HOW TO TRIM X-OCN?

When delivering X-OCN footage from the Sony Venice and Venice 2 for final color, it’s often helpful to trim long takes and deliver only the necessary portions as trimmed clips.

Unfortunately, the internet is full of misinformation. In our search for a solution, we explored several different software options, but none were able to do what we needed. For example, Sony RAW Viewer and Sony Catalyst Prepare could not export trimmed X-OCN files. Catalyst couldn’t even play back Venice 2 files at all.

After some further digging, we finally found a simple solution:

DaVinci Resolve’s Media Management.

The Media Management tool in Resolve 19 allows you to trim X-OCN footage—something most other tools couldn’t handle. You can manage your entire project or just specific timelines, and choose whether to keep full clips or trim them, with or without handles.

All metadata in the X-OCN files is preserved during this process.

Hopefully, this was helpful and saved you from going down the frustrating path of outdated Sony software like Catalyst Prepare.

Shooting 'LEVITATE' on FREEFLY EMBER

In our latest passion project, we put the Freefly Ember through its paces. With a hot New York City summer as our backdrop, we followed parkour athlete Sha Mualimm-Ak and tried to captured his epic moves juxtaposed against the hustle and bustle of the city.

Back in 2020 Freefly Systems released the WAVE camera. It was the company’s first entry into the slow-motion, speciality camera world. Three years later the EMBER is improving on image quality, dynamic range, resolution and usability - allowing us to capture 4K images at up to 1,000fps. Overall we were really impressed by EMBER - the camera delivers an incredible image for its small form factor and price.

For the first part of our shoot we set out to capture the busyness of NYC. Stabilized with a MoVI PRO, we shot with Canon 400mm DO II still lens and 1.4x Extender resulting in an 800mm focal length (35mm equivalent). Together with Movi Operator Ryan Hamelin and 1st AC Adam Roberts, we traveled through the city to find interesting moments. 

Next we teamed up with director and extreme sports photographer Ben Franke to captured parkour athelete Sha Mualimm-Ak.  The goal visually was to completely juxtapose the long lens photography of NYC, so we shot primarily on the Laowa 12mm with heavy diffusion. We also modified the camera, removed the OLPF and added Kolari IR Chrome filtration to create the dramatic Aerochrome IR look. 

Going with a super paired down camera build allowed us to get very dynamic with the camera movement - rotating and tracking with Sha’s movements. 

For the texture elements we used both Laowa 12mm as well as the new Laowa Periscope/Probe lens for underwater photography and shots moving through fire.

Big thanks goes out to J.P Damboragian who took on the edit (he previously crafted our ‘Wolakota’ and ‘Vortex’ films) and also to Seth Ricart and the entire RCO team for coloring the piece and really making the images sing. Also thanks to Sha and Ben for joining this project and opening the world of parkour for this piece.

Let us know which shots you like best and we hope you enjoy the piece!

Cheers!


CREDITS

Director of Photography | Tim Sessler

Co-Director | Ben Franke

Movi Operator | Ryan Hamelin

1st AC | Adam Roberts

Special Effects | Forrest S. Brookmire

Music | KAMAUU & Michael Marantz

Edit | J.P Damboragian | jpdamboragian.com

Color by RCO | rco.tv

Supervising Colorist | Seth Ricart 

Colorist | Derrick Yuen 

Color Assist | Rachel Dwornick

Color Producer | Kay Carpenter

Special thanks to Autumn Kay Brookmire, Michael Marantz, Brandon Bray, Brandon Bloch, RCO, Tabb Firchau, Ansel Luchau, Freefly Systems and all of the pigeons of NYC.

BTS Photo Credits: Ben Franke

Testing new TIFFEN FOG Filters

Since shooting our projects like ‘EROSION’ and ‘Wolakota’ I’ve been a big fan of the Tiffen Smoque filters and recently had the chance to test out the new Tiffen Black Fog and Night Fog filters.

