Airborne Cams is proud to be providing exclusive aerial footage for Discovery's upcoming survival experiment "Darkness." This show is revolutionary in both its conceit - placing participants into dark places - as well as its filming technology. Along with infra-red cameras capturing the show, the aerials are next-gen as well! Airborne Cams is flying not only an infra-red converted Phantom 3 at night outside (and inside) the caves and mines, we're also flying DJI's very cool (and expensive!) Zenmuse XT FLIR camera attachment for the Inspire1 sUAS. That means we're capturing images in IR, FLIR and visible light. We may just add a Mavic to fly inside some of the larger caves! Watch for "Darkness" this August on Discovery.
Online clips featuring Airborne Cams' aerials:
THE WHEEL:
http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/the-wheel/videos/the-wheel-new-series-promo/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRARdfSkQfg
THE RUNNER:
NAKED AND AFRAID XL S2:
https://youtu.be/CIfKWrnk-sI?list=PL6WbUOh7iOKDuNZk0tlj-3qntjQ34S9bn
Airborne Cams continued our international aerial video for Discovery Channel, this time for their new survival series "The Wheel." Shot all over South America, we filmed all the aerials in Brazil over the course of two months, including the harsh Pantanal and Rainforest regions. Flying in inclement weather and challenging conditions, we captured amazing aerial images to complement the show's vast and isolated feel. We're proud of our footage and look forward to our next international assignment!
We were privileged to fly aerials for Discovery Channel's hit survival series "Naked and Afraid XL" this past February. Flying over a private game reserve - with no flight restrictions - was a treat and allowed us to compose some great shots for establishing locations and capturing some of the region's amazing wildlife. Flying the production company's Phantom 3 Pro, we added ND filters to slow down our shutters in the bright African sunshine, and took advantage of the open spaces to reach out more than 2km into the bush. The results - airing in July 2016 - should be eye-catching!
Belikin Beer, a laptop and Marie Sharp's hot sauce. What else could you need?
Filming aerials in Belize for Discovery Channel presented as many challenges as it did rewards. First of all, to get our UAVs to the filming location involved a dugout canoe ride upriver for an hour, followed by a half-mile hike uphill through the mud to get to our farm HQ. Once batteries were charged (using only solar chargers), it was time to hike the gear another mile uphill to the top of a mountain where we filmed each day. So the aerial footage we captured was that much sweeter, knowing what it took to get it up there. Sweeping valley vistas, dense jungle canopies, flowing rivers... Belize had it all in abundance. In the end we got some great footage for our show, which airs in a couple months - watch for our announcement to tune in!
Heavy-duty tarp makes a great landing zone for the Inspire 1.
May of 2015 saw airborne cams hard at work in the African nation of Namibia. For those who love Africa, this is paradise; wild game all around and stellar weather made our jobs that much more enjoyable. We spent a full month flying around the bush and swamps of the Caprivi Strip, near the border of Zambia and Botswana.
Our client needed sweeping aerials of the landscape, as well as shots tying in the cast to the environment. So we flew both high and low, providing long (up to a half mile in distance) shots that could be ramped up in post for establishing shots, scene intro's as well as outro's and act breaks. We were always on the lookout for wildlife but alas didn't spot any. Had we found any we would have flown high and silent so as not to disturb the animals. We were not allowed to fly in the nearby National park, as the administrators are wary of poachers and the fact that a UAV could use its GPS to mark the location of animals.
All in all a spectacular shoot - we can't wait to film in Namibia again!