The ITV production team contracted with Aerial Filmworks as the Aerial Unit for the current “I’m A Celebrity- Get Me Out of Here” adventure series airing on NBC. Filmed in Costa Rica under tight deadlines and jungle conditions, Gray Mitchell hand delivered the Cineflex equipment to the location, rigged the Bell 407 helicopter, and operated the camera over the course of the production. The scenes included low level river scenes and air-to-air sequences of both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Rebecca Giblin of Aerial Filmworks arranged for the US State Department permits necessary to deliver the gyro-stabilized Cineflex V14 HD system to Central America.

About Aerial Filmworks

Aerial Filmworks provides high-definition video Cineflex camera systems and services to the international entertainment, documentary and corporate marketplace. Highly regarded by award-winning clients, the Cineflex V14 HD provides the highest level of image gyro-stabilization. Aerial Filmworks is a highly responsive company with over 20 years of aerial photography and filming experience. Dedicated to providing Cineflex HD systems and services, experienced aerial filming crews work on location over 200 days a year.

Aerial Filmworks is a TerraPass White Badge partner. Whether in the rain forest or desert, Aerial Filmworks continually invests in Carbon Offset credits to preserve a carbon neutral footprint.

As a specialist in aerial photography, Ron Chapple knows a lot about bad weather and dangerous conditions, having shot footage in typhoons, volcanoes, hurricanes and wild fires for The Discovery Channel’s Raging Planet series. Yet, Aerial Filmworks’ president and aerial director of photography is reporting relatively little turbulence from the economic maelstrom that has been buffeting the TV production sector. “It is amazing how much work we have,” he said. “If this is a recession, I want more of it.”

Their experience illustrates how some companies have been able to thrive in a tough economic climate by finding low-cost ways of producing high-quality HD footage.

Aerial Filmworks specializes in aerial photography, using the Cineflex V14HD camera system from Axsys Technologies. The system has a stabilization system that was originally developed for the military that allows them to shoot extremely high-quality HD images, Chapple said. Yet it is relatively lightweight and can be easily mounted on helicopters and operated by a single camera person, thus reducing the cost of high-definition aerial photography.

Aerial Filmworks owns three of these camera systems, which it also rents out to qualified operators. It has worked on shoots for such clients as Pioneer Productions (which is producing the Raging Planet series), Disney Kids, ESPN, PBS, the Maui Chopper series on TruTV and has done work for the snowboarding film “That’s It That’s All”.

The Cineflex V14HD camera system uses a Sony HDC-1500 high-def camera that is mounted inside a round ball. An operator inside the helicopter controls the camera with a joy stick. Typically, Chapple shoots in 1080p at 23.98 or 29.97 frames per second and records the footage on Sony CineAlta SRW1/SRPC-1 HDCAM SR decks.

Rainbow through the cockpit window of a Bell 206B3 Jet Ranger on the turbulent east coast of Taiwan.

The camera has a five-axis stabilization system, that Chapple said produces clear steady pictures even in severe weather.

While in Taiwan shooting sequences in the Taroko Gorge for Raging Planet, Chapple noted that “regardless of the wind conditions you can continue to shoot because of the stabilization. The winds will come from one direction and then half a mile later you’ll get hit with winds from another direction. But the camera just stays rock-solid the whole time.”

On a number of shoots, the camera system also allowed them to get high-quality HD pictures from a considerable distance. “When we were shooting the California wildfires, you really don’t want to be hovering directly over the flames that can be 100 feet high or more,” Chapple noted. “But we were able to sit at a safe distance about a quarter of a mile away and zoom in on the flames.”

The camera is also lighter and easier to install than other aerial photographic systems on the market, Chapple said. Aerial Filmworks leases a helicopter near the location and send only one operator/tech on a shoot, which reduces costs. “We just show up with four or five cases and within an hour the operator can rig it up and we’re ready to fly,” Chapple said. “Being able to go out with just one person and work on a variety of helicopters really helps keep production costs down and that has kept us very busy.”

Jeff Nestel-Patt, director of corporate marketing at Axsys Technologies, adds that the system’s ability to produce high-quality HD images with lower production costs has kept it in high demand among documentary film makers.

Link to original article on Multichannel News.

© 2009 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mark Hryma of Flyboy Pictures flies the Cineflex V14 HD system in Brazil on the set of Survivor: Tocantins.

The newest CBS season of “Survivor: Tocantins” used a Cineflex V14 HD from Aerial Filmworks. Aerial DP and camera operator Mark Hryma worked with the system for 7 weeks in the Highlands of Brazil. Footage from the integrated Sony CineAlta HDC-1500 camera was captured to a Sony XDCAM recording deck.

The Aerial Filmworks team arranged the international export permits from the US State Department and hand-delivered the camera to the remote location. While on-site, Gray Mitchell, installed the system and modified the Eurocopter AS350 to precisely fit the Airfilm AFSP helicopter mount.

About Aerial Filmworks

Aerial Filmworks provides high-definition video Cineflex camera systems and services to the international entertainment, documentary and corporate marketplace. Highly regarded by award-winning clients, the Cineflex V14 HD provides the highest level of image gyro-stabilization. Aerial Filmworks is a highly responsive company with over 20 years of aerial photography and filming experience. Dedicated to providing Cineflex HD systems and services, experienced aerial filming crews work on location over 200 days a year.