This entire test is shot on Venice 2 and Leica R 50mm wide open at T1.3.

In this first test, it’s super interesting to see how both the Black Fog and Night Fog bloom from the headlight out, while the Smoque retains the highlight details but adds an extreme warm/red flare around it.

The next test seemed like it had an interesting conclusion: if you remove the 1/8 Night Fog from the series, going from 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 Black Fog to 1/4 and 1/2 Night Fog seems like a perfect progression.

That being said, this comparison and idea that ‘Night Fog’ is just a slightly stronger version of the ‘Black Fog’ falls apart as soon as you factor in a strong backlight. In a series of early morning, hard backlit shots even the 1/8 Night Fog still shows a lower contrast and lifts shadows more than the 1/2 Black Fog.

And last but not least, here is a shot directly into the sun. I compared multiple exposures and chose a severely underexposed version, as it shows the contrast changes better and also illustrates the rainbow rings that the Smoque filter produces even more clearly.

Summing up, both the Black Fog - for a bit more subtle effects - and the Night Fog - for heavy to extremely lifted contrast - offer some interesting new options. In very flat lighting the difference between 1/8 to 1/2 of the Black Fog is barely noticeable - while the Night Fog even in very flat light is very distinguished at all strengths.

Personally the Black Fog will certainly be in my repertoire going forward.

If you want to check out the entire test, here is a link to all the stills: TIFFEN FILTER TEST

I hope this test was helpful to shed some light onto these new filters!

Cheers! Tim

Please note that my 1/2 Smoque appeared extremely heavy and did not fit into the test results. I purchased a brand new 1/2 Smoque and it turned out that it did not match my original 1/2 at all. I still included my old 1/2 Smoque in the Dropbox folder but the strength is probably closer to a 2 Smoque and thus not very helpful in this comparison.

LENS TEST: Canon V35 vs. Canon FD vs Leica R

We teamed up with Kingston NY based fellow DPs Ian McGrew and Drew English for a recent lens test, to compare the Canon V35 - modified versions of the original Canon CNE lenses - with Canon FDs (GL Optics Mk IV Rehousing) and Leica Rs (GL Optics MK V Rehousing). Everything was shot wide open on Sony Venice 2 (Open Gate 8.6K).

We made the entire test public and you can judge for yourself how each lens performs:

CANON V35 vs CANON FD vs LEICA R TEST

The biggest surprise to us was, how clean the Leica Rs are. Considering they are vintage lenses from the ‘70s their coating is extremely good and minimally flares with the direct hard sources.

On the flip side the V35s have a very intense, yellow/orange flare that is much more pronounced and consistent between 35, 85 and 135mm. The 24 and 50mm are less bloomy and also have a bit more neutral flare color.

Let us know what you think!

Filming 'Wolakota'

They had forgotten that the earth was their mother - Black Elk

The birth of this project goes all the way back to 2012, when fellow filmmaker and dear friend Silas Hagerty (who shot and directed the feature documentary, ‘Dakota 38’) introduced me to medicine man Jim Miller and his wonderful family on Pine Ridge Reservation. In 2014, I had the chance to go back out to Pine Ridge and begin this collaboration with Ike ‘Wanbli Omani’ Miller. The exact message of our project was still very loose at that point - all we set out to do was capture the beauty of the reservation and it’s indigenous inhabitants.

In 2015 we got back together for a second round of shooting. This time armed with a full spectrum modified RED Dragon 6K, the Freefly ALTA 6 and MoVI M15, we were able to capture more of the riders, as well as interview numerous elders.

Filming out on Pine Ridge was very paired down - the majority of it was Tim shooting on the MoVI and pulling his own focus. For the drone work, Tim was piloting and Ike, after just a few training sessions, was camera operating and getting some stunning shots with unique framings.

