Top Gear Aerial Camera Work
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 247
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From: Cape Town/London
As someone who spends a lot of time in the back doing exactly this kind of job I cant help but think this was a bit off mark.
Yes it's great fun, looks amazing and is a real rush but for those reasons alone I feeling this was either poorly thought out or more likely actually a stunt to enhance the show.
Aerial cameramen have at their disposal many new (not so new now) tools to choose from that get far more dynamic shots in a far more safer environment. In fact you can almost limit the exposure to zero in most cases. Loosing a motor is almost a non event now as both the crew and the camera can walk away from it. Obviously there are risks but I would hazard a guess and say that if anything had gone wrong on that shoot the aircraft would have been bent, people hurt and the industry as a whole condemned.
As an example, during the filming of District 9 we were tasked to film convoys, shoot outs, car chases and riots. All of this was filmed within the existing laws of South Africa, no special permissions required.
He was a good cameraman though, very impressive!
Yes it's great fun, looks amazing and is a real rush but for those reasons alone I feeling this was either poorly thought out or more likely actually a stunt to enhance the show.
Aerial cameramen have at their disposal many new (not so new now) tools to choose from that get far more dynamic shots in a far more safer environment. In fact you can almost limit the exposure to zero in most cases. Loosing a motor is almost a non event now as both the crew and the camera can walk away from it. Obviously there are risks but I would hazard a guess and say that if anything had gone wrong on that shoot the aircraft would have been bent, people hurt and the industry as a whole condemned.
As an example, during the filming of District 9 we were tasked to film convoys, shoot outs, car chases and riots. All of this was filmed within the existing laws of South Africa, no special permissions required.
He was a good cameraman though, very impressive!
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 110
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From: The land of the cranberry
Looked like a lot of fun to me too. Cars or heli I would've been more than happy.
I once did a scene for a german movie (not a porno) in which I was driving a land rover as fast as I could down a very dodgy road on the west coast of ireland with a JetRanger up my ass. I wish I had been flying it, although the driving was fun!!
Top Gear is one of the most entertaining shows on TV by a long shot!
I once did a scene for a german movie (not a porno) in which I was driving a land rover as fast as I could down a very dodgy road on the west coast of ireland with a JetRanger up my ass. I wish I had been flying it, although the driving was fun!!
Top Gear is one of the most entertaining shows on TV by a long shot!
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 673
Likes: 1
From: On the green bit near the blue wobbly stuff
Ronin,
I'm not gnashing any teeth, I'm just saying (and farm pilot seems to back me up on this) that with a bit of thought and professional planning, it could have been done differently.
As for learning to fly - perhaps people who have had to put themselves in real danger enough times are more selective about putting themselves in danger when it is not necessary?
I'm not gnashing any teeth, I'm just saying (and farm pilot seems to back me up on this) that with a bit of thought and professional planning, it could have been done differently.
As for learning to fly - perhaps people who have had to put themselves in real danger enough times are more selective about putting themselves in danger when it is not necessary?
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 392
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From: UK
I wasn't passing any judgement in my OP.
It was simply interesting that, after all the aeial work TG must do, this was the first time that the camera helicopter has appeared in shot, and Clarkson made specific comment - implying that this helicopter was getting closer to the action than normal.
Personally, I'd be happy to see Top Gear ditch the cars and go 'aviation'. Afterall, Clarkson loves aircraft and speed, May has a Decathlon, and Hammond has an R44 R2. So they are all enthusiasts.
It was simply interesting that, after all the aeial work TG must do, this was the first time that the camera helicopter has appeared in shot, and Clarkson made specific comment - implying that this helicopter was getting closer to the action than normal.
Personally, I'd be happy to see Top Gear ditch the cars and go 'aviation'. Afterall, Clarkson loves aircraft and speed, May has a Decathlon, and Hammond has an R44 R2. So they are all enthusiasts.
Joined: Jul 2002
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL(H)
Posts: 3,052
Likes: 56
From: UK
FWIW, back in the UK, the BBC are particularly risk adverse and incredibly stringent when it comes to selecting approved helicopter operators for filming. I'd be very surprised if these sequences would've been approved if they were filmed in, say, the Lake District.
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 60
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From: That Bit up the Top Down Under
Ummm...... really??
FFS. It was a TV show, yes its made to look flashy, thats the whole point. Yes, they may have been able to do it safer, but maybe that wouldnt have given them the shots of the Heli they wanted? As someone else said, driving the 3 cars down the road had more exposed risk, for a longer period, than the heli. And maybe they don't have all the fancy camera gear in Romania to do it any differently. As for the rest of the flying, I don't see any problem with it at all, there was no overflying of public gatherings or buildings at low level, clear area, obviously he was aware of the wires and no doubt had done a very thorough recce of the area before hand, as all of us should.
