Rocking the RC Heli
I wanted to give a quick shout out to my friend Tabb Firchau of Freeflycinema.
Tabb has been piloting helicopters (RC and real ones) for close to 2 decades and I’ve know him since my first HDSLR productions including "JOB First Look." We’ve worked on several productions together over the years including most recently "Mobius." You can see his reel below as well as a behind the scenes look at some of the productions he’s done. They will fly your 5D, you Epic, Scarlet, F3, AF100 an anything of that weight category without a problem.
I’m a big fan of RC helicopters (RC stands for Radio Controlled helos) for situations when you can’t get a traditional helicopter close enough to your subject or when you’re in a remote location where getting a traditional helicopter is simply not affordable (the ferry time back and forth to a distant location can be pretty substantial.) I will say that I will only work with extremely experienced pilots for both full-sized and RC helos. These are not toys and can be quite dangerous to both your gear and more importantly other people if operated by an inexperienced pilot. Even though I’ve personally flown a (real) plane and a (real) helicopter myself – I have to admit I’ve crashed a half-dozen RC helicopters within the first 2-3 flights… it’s far from easy to fly those little guys. So at the risk of sounding patronizing – please choose your pilots carefully on your productions. If you want to learn yourself – I definitely recommend you don’t hook the camera up to your RC until you’ve done a few hundred flights…
The best compliment I can pay Tabb is that he and gimble operator Hugh Bell (the gimble is the pan/tilt/roll head at the front of the RC [one person controls the helo and the other the camera for obvious reasons]) are responsible for both the opening and closing shot of "Mobius." We had a very tight schedule and I was pretty slammed during that production. I gave both of them several notes on what shots I was looking for in terms of aerial coverage of the scene and had to run over to work w/ the actors with the main unit. Tabb and Hugh did such a perfect job that they earned BOTH the opening and closing shot of the film.
As we say in French "Chapeau" - or "hats off." Having that happen is a director’s dream – it doesn’t happen unless you work with extremely talented people. Normally I pay very close attention to each shot – but with nearly 60 setups over 3 days and given that the execution scene was the first thing we shot for the film – we were very rushed to get going. I didn’t have the luxury of running the action for more than two extra takes for the aerial unit – and I think they nailed it in those two shots.
You should look to hire RC and traditional pilots not only because they are safe – but also because they understand how to make shots work and how they can be intergrated in films. Tabb and Hugh do just that and more…
You can see two behind the scenes video with the RC helo -one from Tabb first and one from Mobius below the jump.
and the behind the scenes from Mobius:
and speaking of Mobius in case you missed it – check out the opening and closing shot courtesy of Tabb, Hugh and Freeflycinema.
Huge fan of Tabbs work. Great inspiration. The reel and the BTS clip is awesome.
Best regards from Germany
Dennis
Reply
I’ve been flying RC helis with video cameras for years. Tabb is the best of the best, and a genuinely nice guy to boot!
Reply
For the gear heads, could you ask Tabb about the gear he uses?
I’m surprised he’s using an electric helo…didn’t think they had enough power to lift a DSLR around for any decent period of time. And it looks like he’s using some sort of remote video camera on that gimbal which I’m sure costs a ridiculous amount of money
Reply
Hey Vincent,
Thanks for the info on the RC helis. I was wondering if you’ve seen the RC helis used in New York to capture the 9/11 Memorial Lights or fly through the building the way a full-size heli couldn’t. I did a time-lapse of the Memorial Lights here and it would have been sweet to add in a RC heli clip for depth.
My 9/11 Memorial Lights clip: http://youtu.be/ds03nCXrOBM
Reply
Vincent Laforet Reply:
December 2nd, 2011 at 12:16 am
I know it’s illegal to fly RCs anywhere near Manhattan as per the NYPD.
Reply
I’ve asked Tabb a couple years ago what heli he was flying for Vincent’s surfer movie and he mentioned it was a modified Joker. But I think Tabb flies his own custom heli now… might want to ask him just to make sure.
Is Tabb fiying octo-copters now as seen in the behind the scene vid?
Great Job!
John V.
Reply
Vincent Laforet Reply:
December 2nd, 2011 at 12:16 am
He was playing w /the Octo copter to show it off and put a behind the scenes unit 5D MKII on it…
Reply
Hello, we have been flying RC Helicopter rentals for the film industry for several years. Discovery Chanel, Nat Geo, History Chanel, MTV Music Videos, car commercials, and the list go’s on, all the major studios.
This month the US Government called us, the FAA. Closed our operation as, said there can be no RC Helicopters of any type flying in the USA airspace until they decide how to regulate the RC Helicopters, now sometime in 2013.
Read more information on our company web site, http://mi6films.com/, this is not a joke we are out of business at this time, along with a few hundred other companies they have called recently to stop flying or face legal action from the FAA.
Vincent, please take a moment to Google FAA & RC Helicopters to see the official government web site, then update your blog post, thanks, Cheers, Russell Freeman
Reply
Vincent Laforet Reply:
December 2nd, 2011 at 12:15 am
This is definitely news! wow… I’m extremely sorry to hear this. Prior to this my understanding is that the FAA was in control of all vessels that fly ABOVE 500 feet… obviously something has changed…. I do hope this gets worked out!
Reply
Awesome per usual!
Reply
I am totally silence on this, totally amazing work & talent . Chapeau ! – Jeff Mulongo from UGANDA ( East Africa )
Reply
beautiful work, he’s a pro when it comes to controlling the RC.
Reply
where we can buy one of these flying toy???
Reply
Just a tiny little tidbit from a former RC enthusiast: the “R” in “RC” does not stand for remote! It stands for radio! Just one of those tiny things that only a fanboy would get bent out of shape about, but hey; this is the internet! Why not?
Reply
Vincent Laforet Reply:
December 3rd, 2011 at 9:18 am
Darn- that’s what I had initially – then I wasn’t sure… I searched the internet – and I made the mistake of changing it to remote… kinda new it. But you course you had to bust me!
Reply
Vincent I noticed in the shots from the first example there was often a high speed wobble or vibration visible in the shot, but did not see any of that in Mobius, did you use a different gyro mount or just do additional stabilization in post for Mobius?
Reply
Vincent Laforet Reply:
December 5th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Nothing special was done on Mobius.
Reply
You learn something every day. I always wondered how shooting was done in movie making in these situations.
Reply
Hey vincent
are they expensive to hire? i’m preparing my feature film. I sent you my script, query letter in your email 2-3 weeks ago. business plan , budget, locations in France, Texas and death valley . everything is ready . we only need the budget “250k” if you know any investor. can you write me in private. thank you so much . great work.
Reply
Vincent Laforet Reply:
December 5th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
You’d have to ask Tabb about the rental prices/rates for the RC. I haven’t had a chance to look at scripts yet unfortunately as we have been inundated by them.
Reply
[...] For more info go to Vincent Laforet blog here. [...]