FC Hamman, co-producer and director of the successful film, Ordinary People, recently completed his latest feature film Babelas in which he made use of a model helicopter and multi-copter to shoot various intricate action sequences which would not have been possible if fixed wing model planes were used.
By using a multi-copter piloted by Hamman’s son Timothy, an award-winning and South African champion model aircraft aerobatic pilot, it is possible for FC and his team to shoot “aerial’ shots inside a building. This was the case when scenes for Babelas were filmed inside the Emperor’s Palace Hotel on the East Rand.
The fact that Timothy has (through his father) been involved in the film industry for years, means that FC has the advantage of being able to have a pilot at his service who is visually in tune with what the director and the DOP (director of photography) envisage during filming, especially taking frame composition, camera angles and lighting into consideration.
To ensure that all the shots are as stable as possible FC has modified the mobile copters by designing and fitting special brackets and “shock absorbers’ to the gimbals, which he developed by using elements such as thick elastic bands found on exercise equipment in gymnasiums. This ensures that there is basically zero vibration on the camera while filming. Therefore post-production stabilisation is not necessary.
The conventional model helicopter is normally used when fast action scenes need to be filmed, whereas the multi-copter provides more stable cinematography, however, the multi-copter is able to reach a speed of about 100kp/h. Due to the multi-copter being slower, it is easier to control, whereas the helicopter can carry a larger camera than the multi-copter.
A big advantage of making use of model planes is that low flying is possible – which conventional aircraft are not allowed to do. Flight plans are not required either.
By Jakkie Groenewald
screen africa magazine – june 2013