At the end of the day, maybe the hover on the road was a risk if he had of had an engine failure just as the vehicles were approaching. But then, every day at work I fly over a whole bunch of stuff, both on dept. and app. that if my donk were to withdraw its enthusiasm for life, I would be up the !!!!ter too, Just like every fire pilot, or sling pilot, or various other jobs that we use these wonderful machines for.
Calculated and accepted risk.
Its either that, or go wrap your self in cotton wool, and don't live a life.
If the rest of the world turns out to go the way of the Nanny state, I will give up flying I think. Well.. I would have to, because we wouldnt not be able to do the sort of work that I do in that case.
FFS. It was a TV show, yes its made to look flashy, thats the whole point. Yes, they may have been able to do it safer, but maybe that wouldnt have given them the shots of the Heli they wanted? As someone else said, driving the 3 cars down the road had more exposed risk, for a longer period, than the heli. And maybe they don't have all the fancy camera gear in Romania to do it any differently. As for the rest of the flying, I don't see any problem with it at all, there was no overflying of public gatherings or buildings at low level, clear area, obviously he was aware of the wires and no doubt had done a very thorough recce of the area before hand, as all of us should.
At the end of the day, maybe the hover on the road was a risk if he had of had an engine failure just as the vehicles were approaching. But then, every day at work I fly over a whole bunch of stuff, both on dept. and app. that if my donk were to withdraw its enthusiasm for life, I would be up the !!!!ter too, Just like every fire pilot, or sling pilot, or various other jobs that we use these wonderful machines for.
Calculated and accepted risk.
Its either that, or go wrap your self in cotton wool, and don't live a life.
If the rest of the world turns out to go the way of the Nanny state, I will give up flying I think. Well.. I would have to, because we wouldnt not be able to do the sort of work that I do in that case.
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 219
Likes: 0
From: Asia/Oz
Clarkson's favourite helicopter...
I flew JC around earlier this year in an AS355N. Footage should appear on an episode of TG in the new series if it didn't get edited out. His wife was lying down across the back seat so that she didn't appear in the shot of us landing. Clarkson said his favourite helicopter is...the MD500.
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,937
Likes: 28
From: UK/OZ
slip sliding away
Without being there, it is not possible to make a sensible judgement on how this flight was conducted.
Flying with a cameraman shooting from a side door creates a set of flight restrictions and pilot pressures that in the past have been significant factors in accidents where controlled flight into terrain was the cause.
To date there have been, by comparison very few accidents due to controlled flight into terrain involving nose mounted gimbals. I think only one (flying too low over heaving seas)
In Top gears latest escapade, a nose mounted gimbal would have provided more sense of speed and enabled shots looking left right and backwards at 120 knots, probably a good choice if shooting sports cars!
But a $200? per day Romanian cameraman is a lot cheaper than a $2000 per day stabilised camera.
If there had been no sign of the cameraman (as is the case when using a gimbal) Clarkson would have said what a great job the Romanian pilot was doing
Mickjoebill
Flying with a cameraman shooting from a side door creates a set of flight restrictions and pilot pressures that in the past have been significant factors in accidents where controlled flight into terrain was the cause.
To date there have been, by comparison very few accidents due to controlled flight into terrain involving nose mounted gimbals. I think only one (flying too low over heaving seas)
In Top gears latest escapade, a nose mounted gimbal would have provided more sense of speed and enabled shots looking left right and backwards at 120 knots, probably a good choice if shooting sports cars!
But a $200? per day Romanian cameraman is a lot cheaper than a $2000 per day stabilised camera.
If there had been no sign of the cameraman (as is the case when using a gimbal) Clarkson would have said what a great job the Romanian pilot was doing
Mickjoebill
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 491
Likes: 3
From: Iceland
Looks like a normal car commercial or car movie shot to me.. surely it can look like a cowboy stunt, but in this landscape the best spot to be at if the engine desides to take a break is above or close to that road,
To me, the most hazard there for low level flying was all the power lines there
Neat shots but nosemount would have made the pilots day lot easier thoug.
To me, the most hazard there for low level flying was all the power lines there
Neat shots but nosemount would have made the pilots day lot easier thoug.
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 130
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From: From Despair To Nowhere
I suspect everyone involved knew enough to make a rough assessment of the risks and judged that their enjoyment and the completion of the job justified those risks. Life is full of risk/benefit analysis, many of them less obvious than this one. Individuals should be allowed to make those judgements for themselves where they have the necessary information.
Looked a whole lot of fun on either end of the the camera
Looked a whole lot of fun on either end of the the camera
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: No Fixed Abode
Ronin,
I'm not gnashing any teeth, I'm just saying (and farm pilot seems to back me up on this) that with a bit of thought and professional planning, it could have been done differently.
As for learning to fly - perhaps people who have had to put themselves in real danger enough times are more selective about putting themselves in danger when it is not necessary?
I'm not gnashing any teeth, I'm just saying (and farm pilot seems to back me up on this) that with a bit of thought and professional planning, it could have been done differently.
As for learning to fly - perhaps people who have had to put themselves in real danger enough times are more selective about putting themselves in danger when it is not necessary?