3D is moving fast

Helicopter Film Services (HFS) have been a specialist in aerial filming for 20 years, but recently, they have successfully added another element to their diverse services: Aerial 3D.

HFS are the only company in the world to have designed and built a custom 3D rig for aerial filming. Their “Da Vinci” rig for the Stab-C Compact allows for ‘hyper-stereo’ 3D aerial sequences using Arri 235 & 416 and ALEXA, SI-2K & RED Epic, all with matched prime or short zoom lenses. The “Da Vinci” allows 360 degree pan, vertical tilt, a fully steerable stabilized roll and an IO between 28” and 32”. All camera controls run back to the operator in the helicopter. With RED, two Solid State drives allow for safe and solid recording. The Alexa records on to two SxS cards or a Codex Digital.

For the BAFTA and AIB award winning “Flying Monsters 3D” for Sky, HFS and aerial DoP Jeremy Braben filmed a spectacular scene in which David Attenborough flies alongside a winged dinosaur; using the Nettmann Super-G, the HFS designed 3D “Galileo” internal side by side plate and 2 x RED One M-X with an IO of 8.5”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luRAYUHvZJU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

An exciting collaboration with Widescreen & Bigger Pictures brought us “Britain & Ireland from the Sky 3D”, an epic bird’s eye view of the United Kingdom shot on the stabilized Nettmann Super-G mount.

HFS also provided all 3D aerial footage for the London Eye 4D experience, as well as aerial shots on the feature films “Jack the Giant Killer” and “The Three Musketeers”.

Future 3D projects will take HFS to Brazil, Africa and Australia in 2012.

If you don’t want to add wings to your 3D set-up, but keep it firmly on the ground with increased agility and speed, then HFS’ other division, Pursuit Europe, is your partner.

The stabilised Pursuit Arm on a mighty Touareg V10 4x4 is one of the only, if not the only, Arm that can easily accommodate the heavy 3D camera rigs from Cameron-Pace, Paradise and Element Technica/3Ality.

Some of the recent 3D feature projects for the Pursuit Arm include: Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus”, Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo”, “Street Dance 3D” by Vertigo Films and the tyre-burning “TT3D – Closer to the Edge”.

HFS and Pursuit Europe are constantly designing new features for 3D and are looking forward to future 3D/ 4D challenges.