Aerial Filmworks is a TerraPass White Badge partner continually investing in Carbon Offset credits to preserve a carbon neutral footprint.

“Canada has already been an excellent market for our Cineflex leasing program,” states Ron Chapple, President of Aerial Filmworks LLC, “we look forward to providing direct access to the camera systems along with value-added training and installation.” The Cineflex V14 HD is widely recognized as the world’s finest gyro-stabilized camera system. Used primarily on helicopters, the system can also be mounted on fixed wing airplanes, cars, trucks and boats.

The Cineflex V14 is the preferred system for film and TV production, while the Axsys Technologies V14 MSII is the ultimate tool for law enforcement agencies and utility companies. The MSII offers full-resolution HD along with thermal imaging, GPS data overlays, auto-tracking and a laser rangefinder.

Award-winning productions around the world creates high demand for the Cineflex system. With a fully digital interface, the perfectly balanced 5 axis gyro-stabilization technology removes even the slightest vibration. While aerial directors appreciate the range of camera motion and lens selection, pilots are equally pleased with the lightweight system. “Our pilots love flying the Cineflex system,” states Peter Murray of Talon Helicopters, Ltd. in Vancouver, “and our engineers appreciate the easy installation of the helicopter mount. We can have a system rigged and ready to fly within an hour.”

Aerial Filmworks will have a display at the Helicopter Association of Canada trade show in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 29-31, 2009. All interested law enforcement agencies, broadcast engineers, film directors and utility companies are invited to learn more about the advanced technological capabilities of the Cineflex V14 and Axsys Technologies V14 MSII systems.

About Axsys Technologies IR Systems

Axsys Technologies, Inc. is a global leader in the design and development of high-performance surveillance cameras, imaging systems and related motion control technologies, serving the aerospace, defense and high-performance commercial markets.

For more information:
http://www.axsys.com

About Aerial Filmworks LLC

Aerial Filmworks provides high-definition video Cineflex camera systems and services to the international entertainment, documentary and corporate marketplace. Highly regarded by award-winning clients, the Cineflex V14 HD provides the highest level of image gyro-stabilization. Aerial Filmworks is a highly responsive company with over 20 years of aerial photography and filming experience. Dedicated to providing Cineflex HD systems and services, experienced aerial filming crews work on location over 200 days a year.

Aerial Filmwork is a TerraPass White Badge partner continually investing in Carbon Offset credits to preserve a carbon neutral footprint.

For more information, contact:
http://www.aerialfilmworks.com

Ron Chapple, President
Aerial Filmworks
(808) 281-1921

The Cineflex V14 HD camera system was mounted on a helicopter provided by Windward Aviation and piloted by Don Shearer. Ron Chapple, founder and Aerial Director of Aerial Filmworks, operated the camera for an intense day of filming properties all over the islands of Maui and Molokai.

“This project is really important to me” states Chapple, “as a full-time Maui resident, I see the need to preserve what’s left of our open space for the generations to come. This footage can help create additional awareness for the public and for those landowners who might want to partner with Maui Coastal Land Trust.”

The Maui Coastal Land Trust (MCLT) is a nonprofit organization established “to preserve and protect coastal lands in Maui Nui for the benefit of the natural environment and of current and future generations.” For more information, visit http://www.mauicoastallandtrust.org.

Aerial Filmworks provides Cineflex Systems and Service to a broad range of corporate, documentary, and entertainment clients such as Discovery Channel, Disney, TruTV and ESPN. The Cineflex V14 HD provides the absolute best in gyro-stabilized with an integrated Sony CineAlta camera for native resolution 1920 x 1080 HD video. For more information, visit http://www.aerialfilmwork.com.

Fujinon HA 13x 4.5mm

Zoom Range
4.5mm - 59mm

Field of View
Wide: 93 degrees
Zoom: 9 degrees

Sony will be using our aerial footage in their Digital Cinema area to showcase the Sony CineAlta SRW-1/SRPC-1 recording deck and HDCAM SR capability.

All of the footage was shot on our Cineflex V14 HD system by Ron Chapple, our Aerial Director of Photography, at 1080/23.98p and recorded via dual-link 4:4:4 to our in-house SRW-1 deck.

Cineflex operator Mark Hryma (red jacket) with the helicopter pilot in the Alaska back country. The Cineflex V14 HD is mounted to the AS350 B2 with an Airfilm AFSP single pole bracket. The camera operator is Mark Hryma of Fly Boy Pictures. The Cineflex is mounted on a Eurocopter A-Star AS350 B2. Mark’s recording to HDCAM SR tape stock on our Sony CineAlta SRW-1/SRPC-1 deck.

Photo by Dean Cummings | H20 Guides

UPDATE: The new “That’s It That’s All” film has just been released with screenings all over the world to sold-out audiences.

Working with the Cinetruck is like shooting a mile long dolly move. We can roll through scenes with the gyro-stabilized camera system removing all road bumps.