January in Houston

Usually, after the Holidays there is a much needed slump in the Film world. This year we decided to change it up a bit. Last fall Director Nate Edwards reached out to us to story board some ideas he had for Spec ad. After four months of planning, two days of scouting, and three days of shooting we made it happen in Houston.

Our DJI Inspire 3 is a work horse of a drone and nothing changed for this shoot. Recording at 8K on the Zenmuse X9, makes framing a little less stressful. Not to mention how the aircraft handles itself in the air. We had some issues as it lost satellite connection under the overpasses, but were able to mitigate most of them. The dual operator mode made this a lot easier. Letting Alberto Diaz focus on piloting and obstacle avoidance. While Martin Novak focuses on framing and coordinating with the Director.

This shot took the most practice and coordination. We started out using a 2.5” Micro FPV drone to practice the catch and release. After getting the timing right we switched to the final setup. A Lumenier Prowhoop with a Black Magic Pocket Cinema 4K. It all came down to Alberto holding the frame while descending blindly. At the same time as Martin timed the catch without getting ahead of the drone and into the frame.

For the last shots we used our RC Rover to capture Herman running down the street. We used the Sony FX6 mounted to a DJI RS3 Pro Gimbal. Again we utilized a dual operator setup. Alberto focused on driving the car and pacing Herman. While, Martin focused on gimbal operation and framing.

It’s great to see some locals from the Houston Film scene make something special come to life. Glad we could be a part of this one.