HDV:What You NEED to Know

Now try producing that same wedding video at 13,500 feet, moving at a speed of at least 120 miles per hour or faster. With no opportunity to rehearse, as it's a one-shot deal. Noisy airplane, seven cameramen, a terrified justice of the peace, a best man, maid of honor, FAA regulations, extremely cold weather at altitude and extremely hot weather on the ground, all conspire to make this an even greater challenge.

When the TLC Channel's "Wild Weddings" team heard that we were shooting this as a project for some friends, they invited us to add a camera or two to the shoot and provide footage of one of the fastest weddings ever recorded.

The project was originally to be recorded with standard skydiving camcorders. The Sony PC100/109 series of camcorders have long been the standard, with special boxes, mounts, lenses, etc all manufactured for skydivers. "We've always used Sony camcorders for skydiving," said Jack Guthrie, Skydive Utah DZO and camera flier, "not only are they the choice of most skydivers because of the carbon fibre boxes available from Rawa, Bonehead, and other manufacturers, but also because they're 3 chip cameras in a small package, and they are simply tough. Riser slap on side mounted camcorders is famous for tearing them up, but the Sony cams seem to take the abuse. A camera will usually last between 800 and 1200jumps. Jumpers that are careful and use a D-Box get up to 2000 jumps out of a PC series."

At VASST, we've been doing a lot of extreme experimental work with HDV, motorcycles, and other skydiving projects, so we said, "Why not?" to using HDV on this project as well. If we can jump a Z1 camcorder over 50' on a motorcycle, why not jump A1U's over 13,000 feet? This was exciting to the DZO, as HD and skydiving have been predominantly unique, with only extremely advanced skydivers using HD or HDV. He wanted to see the real performance of the format in high speed, extremely dynamic shooting situations. Performance Designs, the world's largest manufacturer in the realm of skydiving equipment, had only recently begun shooting the HDV format for their aerial competition teams (video is used in virtually all competitions, with competitions among camera fliers being a big draw to the higher resolution of HD). "We're modifying all of our video production to Sony HDV, says Rob Wilson, Marketing Manager for Performance Designs, "We've made the financial commitment to moving forward with this format and have begun the process. Our viewers, customers, and promotionals will soon reflect this advanced step in acquiring high-quality skydiving footage."

We pulled three Sony HVR-Z1U camcorders for the plane and ground crew. We knew we wanted at least one cam with an extreme wide angle in the plane, since the inside of the Beechcraft KingAir isn't as large as it could be for a jump and camera crew. Two of the Z1U's were kept on the ground for tripod-mounted shots and interviews, and three A1U's were used for camera fliers. Two of the A1U's were rigged with XDream .3 lenses made specifically for skydiving, set to deal with the extremely fast changes in temperature, and additionally designed with a low profile to prevent riser strikes and tangled parachute lines. Non-skydivers aren't likely aware that a deploying parachute could snap a neck or other bone, and we didn't want to worry about lines catching on a standard wide angle lens. Additionally, traditional wide angle lenses aren't manufactured to withstand the extreme change in air pressure and temperatures ranging from 10 degrees Fahrenheit to 90 degrees Fahrenheit over the course of about 90 seconds. The third helmet-mounted A1U was rigged with an experimental .175 lens made by Royal, again specifically designed for skydiving. A fourth A1U was kept in the cabin of the aircraft for falling/exit shots, and for backup in the event we lost a cam on the ground. DeMaagd base adapters were used to secure the mounts to the camera.

Bonehead Flattop Pro helmets were the order of the day. For professional video work on motoX, skydiving, B.A.S.E jumping, or other extreme sports, the BoneHead helmet is the only safe choice, from my view. It features an instant breakaway clip that releases and drops the helmet from your head in the event that you require immediate removal. The carbon fibre helmet is lightweight, yet the graphite top is extremely stable, and follows head movement perfectly. The cameras are started/stopped, paused using the Cam-Eye II camera system that provides a recessed button for control, and a small light that sits over the Cross sight used for image composition.

The cross sight system allows camera fliers to use their dominant eye to compose the image, and the camera lens is focused on the same spot that the sight ring sees when the camera flier sets up the system on the ground, pre-flight. The cross sight is an essential piece of gear for any aerial photographer.

Safety is obviously the biggest issue of the day. The A1U works extremely well for skydiving, as it has no outside edges or hanging parts that could snag a deploying canopy line or bridle. One small drawback is the LCD panel is not locked in place like the PC series of camcorders, but a small touch of gaffers tape fixed that issue right away.

The A1U was also chosen because of its ability to work with multiple exposures very, very fast and smooth. We set the camcorder to the "Beach/Ski" preset, and then manually focused them. Focus is then locked off with gaffers tape. We also secured the eyepiece of the camcorder for aesthetic reasons, but it is conceivable that the eyepiece could lift during a sit or backfly scenario, and we didn't want to have any concerns.

Finally, the cameras are mounted to the Bonehead helmets using a Goldmember camera mount made for safety and speedy removal of the camcorder from the helmet. A Bogen mount would work nearly as well, but the Bogen-type mounts don't offer a locking pin that absolutely assures that nothing can come loose during freefall. Remember, the camera is facing down at the ground while moving at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour in a freefly scenario. The camera weight also plays a big factor. Moving at high speed with a heavy camera strapped to your head isn't a pleasant experience if you happen to have a hard parachute opening or impact, so flying a lighter camera like the A1U is highly preferable. Some industrial skydivers are flying the HVR-Z1 and FX1 camcorders, but the A1 is the most common choice among skydivers interested in HD production.

