Just a question regarding another film related project I hope to start work on soon.
How much would it cost to do air to air work with say, a Hurricane and Buchon for aerial closeups and some tailchase type scenes?
I imagine ridiculously expensive but it’s worth the enquiring.
If, as I suspect, it’d cost the proverbial arm and a leg, is there a cheaper alternative? I thought using models, or specifically RC models.
However RC is quite expensive as well by the look of it, and I imagine models could look rather clunky if not done right.
Any suggestions etc?
Thanks in advance.
Regards
Chris
By: Dornier - 29th July 2017 at 09:12
[ATTACH=CONFIG]255017[/ATTACH] you can get decent stills from many photo ship platforms ours is a D27 but to get decent footage you need professional cameras and stabilised mounts.
By: ZRX61 - 27th July 2017 at 23:27
I know some people who do air-to-air. One of them has a Lear set up with periscope cams. I’d be afraid to ask what the hourly rate on that is…
By: Trolly Aux - 27th July 2017 at 21:07
FB I was taking as shot and thought that may be the bottom price, things have shot up a bit since I last had dealings with things in the air.
Air to Air also has a problem of trust, the pilot of the Spit/Hurri would not really want someone he does not know formating on him he may be happy to formate on them
By: Fournier Boy - 27th July 2017 at 20:16
Bloody hell – where can you hire a Hurricane from £2500 an hour???
Just this February I was quoted £3000 for 20 minutes of flying at its based airfield, plus with all the local engineering support, pilot fee and administration, it came in at £3550 ex VAT.
I got a discount too being kinda based at the same airfield!
FB
By: Propstrike - 27th July 2017 at 19:58
If you are new to this, your first results will NOT be satisfactory ( speaking from experience ) and you will probably have trouble with in flight vibration, and strange strobing effects from the propeller blades. Some sort of gyro stabilisation is needed really.
You can shoot from a Cherokee 6 with the door off, which is much cheaper than a Harvard. If you can fit in with existing movements, and grab 15 mins of formation work, it would be cheaper than booking a bespoke trip. ARC at Duxford would be a good start, but they may not be very interested in a ‘ever so keen but no money’ proposal.
Of course, all of this footage has already been done, and probably clips from ‘Piece of Cake’ would be OK, if you can cope with Spits rather than Hurricanes.
I have reservations about CGI, BUT, it can be done well if the composers understand how an aeroplane moves through the air, and leave out the rolling vertical climbs etc .
By: Southern Air99 - 27th July 2017 at 19:24
I thing the Classic Wings idea would be good, even if it meant changing the Hurricane to a Spitfire.
The film is set at some point during the Battle of Britain so an early Spit would fit (and rhymes nicely)
By: DazDaMan - 27th July 2017 at 18:12
Remember the old BBC series Wings?
A lot of that was shot using R/C models – and very bloody good it is, too!
By: Robert Whitton - 27th July 2017 at 18:08
If using R/C models I dont think film of take off or landing would be of any use. Flying might be OK but, in my view, you would need to slow down the motion to get more realistic looking manouvers.
By: SLoB - 27th July 2017 at 17:53
Also bear in mind that Classic Wings at Duxford offer a fly alongside a Spitfire experience and the Spit in question is N3200 (therefore an early one). You could do this from a Dragon Rapide or the Havard I believe. As there is a Buchon at Duxford (ARC’s one) you could perhaps speak to them to see if you could get both up alongside.
Classic Wings: http://www.classic-wings.co.uk/contact-classic-wings/
ARC: https://www.aircraftrestorationcompany.com/contact/
Of course if you wanted someone to do the filming Pilotpix is the photo/video company that work with Classic Wings.
Pilotpix: https://www.pilotpix.co.uk/contact
By: DazDaMan - 27th July 2017 at 17:34
They do look quite good….
I believe the same group has a Focke-Wulf 190 equipped with a smoke system, that also looks rather convincing.
By: Southern Air99 - 27th July 2017 at 17:00
The Eastbourne show looks a good bet for getting footage, you’re right the sea background would look pretty good.
And the large scale models might equally look good if filmed with a good zoom and with the footage speed edited.
By: DazDaMan - 27th July 2017 at 16:53
Get in touch with these folks…
https://www.largemodelassociation.com/
A quarter-scale Spit would look pretty decent on screen!
By: TonyT - 27th July 2017 at 16:41
Film as an example and you could get the BBMF spits too
By: TonyT - 27th July 2017 at 16:39
http://www.eastbourneairshow.com/flying.aspx
Buchon going to eastbourne and people photograph from the cliffs so you would be looking down on it over the sea???
By: Southern Air99 - 27th July 2017 at 16:24
Yes, that could work indeed, thanks for the suggestion.
By: TonyT - 27th July 2017 at 16:23
Combine it with ground shots of a 109 doing rolls etc?
By: TonyT - 27th July 2017 at 16:21
By: Southern Air99 - 27th July 2017 at 16:19
Aha, a good suggestion TonyT, I should’ve thought of those fly alongside experiences, I imagine some good shots could be got from them. That said, the question remains about how to get footage of a buchon/appropriate axis type, unless combining outtakes with the filmed footage.
By: TonyT - 27th July 2017 at 16:16
https://www.flyingwithspitfires.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhMWxweCp1QIVSWwbCh3uZwQhEAAYAiAAEgJiCfD_BwE
By: Southern Air99 - 27th July 2017 at 16:11
Perhaps outtakes might be a good route, any suggestions of film libraries?
I imagine the BFI might have some Battle of Britain stuff?
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July 27, 2017 at 3:14 pm