Sony F55 Helicopter filming

Last blog we discussed thinking about lighting, so we get the most out of our tools and natural light. Today it is about using natural light in a tough enviorment, flying low in a helicopter.

I was given the opportunity to work on a documentary with Storyville Films in NYC. The documentary is The Brown Difference / Brown 250. The story is about Brown University celebrating its 250th year.

My job was to fly with Birds Eye View Helicopters and film scripted landscapes in Rhode Island from the South shore up through Narragansett Bay, then over the city of Providence, and Brown University campus.

F55 in R44 934
Sony F55 w/Red Pro Zoom 17-50 and Marshal monitor on custom Gyro system in R44 Helicopter

What a fun job. My tool of choice is the Sony F55. I pushed for 4K but they had so much old footage to use in the film they selected 1080p format. The frame rate is 29.97fps, with a bit rate of 440Mbs. My lens was the Red 17-50 mm PL lens that is very sharp edge to edge.

For stability we used two KS-12 gyros on the Aerial Exposure gimbal. I have been using this system for 12 years. We have modified the gimbal so we can shoot 4K cinema RAW film, and stills at the same time.

manfrotto-577-pic-3
View of the cockpit prior to take off.

We took off with nice light and dealt with some clouds throughout the flight, which did not hurt the footage. Covering 75 miles in 90 minutes we captured a lot of footage in a short time, not something you can do with a drone.

The natural light was always set at the right angle when we filmed so all colors would be highlighted. The classic Rhode Island locations start the film off with my footage. Thanks to Storyville films for the great job, Jeff Codman at Birds Eye View for being my favorite pilot, and the F55 for never failing to nail the job.

Here is the link to the film by Storyville Films

The Brown Difference / Brown 250

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