After the second Pine Ridge trip we filmed for multiple days in NYC andI was able to put together a 12 minute B&W cut that incorporated the feeling that I was trying to convey.  Something was missing though, and it still didn’t feel ready for a public release. There was a deeper emotional note missing from the film - something that I experienced while being on Pine Ridge but could not translate into the film. Instead of forcing an edit just to get it out into the world, I followed Jim’s advice. He always says, “You know what to do. Pray about it and it will come to you.” Remembering this gave me comfort in knowing that the answer would reveal itself sooner or later if I’d be open to it.

In the fall of 2018, that is exactly what happened. I had been experimenting with different IR photography for a while and replicating an Ektachrome-Infrared (EIR) look was one of the more challenging tasks. I had never seen NYC being photographed in this way and it felt like pushing the envelope in an interesting way. To achieve this look (modeled after the famous Kodak Ektachrome Infrared Aerial Stock that was developed during the Vietnam war for camouflage detection) a mix of in-camera and post processing is required. We shot all of this on a full spectrum modified RED Monstro 8K and Wratten IR filter. Then in the grade the blue and red channels are being swapped to achieve the look.

What I did not expect was to have such a strong emotional response to the EIR NYC footage. It did something very interesting, as this technique made nature appear extremely vulnerable, screaming out for attention. It nearly felt like ‘Mother Earth’ was bleeding.

Capturing this footage was the piece that was missing. I am grateful to Brandon Bray for opening my eyes to change the entire project to color (as I am always stubbornly partial to B&W) and to editor J.P Damboragian for finding some great moments in the interview and tying it all together tastefully. The project finally became what it is today.

Also, discovering Bethan Kellough’s beautiful music was another gift (hat tip to Jake Oleson for that one). Her mix of original composition and clever sound recordings added a really interesting layer to this edit.

I feel like this piece couldn’t be more timely. If you look at our planet and its people, it seems like we are reaching a breaking point. We think we are such an advanced species, yet I believe that the philosophies and way of life of the indigenous cultures are what we are lacking most: respect and a sense of value for our land, our relatives and fellow humans.

CREDITS

Director and Cinematographer: Tim Sessler || timsessler.com
Edit: J.P. Damboragian || jpdamboragian.com/
Music Bethan Kellough, Songs: 'Vision' and 'Low from the album 'Aven' || bethankellough.com
Color: Kath Raisch at CO3 || company3.com/artists/kath-raisch/
SFX: Defacto || defactosound.com/
Production: Tim Sessler
Gear Support: Brooklyn Aerials & Already Alive

Pine Ridge Unit: 
Drone Camera Operator and Assistant: Ike 'Wanbli Omani' Miller
Additional Assistant: Vic Shoulders

NYC Portraits: 
1st AC: Drew English // drewenglish.com/
2nd AC: Stephan Hawk

NYC Aerials: 
Helicopter and Shotover Support: Gotham Film Works
Aerial DP and Operator: Tim Sessler
Pilot: Steve Masi
Shotover Tech: Mike Isler and Jose Montanez

SPECIAL THANKS to Silas Hagerty, Brandon Bray and Autumn Kay Brookmire for always believing in this project and pushing it forward.

My heart and gratitude goes out to everybody that put their time and energy into making this piece, especially the people and riders of Pine Ridge and all of the people that shared their wisdom with us:

Ike, Jim and Alberta Miller, Vic Shoulders, Janessa Garnette, Jaylin Garnette, Jada Good Crow, Ed Star, Trevon Spotted Eagle, Alden Steele, John Yellow Boy, Travis Red Owl Jr, Janessa Quick Bear, Weldon Spotted Eagle, Tyler Bull Bear, Connie Tibbits, Travis Red Owl, Marlon Iron Crow, Maria Red Owl, Bamm Brewer, Ilene Janis, Jay, Jamie and Jeffrey Shoulders and Guss Yellowhair.

And last but not least, thanks to everybody that made this project possible on the back-end: Bethan Kellough, Touch33, Mike Harding, Jake Oleson, Michael Marantz and Already Alive, Company3, Tabb Firchau and Freefly Systems, Jarred Land and RED as well as Kippertie.

