Drones: Flying Into Action

Broadcast: Drones Directory 2015

From local news items to adrenaline-fuelled action sequences in Hollywood blockbusters, shots captured by drones are cropping up everywhere. While other systems have their benefits – for example, a helicopter can go longer distances, fly at higher altitudes, carry heavier camera payloads, and hover – a professional cinema drone is flexible and can be operated for a fraction of the cost. It also moves in three dimensions, overcoming the limitations of using a crane, dolly, or wire rig, which are fixed. Broadcast spoke with TV, film and commercials producers about their experiences using UAVs.

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Emmerdale

ITV's drama has used drones on several occasions, including in a driving sequence of a episode to be TXed on 11 November. The UAV was used to reveal the jeopardy of the character's situation.

“The beauty is the flexibility it offers in shot selection,” explains Steve Ross, production manager, ITV Studios. “If the director has a different idea, the drone can cope immediately, whereas using a crane could potentially delay the shoot in having to relocate it. A drone can also offer 360-degree views from any working height, which are hard to imagine with your feet on the ground.”

For example, drones offer the ability to go from a very wide high shot and behind a speeding car, taking the camera down, tracking back above, then turning the camera round to see the driver with the camera now traveling in front of the car.

“This single shot could not be achieved without numerous different set-ups and equipment,” says Ross.

However, when a director begins to see the potential, they may want to use it more and more. “The audience can be shocked or amazed by the impact of a drone shot, but if you use too many it becomes commonplace and loses impact.“

Location choice is important. Ross cites tall overhanging trees, telegraph poles and overhead cables as potential obstacles to negotiate.

“One downside is the number of people who purchase a drone and think they can make a career out of it without any real background or experience in camera work,” he says. “It's not just about flying and seeing what you can see. Framing and composition are just as important 50 metres up.”

Now You See Me 2

Twenty scenes of the horror sequel (on release next June) were captured using the drone as C-camera (alongside main A and B-roll units), including on location in Macao, China and in a tunnel mocked up as a metro station.

“Drones bridge the gap between a crane arm and helicopter,” says NYSM2 producer Kevin De La Noy (Saving Private Ryan, The Dark Knight). “They are so much less intrusive. You don't need to avoid filming camera tracks or cranes so you can be much more creative. Beware that a drone will create a downdraft on loose leaves or dust which may give its presence away.”

While a Technocrane will give you 50 feet of movement at its longest extension, a drone can provide 200 feet in any direction.

“Drones are ideal for high and wide shots but if you need close-ups then go with a normal camera and crane,” advises De La Noy. “UAVs will buffer and be unusable in wind, whereas a helicopter fitted with a gyro-stabilized Wescam even with a IMAX camera filming in 6-8 knots will be rock solid.”

On Now You See Me 2, the drone was paired with a Phantom Flex4K camera which, in the filmmaker's opinion, provided better resolution than a RED to accommodate VFX in post.

Safety considerations included demarcating a zone of restricted access and giving onlookers a chance to remove themselves out of harm's way.

“Safety is vital. If a drone engine dies it become a 5kg meteorite. If it fails with rotors running it becomes a 5kg meteorite with a chainsaw," he says. “Anyone can put a rig into airspace without any safety checks."

De La Noy would like to see a standardisation of UAV rules. “Drones are becoming such an important creative tool for filmmakers who want to base productions out of the UK that there needs to be a policy shift to address exactly what the rules are, who is licensed and who will police the industry.”

The Mosque

The East London Mosque, on the Whitechapel Road, is the largest in Europe but it's also hemmed in by tall buildings restricting conventional camera positions. To give a sense of its geographical location in Tower Hamlets with Canary Wharf as backdrop, filmmaker Robb Leech used a drone during the busy Friday prayers for BBC Two documentary The Mosque (Grace Productions/Vagabond Films).

“It was quite a laborious process with strict filming limitations in built-up areas plus weather conditions to contend with, but we got lucky,” reports Leech. “We got those epic sweeping shots that establish the mosque at the beginning of the film and used more aerial angles as a device for reflection between scenes and to avoid feeling claustrophobic [since most of the film is set inside the building].”

Given the budget Leech would have closed off a street to fly the drone. In the event, UAV filming was only possible if the drone was kept within the space of the roof of the building opposite.

“The open roof of Booth House gave us a buffer zone to fly adjacent to, but not over, the mosque,” says Leech. “We did the same on the roof of the mosque itself, capturing amazing shots of its minarets.”

Filming 150 feet up but keeping within the footprint of the rooftop brought the wind into play. “Any higher than 10 mph winds would have prevented flying and we would not have had the budget to come back another Friday,” says Leech. “We had a 20 minute window to film the prayer-goers exit from the mosque and within that period we flew three times, alternating lenses on the Sony FS7 to give us different framing options.”

Lexus NX Laser Harp

This summer's promo launching a new Lexus featured a musical game in which three cars play a will.i.am tune by hitting 350 projection-mapped motion and audio sensitive laser lights to the right beat.

“Additional vehicles or car-mounted cranes would have interfered with the whole concept of the laser,” explains Max Yeoman, head of production at Mind's Eye Media. “The UAV wouldn't get in the way of the ground camera's line of sight and it wouldn't interfere with the physical light installation on cranes arrayed to one side of the track.”

The shoot was made on a disused Spanish airfield affording ample room to manoeuvre the drone in safety. “Creatively, a UAV gives directors more scope because you can move the camera up, down and sideways,” says Yeoman. “Drones are not better than any other equipment. You have to use the most appropriate tool for the job. With a Russian Arm you can drive alongside the vehicle you are filming, which with a drone is considerably harder and carries more risk.”

A license to fly does not necessarily mean a UAV operation is able to film what you need, advises Yeoman. “You go with reputation, price, how long they've owned the gear and whether they supply cameras or whether the kit needs hiring but first and foremost is a recommendation from another producer, director or crew. If the agency is booked then you have to take a punt on someone else.”

Henley Royal Regatta

Drones are increasingly part of the sports director's armoury. “Any new angles in sports are like gold dust,” says James Abraham, digital strategy director/executive producer, Sunset+Vine. “For the Henley Royal Regatta [live streamed to YouTube] audiences were easily able to see which boat was leading from an aerial tracking shot, and a section of the spectators were revealed as a sporting amphitheatre like Henman Hill, both dramatic views not possible without a drone.”

The UAV repeatedly flew the same section of the river course filming two or three races before returning to ground for a quick battery swap.

“Henley was quite straightforward in that we knew the exact route of the race. With other events you may not know those details beforehand,” says Abraham. “You are also beholden to the weather so that has to be at the back of your mind.”

Operator permissions can differ quite dramatically, he warns. “You need to make sure an operator has got the necessary permissions which in turn should be passed on to your insurance company.”

Sunset+Vine has pre-recorded fly-through beauty sequences for the MCC of test match venues and live UAV material as build-up for the 2015 Aviva Premiership Rugby final from an area outside Twickenham stadium.

“Using RF links means the payload goes up, though sight lines are often easier [than with ground RF cams] since the view is straight up,” says Abraham. “I'm not sure drones are a viable alternative to [wire-slung] Spider-cams for match coverage inside stadia purely from a health and safety perspective. The potential of something going wrong means that no rights holder or producer has got the stomach for that kind of risk.”