Film

At AUVSI’s XPonential 2019, I was lucky enough to stumble into a presentation called “Drones in Hollywood.” It is generally a pretty good assumption that a conference session will disappoint and not live up to its title. This presentation was an exception. Rather than provide a dry lecture devoid of details, the presenter, Aaron Corera of XM2 Cine, told us all about the drones and cameras used on Hollywood sets. He also revealed that it was their company that was contracted to film Star Wars Episode 9 in which they used this XM2 drone.

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Last weekend, I finally got to watch Free Solo about Alex Honnold climbing El Cap without any ropes, harness or other protective equipment. In the Oscar-winning documentary, there are a number or amazing aerial shots (especially towards the end). I immediately wondered if they might have used a drone to get those shots. Later in the film, you even see a remote controller for a drone together with other equipment. And, in the credits, drone operator Nick Wolcott is mentioned. Did Jimmy Chin’s film crew indeed use a drone in Yosemite’s National Park? Were they able, perhaps with the help of National Geographic, to get permission to fly a drone and use it document Alex Honnold’s ascent of El Cap? As you probably know, flying drones in any of the National Parks in the U.S. is not allowed. Out of curiosity, I researched the documentary a bit to see what I could find out.

Btw – if you haven’t seen Free Solo yet, I can highly recommend it. To watch Alex climb El Cap is both nerve-wracking and unbelievable at the same time. Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and their crew did an amazing job documenting Alex’s journey to the top of El Cap.

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The footage is simply amazing. Robert McIntosh shot this short film ‘Muscle-Up’ all in one take with the “world’s smallest HD drone.” His video recently made the news again when it was announced that this short film won in two categories, ‘Made in LA’ and ‘Best in Show’, at the Los Angeles Drone Film Festival in December. According to a friend McIntosh received a $23,000 drone for the prize.

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“The Big Ugly” is the Winner of the “News & Documentary” Award on the Los Angeles Drone Film Festival 2017 edition.

In February this dramatic drone video footage of a massive wave at Nazaré, Portugal was captured by Daniel Neves and Pedro Miranda of Maquina Voadora and has been viewed more than 20 million times, making it the most famous footage of big wave surfing atNazaré.

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