Shooting 'The Place Where' on RED MONSTRO VV

Earlier this summer my family and I visited Widow Jane Mine in Rosendale, NY after my wife told me it was an interesting location she’d heard about that would be worth checking out. I took a handful of photos with my 5D mk3 and luckily I brought along a 14mm Canon L lens as well as an old beat up 50mm f/1.8.

While it is a stunning location with beautiful reflections, there is one big caveat: it is dark. A lot of the shots I took that day were 1-2 second exposures.

Fast forward to half a year later, we packed all of our new and exciting tools into the van and spent some time in this epic and eerie location to film our latest project ‘The Place Where’.

Since its release the RED Monstro has been our workhorse camera, leaving even the trusted Alexa Mini in the dust. The large Vista Vision sensor in the small form factor, overall image performance and low light sensibility has been an incredible gift.

Inside the mine we used a mixture of daylight coming in through the large opening, an 800W LED light ball that we built earlier in the year and our 400W LED drone light that is remote controlled on a MoVI and flown on the ALTA 6. Flying in tight quarters, water below, as well as dripping from the ceiling, the mine is an extremely challenging place to fly in.

While our Leica R lens package covers the Vista Vision sensor, I really liked the look of the scout photos and stuck to the Canon 14mm L glass for the majority of the shots. A lens that surprisingly covered the sensor and is an extreme super wide, roughly comparable to a 10mm on a S35 sensor. 

To push the sensor even further into the ultimate low light sensitivity, we used the Kippertie Full Spectrum OLPF and pushed as high as ISO 12,800. 

For the exteriors of the cave we used our 1,600W super bright drone light rig - possibly the brightest drone light that currently exists. We also mostly relied on the 1,600W drone light for the remaining exteriors to create an unreal, supernatural-feeling lighting effect.

While all the gear that we brought out to the mine played a crucial role - e.g. the X-Jib Pro allowing for portable, techno-crane like dolly shots over the water, and the Tube Of Death providing adequate atmosphere in the sprawling location - the Monstro’s Vista Vision sensor was the primary element, being able to capture it all.

The 8K RAW and incredible IPP2 technology offers the industries best image quality, dynamic range and post capabilities - all this while being package in a super compact form factor. We are are excited to see how else we can push this beautiful sensor in other ways!

We hope you enjoy this piece and as always please feel free to comment or reach out with any questions.


Cheers,

Tim


CREDITS:

  • Director of Photography: Tim Sessler

  • Pilot: Adam Koontz

  • Assistant Camera and additional Operator: Josh Holz

  • Music: Michael Marantz and Daniel Boventer

Special Thanks to the Century House Historical Society, Althea Werner, Jarred Land and RED Digital Cinema, Autumn Kay Brookmire, John Michelotti and the Michelotti family, Ignite Digi, Tabb Firchau and Freefly Systems!

Photo Credit for “Brooklyn Aerials 1,600W Lighting Drone”: Pictures Fabryc .

VORTEX: Shot with Freefly's new MoVI iPhone gimbal

Since it's inception, Brooklyn Aerials has been lucky enough to revolutionize a handful of shooting techniques.  We pioneered the dolly-zoom (aka. 'Vertigo-effect') and extreme roll movements on the drone, pushed drone lighting into a new realm and captured NYC in new ways that haven't been seen before with our pieces STREETS and MOMENTS.

Our latest piece, VORTEX, explores the streets of NYC yet again and uses one of the first handheld gimbal that is capable of 360° barrel roll moves: Freefly Systems MoVI iPhone gimbal.

In BALANCE we used the roll effect on helicopter and drone to create a feeling of uneasiness and confusion, within a space and city that we are all familiar with (in some way or another).

For VORTEX the goal was to have a more grounded view of the city.  While the spinning camera was the perfect way to capture the feeling we were trying to evoke, the idea was to portray the buildings as the foundation - the body and bones - of all of it. Yet the people are the ones that really suck you into it and create the pulse and flow of the city and help to create the overstimulating element in our piece.

