEFT Drone Dudes maintains a diverse range of high end kit. ABOVE The 360-degree rig in action. BELOW The Inspire 2, the most regularly used UAV in the Drone Dudes business.
locked or fixed arm instead the centrifugal force could eventually have death-flipped the drone on its head.” With the teamput together and the drone and VR configuration established, the teambegan the shoot in Drone Dudes’ backyard of LA. They then headed to Malibu and down to Mar Vista to get some shots by the ocean while flying the 360° camera downtown as well. Next stop was New York city, where the VR ensemble was launched from a barge in the middle of the Hudson River – for the simple expedient that you can’t launch from land in the Big Apple - to get shots of the skyline and Brooklyn. “We loved the chance to fly amongst the skyscrapers,” says Andrew, “though it got a little hairy at times! Then from New York we shipped off down to Sao Paulo in Brazil on a 24-hour flight. It got pretty wild down in South America, but we had some local guides to keep us out of trouble. We got the chance to shoot the Octávio Frias de Oliveira Bridge, an iconic construction of architectural beauty. As we flew around São Paulo we came pretty close to running into some power lines – our Inspire got buzzed by electromagnetic waves and the GPS started acting strangely. But we got awesome, dynamic shots and that night we danced and drank the traditional juices of Brazil.” On leaving Brazil the teamheaded for Dublin, where a flight along the coastline felt like something out of a movie. Everything was a lush green as the drone was piloted over sprawling parks and down a river over a bridge, capturing breathtaking 360° footage. “We headed off to Munich next,” says Andrew, “and captured video over the Eisbach, a river in the middle of a park “This [VR] technology is going to be more andmore in demand”
“The cut turned out to be incredible with no noticeable stitch lines,” says Andrew. “It was a great way for us to capture a ton of international footage, gainmore experience working with VR and 360° video as well as the Obsidian camera, and to build our relationships with producers Melissa Daniels and Jonny Zeller. So, travelling the world with a drone to capture the experience is great, but you need to plan it out in advance and definitely research the right gear to take.” For Drone Dudes, the aimnow is to introduce this VR technology to clients and to show themwhat can be done. This means taking an Oculus Go high-end VR headset tomeetings and events so that the potential of aerial 360 can be fully explained. “VR is not mainstream just yet,” says Andrew, “but with the way video games are going we’re going to be seeing a big swing in the market in the future. Inmy opinion this technology is going to be more and more in demand in the years ahead and there’s no turning back now.”
with a constant wave that surfers love to ride. They got a kick out of watching our Obsidian camera flying past as it captured smooth footage of them. The Drone Dudes also got the chance to fly around some big, open, monumental locations with a lot of history and we even had time to check out a modernmuseumof art before we left. “Our final destination was Tel Aviv. Going from the cold of Ireland and Germany to the sub-tropical weather of Israel was a nice change. We sent our Inspire out over the water, filming stand-up paddlers amongst other pilots flying their own drones. Then we launched downtown to get some sweet footage near the Oath offices, and then to Jaffa, an ancient port city. After we perused local shops and vendors, we took our drone up and down old corridors, getting some terrific 360° video.” Back in LA, work in post started to produce the team’s own cut. While the gimbal used performed well during flights, the footage needed a spot of post- stabilisation, and editor Michael Batty got to work rotoscoping out the drone from the zenith, undertaking some sky replacement, painting here and there and removing unwanted lens flares.
More information www.dronedudes.com
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PRO MOVIEMAKER WINTER 2018
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