Wednesday, 9 March 2011

A different kind of aerial cinematography...

Just found a great video. Have to admit, my efforts on a Cessna don't really compare to this:


Space Shuttle Discovery blasting off one last time into space. Beautiful images, and you can scroll forward and backwards with the slider. Watch the re-entry of the first booster into the ocean! Hope I never do that in my airplane.......

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

Something small in the air

As I wrote earlier, occasionally you will read about aviation here. And not only that, also about cinematography combined with aviation!

I've been testing the GoPro HD Hero camera for a while already. While the little thing (it fits into the palm of your hand) is fabulous, it is rather susceptible to vibrations. I always wanted to have a view from the bottom of the plane, and after a series of testing, Alex, the the chief mechanic of Aerodynamics, came up with a brilliant idea - to mount it on the rear tiedown. This is a sturdy ring protruding from the belly of the aircraft.

The result is something I always wanted: a view with the aircraft suspended in the air from an unusual perspective:

LEAX circuit from Chris Sattlberger on Vimeo.
A pattern (or 'circuit') flown at LEAX / Axarquia aerodrome with a GoPro HD Hero attached to the belly of the airplane.



Airplane is a Cessna 172RG.

Tuesday, 15 February 2011

another couple of productions....

....and the perils of steadycam!

Just returned from another couple of shoots in southern Spain.

We were lucky with the weather (contrary to the tourist brochures, it's not all sunshine on the Costa), but didn't really need it anyway, as both shoots were indoors. It's just more pleasant to have lunch with the crew on a terrace in bright sunshine!

I've done some of my footage productions in the past with a steadycam operator, and they turned out great. Thought I'd use one again this time - big mistake.

The productions we've worked together in the past were outdoors locations with ample space, where we could shoot fixed and stills while the steadycam crew got ready and then could easily alternate between setups or even shoot in parallel during the inevitable steadycam repeats.

This one was different, however: a rather cramped indoors situation. Therefore - no parallel shooting, but everything had to be done sequentially. In the end, this meant a lot of time lost to the repetitions of the steadycam shots. We gained some fabulous footage, but be warned - this takes loads of time!

Sunday, 30 January 2011

Well, I've done it - started a blog......

This is it, the very first entry into my new blog.

You've probably come here from my website, so you know I am a photographer and filmmaker.

Why a blog? Because I enjoy writing and think this is fun, partly because I am increasingly involved with the convergence of film and cinematography. A lot of people ask me about my experiences in this transition, and a blog may be the easiest way to further that conversation.

So, you'll read here about all sort of things visual: photography, cinematography, working with actors, etc. As a perhaps unexpected topi here, you will also from time to time read about my other passion: aviation. So, photo, film and flying little airplanes - away we go!

Enjoy!