Personally, we would have never seen ourselves shooting an entire piece (or even just a shot) with an iPhone.   But given that there is no other tool out there that could achieve this effect and also being able to film without a large rig, in very busy, high security spaces like the World Trade Center, Penn Station or Grand Central, this turned out to be the perfect combination.

The tricky part for such a light gimbal and camera is the support.  When shooting with a heavy camera package - e.g. our MoVI Pro with Alexa Mini and Panavision G anamorphics or Master anamorphics - the weight itself really helps to smooth out steps and make the camera float through space.  While a light camera - e.g. MoVI M5 with a Sony a7s - would have a lot more noticeable steps and translated movement.   Freefly's MoVI Carbon will be one of the first handheld gimbals to tackle this issue - but for the time being we'd have to find alternative solutions to achieve smooth and constant movements.

For our NYC exteriors we ended up relying on a Ninebot Segway MiniPro. For interiors we used an old school wheelchair - that helped shooting hyperlapses ('MoVI-lapses') without drawing too much attention from the NYPD and also with pedestrians that were mostly mindful and cleared a path.

While it was an interesting challenge to film this entire piece on an iPhone, we think the real revolution might come with products like the RED Hydrogen that might be able to open new doors to have both a very small form factor camera, as well as a truly cinematic tool.  Regardless, we are at the beginning of a very interesting era that will lead to new creative and technical opportunities that we are very excited about.  To be continued very soon, I am sure.

Cheers!

Tim

 

 

EDIT Dec 7th, 2017:

The original blog stated that the Freefly MoVI is the first handheld gimbal that is capable of 360 degree roll moves.  It looks like this is not accurate and that other gimbals, such as the Letus Helix are already capable of those same moves.

 

 

 

Reinventing cinema lighting - WITH DRONES

'THE LIGHT' is the second creative short film collaboration between Tim Sessler and Brandon Bray. After our last collaboration on ‘BALANCE,’ we wanted to focus on a more narrative piece but really push the abstract while letting the visuals do most of the storytelling. While BALANCE explored aerial cinematography in a new and artistic way, 'THE LIGHT' is really about attempting to make light a character, and using it in a new and innovative way.

Over the past year we've seen an increase in interesting use of "drone lighting".  People attaching remote flashes to small quadcopters or creating impressive work, like Reuben Wus landscape photography with a tiny 200W light.

The issue with most of these systems is that they are far from being usable for motion picture. Even our first test with small prototype lights resulted in pushing Sony's a7s II to extremely high ISOs, as high as 32,000. While the results of the drone light were absolutely stunning and created a bizarre effect that seemed to combine the moving shadows (that we otherwise only know from timelapse footage) and live action - we needed to create a much stronger light source to capture our vision with a proper cinema camera. 

After multiple prototypes we finally arrived at our first light that got us into a realm of usable exposure. Using 60 feet of high powered 2835-480 LED light strips - giving both a 360 degree spread as well as a separate top down light, we had our first working drone light with about an 80,000 lumen output.

 

We based the whole lighting design around the Freefly "Toad in the Hole" quick release system, which allowed us to change from drone to handheld or even cable cam within seconds.

Also as the LED strips are rated for 24V, we are able to run them straight off of 6S LiPo flight packs, which further streamlines the whole setup.

MoVI Pro and RED Helium 8K

 

We probably have one of the brightest lights that has ever been flown on a mutlicopter - but because we weren't using a focused light source (like a spot light or larger LEDs with lenses to narrow down the spread) we were still fighting exposure issues for our wide shots that the RED 6K Weapon or Alexa Mini could not handle.

Coincidentally, our timeline lined up with the release of the RED Helium, which provides a magnificent and clean 8K image - even at ISO 3,200. As a result, we ended up shooting almost every shot on exactly that ISO and wide open on the Leica Summilux-C lenses.