The primary in-plane camera was the Sony HVR-Z1U camcorder with the 16x9 0.7 wide angle converter. A Chrosziel mattebox was used to hold a single sidewing, simply because when the camera is that high in the air, the angle of the sun is quite different and needed to be masked off to prevent light from hitting the wide angle lens converter. I also liked the fact that the sidewing could "breakaway" if it was hit hard enough, without endangering the camera. Given the tight cabin constraints, this was an issue. The camera was mounted on a Bogen tripod with gaffers tape holding the legs together with a very small spread of about 6" apart. The HVR-Z1U was also used for primary audio recording, as space precluded the option of using an external recording device. Phantom power was required for all mics in the plane, and both the Z1U and A1U provided the power we needed.

Audio was another substantial obstacle that had to be overcome; a twin engine turbo aircraft is noisy no matter what. Remove the door and replace it with a thin sheet of Plexiglas only worsens a tough situation. The door was open for most of the flight, and the resulting winds were incredibly loud. We did have the opportunity to test audio on several flights, and we tested several mic combinations. We could not use wireless systems due to issues of obstructing the skydiver's rig, and FAA concerns.  Additionally, the wireless receivers would have taken more space than we had available. We tested a variety of microphones placed around the cabin, and finally settled on three microphones for the job. The primary mic for cabin ambience and conversation is the Audio Technica AT 961 mounted to a thick rubber pad for isolation, plus a pair of Audio Technica AT 4053 hypercardioid mics placed to capture the very quiet justice of the peace. These were an emergency add, as during the rehearsal, we used a male "model" to test the dialog levels, but the justice of the peace was elderly, and is a quiet speaker without the added stress of being in a small airplane with an emergency parachute on her back, both of which were new experiences for her. As soon as we met her in person, we knew we were in trouble, so quickly added the extra mics (word to the wise, always run extra mic cables, we only happened to have fortunately left a couple experimental cables in place). The mics were secured to the cabin using gaffers tape with rubber mouse pads beneath them to reduce the effects of the turbine engine vibration.

Audio lines had to be concealed and beyond risk of a skydiving rig catching up the cable, and FAA regulations required that the cables be not exposed nor tied into the aircraft in any way. We used gaffers tape to secure the lines to the ceiling of the plane, and used the installed noise-damping material already Velcro'd to the walls of the aircraft to conceal the cables. Audio was fed directly into the HVR Z1U inputs and a second feed into the HVR-A1U that was acting as a backup camera. Interestingly enough, the aircraft's aft section has a completely covered lavatory, which provided for a terrific cable drop and mount for the interior HVR-A1U.

Ground audio was managed between Audio Technica U100 and Sony UWP wireless systems, with AT 899 and Tram lavs on the bride/groom. The justice of the peace was captured with a combination of the couple's microphones and a Rode NT2 mic.

Lighting requirements were minimal, but for the shadowed and backlit areas that needed a little fill, we used the LitePanel lighting system and the Coco/Luxlight on-camera lighting system. These lights were not only chosen for their size and output, but because of their battery power. It would have been a major ordeal to wire any power for lighting in the aircraft due to FAA restrictions, and of course we wanted to avoid anything that might involve a government agency. The lights were easily secured to the cabin walls using gaffers tape, with the Luxlight mounted on the HVR Z1U camcorder.

After the event was over, all footage was captured via Firewire as .CineForm avi files, selections and multicam edits made using the VASST Ultimate S 2.0 multicam editing tool in Sony Vegas 6.0. With seven cameras capturing the event, it would have been terrific to have had access to a Firestore or Nnovia direct to disk solution, but as any skydiver can tell you, using disk systems in flight is a risky proposition. Depending on jump altitude, the extreme changes in air pressure can, and usually does, dictate drive failure. For this reason, you'll want to be very aware of issues in any attempt to use a disk system. Direct to DVD systems don't work for obvious reasons. Either way, capturing to the CineForm codec was fast and easy to edit. We're very happy the editing aspect of this project wasn't as "wild" as the actual event. Following the event, footage from one of the cameras was captured on-site using the CineForm codec, and then handed off to broadcasters as 4:2:2 uncompressed footage on a DVD, so they could make their evening news slots. The footage will also be shown at the C4 Sports Expo in Las Vegas July 17-19 in the LVCC. Several news stations picked up the feed, you can view a few seconds here.

While jumping out of a perfectly good airplane may not be part of your production workflow, we were glad to know that we have the gear and goods to deliver this sort of difficult project to the client with a sharp eye towards both safety and quality.

Happy editing,

Credits for the skydive wedding project:
~Mike Chenoweth-ground cam 1
~Randy Stewart-ground cam 2
~Mannie Frances-roving cam
~Douglas Spotted Eagle-ground cam/aerial plane cam/DP
~Mike Semanoff-documentary aerial cam
~Cliff Terry-aerial cam 1
~Hugh Funk-aerial cam 2
~Pilots: Ryan Crissman/Buzz Crissman

Many thanks to Skydive Utah, Sony, Audio Technica, Performance Design, Bonehead, Brent's Sights, Jack Guthrie, Lance and Heather Bates, and TLC for making this event a fun and exciting experience for everyone involved.

*All aerial images are frame grabs from the HVR-A1U camcorder.

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