American Cinematographer - August 2000 - 95

kite-cameras

the

public in 1910.
They ranged from the affordable
Jumelle Populaire to the waterproof
to

"non-deformable"

and

Wenz-

Hermagis, made entirely from the
wonder metal aluminum.
The first aerial movie

was

probably taken by the Pathe
company's L.P. Bonvillain from a
Wright airplane

near

Le Mans,

France, in 1908. Audiences couldn't
get enough of airborne sequences,
and in 1927, Wings (photographed

by Flarry Perry, ASC, who used the
classic Akeley camera for most of the
airplane work) won the Academy
Award for best picture. Hollywood's
need for more and better footage
from the air has attracted many

their
competitive world of
aerial cinematography. Although it
isn't possible to cover all of the firms
currently working in this field, we
hope this article will provide a
general overview.
entrepreneurs willing to try
skills in the

Remote-control

helicopters

Whether it's

balloon, kite,

a

plane, helicopter or company, the
hardest part about aerial photogra¬
phy is just getting off the ground. "I
have to admit, it's real tough to get
this business," says Garnik
Ghaloostian of Copterworks in
into

Glendale, California, "but we provide

good product. We started out
at the beginning of 1997 renting out
Jimmy Jib camera booms, a light¬
weight remote-camera boom used
on lots of TV shows. Shortly after¬
ward, we started getting into minia¬
a

very

remote-control
camera
helicopters. For more than four
ture,

I've been developing and
perfecting our camera helicopter
systems. These machines are not

years,

available
little out
ence.

kits, and there is very
there to be used for refer¬
as

Fewer than 10 percent

of the

components are off the shelf, and the
rest need to be designed and manu¬
factured from scratch. We had

to

manufacture the drive systems

for

the

helicopter, the

and the

camera,

camera mount
and make the

systems work smoothly together.

"Although feature films gener¬
ally prefer to go with full-size heli¬
copter camera platforms, miniature
remote-control helicopter cameras
provide an attractive alternative in
certain situations," he continues.

"First, if the production budget is
limited

[because miniature heli¬
copters are less expensive to use];
second, if the camera has to go

through cramped, tight spaces [such
as tunnels or caves] and get close to
the subject; third, if the downwash
from the blades has

[because miniature

to

be minimal

camera

heli¬

copters generally have a blade span of
less than six feet); and

finally, if light¬
weight equipment and fast setup and
breakdown are necessary. We provide
a camera
package that includes a
helicopter and camera, a camera
operator, a pilot, and a coordinator."
Copterworks has completed
several
small
projects,
and
Ghaloostian says he hopes to land
work with TV or feature produc¬
tions. "I think most of our clients will
come

from the commercial section

of the

industry, as well as some
projects. At the present time,
Copterworks can shoot in 16mm or
35mm using a three-axis, gyroscopically stabilized mount attached to the
front of the helicopter. Our video
downlink is currently used for moni¬
toring purposes only, but if we get
enough calls for it, we'll start to
feature

provide digital video as well."
Coptervision of Van Nuys,
California, also specializes in minia¬
ture
remote-control
helicopter
cameras. The business, run by Carlos
Hoyos, Sarita Spiwak and Daniela
Meltzer, began operating in 1997.
Hoyos had been a cinematographer,
director and producer in Colombia
and says he was always fascinated by
radio-controlled model-helicopter
cameras. Four years ago, he moved to
Los Angeles and joined a group of
model-helicopter enthusiasts meet¬
ing in a public park; shortly there¬
after, he bought his own machine.
Not long after that, he asked Spiwak
to join him in his new venture.
"We bought a second heli¬
copter and saw that the technology
was 15 years old," Spiwak recalls, "so
we worked on developing our own
helicopters and designing our own
equipment. Three years ago, my
daughter, Daniela, joined us as a
partner, and we're now on our fourth
generation of helicopter camera
systems: the CVG-2002, totally
designed by us. It's more compact
and lighter than our previous
models, and it's gyrostabilized and
has three

axes

Opposite:
Copterworks of
Glendale,
California,

can

shoot both 16mm
and 35mm film

using three-axis,
gyroscopically
stabilized mounts
on the firm's
remote-

controlled

helicopters.
Above: The

system

camera

from Coptervision
can accommodate
many 16mm and
35mm formats, as

well

digital

as

video. Their

new

Rollvision system
can also be
mounted on a

variety of

platforms,
including insert
cars,

Steadicams,

cranes

and

tripods.

of movement, includ¬

ing 360-degree roll, 120-degree tilt
180-degree pan."
The Coptervision camera
system can accommodate a variety of
and

35mm and 16mm film

well
our

as

DV. "We make the

formats,
cameras

as

to

specifications," Spiwak says. "The

35mm

camera

is modified from

an

American

Cinematographer 93
American Cinematographer - August 2000

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