On top of that we were fortunate enough to shoot this entire project with a prototype of the new Freefly MoVI Pro and the new Freefly Mimic. The MoVI Pro is an absolute game changer in the world of gimbals as it provides a pan motor with double the torque of Freeflys M15 (one of the big weak spots in a lot of gimbals below $20K).  It also combines important elements like camera and accessory power, FIZ and full camera control all in one unit, making the whole setup a lot easier, sleeker and more simplified.

I wrote about the Freefly Mimic last year when it was first released - and lately it has been my go to tool for nearly every shoot. I've done abstract commercial work with it, TV specials and even recently used it for the first time on a drone shoot for a flying POV scene.

While some of our dream sequences were supposed to have more of a smooth, dreamy and stable feel to it, we also wanted to have a very energetic feel for the running scenes, tension for the vérité scenes and an overall controlled handheld look for the piece.

Actually envisioning to shoot handheld while running through the dark forest was unthinkable.  Building elaborate dolly tracks would have been completely impossible given our small crew and budget.   The fact that I can use an operator, cable cam, drone or car mount to carry the MoVI, while still having full control over the camera movement and framing, from super smooth moves to a controlled, yet alive handheld feel all the way to rapid pans and a shaky, disorienting style, is pretty incredible.  As a cinematographer this is really the tool I've been waiting for.

Freefly is also advancing in terms of camera control, allowing you to change most camera settings from the MIMIC and MoVI controller via RCP (RED Command Protocol) - through the MoVI controller there is even the option of playback and many more camera functions.

After spending some time shooting with the MoVI PRO - here are some of our favorite new additions:

  • Double the torque for the pan motor compared to the M15
  • Streamlined battery setup that powers both gimbal, camera and accessories
  • RCP and camera control via MIMIC and MoVI
  • New MoVI Ring with built-in stand
  • New landing gear design for quick switch between handheld and airborne mode
  • Advanced and improved auto-tune that also tunes the filter settings

More info about the Freefly MoVI Pro can be found here: freeflysystems.com/movi/

 

BEHIND THE SCENES - THE LIGHT

This project would not have been possible without the help and support from the people listed below. We really want to thank everyone that was involved in this project.  We had to ask every favor possible and we are very grateful for all the support that we received to make this dreamy film a reality.

Director: Brandon Bray

DP: Tim Sessler

Camera Op: Soren Nielsen and Brad Meier

Drone Operator: Brad Meier - Aerial Edge

AC: Jaime Medrano and Filipp Penson

Gaffer: Brian Stansfield - Apollo Lighting and Grip

Grip: Paul Trujillo

BTS: Stephan Hawk, Joey Diaz, Sam Hicks

Production: Freefly Systems, Brooklyn Aerials, Decade.is

Production Manager: Wyatt Angelo

Composer: Michael Marantz

Violin / Cello Performer: Daniel Boventer

Freefly Systems - Tabb Firchau and Hugh Bell

RED Digital Cinema - Jarred Land

OffHollywood - Mark Pederson

Diamond Brothers - Jason Diamon

Andrew Voegeli - Cable Cam Support

CPT Rental - Aaron Fidan and Kazim Karaismailoglu

Sound Design - Brandon Bray

Sound Mix - Drew English

RCO COLOR - Seth Ricart

Cindy Kay and Autumn Kay Brookmire - Meals on set

And our families for their patience and endless support of our passion projects

BTS Photo Credits: Stephan Hawk, Brian Stansfield, Joey Diaz, Sam Hicks

Filming "BALANCE" with the Freefly ALTA 8 and MoVI M15

BALANCE is the latest collaboration between Brooklyn Aerials, Freefly Systems and Brandon Bray.  We had a chance early on to bring along one of the first ALTA 8 prototypes and test it out on a shoot in Kenya in some of the harshest environments, but due to strict Kenyan drone laws we were unable to make a piece with it. Though on the flight back I was already thinking of ways that I wanted to use this new tool to make another aerial film in NYC.

