John Trapman Shoots Aerial Shots for Treasure Buddies

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Sun, 08/29/2010 - 20:00 -- Nick Dager

Aerial director of photography John Trapman chose the new Eclipse helicopter camera mount for Treasure Buddies part of the Air Bud series which takes the pack to the ruins of ancient Egypt. He shot the plates in San Diego California. To capture the key series of background plates for the film Trapman not only operated the Eclipse system he also set the exposure and the look of the camera. He chose the Pictorvision Eclipse because he felt its patented XR Motion Management technology enables the most advanced steering stability and pointing capabilities available. “The big deal with the Eclipse is that you can really work the helicopter and never have to worry about upsetting the camera ” says Trapman. “When you are shooting plate shots you need steady rock-solid footage ” he says. “It’s very important that the shots are stable and locked down to make the visual effects artists’ job easier when they combine our plates with the foreground elements shot on stage. The more stable the image the less work they have to do in post and that means less cost for the production company.” While Treasure Buddies was the first opportunity for Trapman to use the Eclipse system he is anxious to put it to work on future projects. “It’s more than the stability of the system to enable higher performance moves from the helicopter that makes it the must use tool for aerial photography ” he says. “If we need to quickly reset for another shot we can do it. It also gives us the ability to lock onto a target and make repeatable moves consistently. And it is ready to go moments after you turn it on. No more waiting for gyros to get up to speed. It offers super-fast start up time incredibly stable images and steady horizon as well as the ability to roll the horizon if desired.” Treasure Buddies is slated for DVD release late 2010. Pictorvision www.pictorvision.com