FREEFLY ALTA 8

The three preceding collaborations with FREEFLY have all been based in New York and focused around very specific and revolutionary camera techniques and concepts:

  • STREETS: Super slow-motion on the FREFLY TERO
  • MOMENTS: Using the Mimic-Controller for natural camera moves
  • NOSTALGIA: Infrared aerial cinematography with the ALTA 6

The ALTA 8 is the octocopter version of the previously extremely popular ALTA 6 hexacopter.  The two additional motors allow for higher payloads, which means that the ALTA can reliably lift a RED CF Weapon or ALEXA MINI with bigger cinema lenses and a total payload of nearly 20lbs.

About a year ago I shot the aerial piece "BECOMING OCEAN" with a MD-500 helicopter in Hawaii - you can read more about the technique and the piece here:  BLOG: HELICOPTER + MoVI Aerials

This year I finally had the opportunity to use the same technique in NYC and fly above Manhattan to capture my view of this epic city.  Given the current FAA regulations, flying any kind of drone above Manhattan would be considered “reckless operation” and illegal - that means a full sized helicopter is the only reasonable option for those kind of shots.

To execute our idea, we used two new camera techniques:

  1. Extreme roll moves with the MoVI M15
  2. A vertigo drone effect

BALANCE

Behind the Scenes (Long version is coming soon)

If you look at the majority of today's multicopter and aerial footage in general, you will find a lot of very stable, composed, and mechanical-looking footage. As previously described in my post about the FREEFLY MIMIC: stabilizers like the Freefly MoVI or DJI Ronin have become hugely popular in the last few years because they are such simple tools to achieve hyper-stable results. In comparison, a Steadicam rig would need a lot more experience (both balancing and operating) to get solid results - or a dolly would need much more time and manpower to set up and would limit the amount of coverage that could be shot from this one setup. 

So here we are - in a time where 3-axis gimbals are accessible to nearly every level of production and have with no doubt changed the cinematography of the 21st century; for better or worse, replacing both steadicams and dollies in a lot of productions. Though I have no doubt that we are just in the beginning - there is still so much more potential yet to come. With the latest MoVI firmware update, FREEFLY opened up doors to use the gimbal as a timelapse remote head - the MIMIC translates real motion into a stabilized system or acts as a camera tracker. How amazing is that?

To get back to the point that I originally wanted to make: aerial footage these days is perfect. Maybe too perfect? The horizon is always perfectly level, shots for the most part are very straight tracking or push-ins without much life or human feel to them - in other words the technical perfection nearly adds to how removed a lot of these shots feel.   By adding even slight roll motions in combinations with tilts and pans you can change footage that feels mechanical and distant to something that feels a lot more natural and motivated.

We definitely pushed the roll moves in our piece to a maximum - to further exemplify the imbalance of our modern day world.   But shots like these really speak the most to me, where subtle moves change the whole feel of a shot and scene:

MoVI ROLL MOVES

The second technique that we used is something that hasn't been done with a high-end cinema drone before: the VERTIGO effect (or dolly zoom), that we are all familiar with from Hitchcock's masterpiece to films like Goodfellas and Raging Bull.

DRONE-VERTIGO

 

The basic premise is simple:  the move starts at a 45mm focal length and while the camera moves towards the subject you zoom out to the maximum wide angle, while keeping the subject at the exact same size. We achieved this effect with a Canon CN-E 15.5-47mm cine zoom lens and with the help of the RT Motion FIZ that allowed us to control the zoom even from far away. An accurate zoom that perfectly matches the motion of the camera is one important element to achieving this effect.  Though a lot more critical and unfixable in post is the accuracy of the camera movement itself - this really pushed the ALTA 8 to its limits, as the slightest divergence from its path or the most subtle change in altitude would have been extremely visible.

I hope you enjoyed this and I can't wait to see how these camera techniques will be further developed and used in the near future!!

Cheers,
Tim

 

Behind the scenes photos by Sam Hicks. Copyright Brooklyn Aerials, Inc.