AERIAL FILMING


PRODUCTION


footage is consistent.” The aerials were shot using


Few recent aerial projects have been as complex to execute as Aerial Camera Systems’ provision of live UHD HDR coverage of all nine host stadia during the delayed Euro 2020 tournament. The ACS team had to put together nine helicopter crews with consistent equipment (originally 10 before Covid saw the Dublin games cancelled) and have them follow UEFA’s specific briefs. This included following the team buses’ journey through the host cities and match build-up beauty shots. All in all, 300 hours of flight time


were logged during the tournament, all of which was offset by ACS. Thanks to Covid and the original


tournament’s cancellation, the planning effectively had two stages. Pre-Covid that involved a complicated jigsaw of lining up permissions and navigating the local regulations covering aerial filming. And then there was the sheer scale of the project. “The big challenge was securing enough UHD standard gimbals,” says Sales Director, Matt Coyde. “We were originally looking at 10 filming helicopters, so that’s 10 UHD systems plus spares, and 10 experienced technician/operators. Then across all those gimbal systems you have to make sure the cameras are configured correctly so that the


11 stabilised mounts; a mixture of Shotover F1s and M1s and the GSS Cineflex Cinema Pro 516. All were fitted with primarily Sony HDC P50 cameras, though a couple of Green Valley LDX C86Ns were also used. Connectivity was supplied by Broadcast RF HEVC kit via bespoke reception systems providing up to 8 way diversity and rigged on stadium roofs to combat the surrounding terrain. All UHD/HDR helicopter downlinks had bidirectional camera control systems installed. Due to a lack of local aircraft,


helicopters had to be moved in on long transits for the Eastern European venues. Baku and St Petersburg, meanwhile, fell outside of EASA Europe-wide aviation safety frameworks and then the UK formally withdrew from the agreements due to Brexit, complicating matters further. Then, of course, there was Covid.


Amongst other things Dublin got cancelled and the Spanish matches moved 700km from Bilbao to Seville. Then there was the crew. “We were trying to make sure we had the best talent in the helicopters, and that obviously meant people crossing borders,” says Coyde. “But we followed the protocols and the result was we didn’t have any Covid outbreaks in the team.” The effort surrounding people is


as important as that surrounding kit though. “You can be holding a shot in the helicopter and it could have done almost a full rotation. You don’t want the skids coming into the shot or the tail of the helicopter during that. But because of the nature of that kind of work, there aren’t a lot of people that do it and do it well. You have to pull resources from literally around the world.”


Winter 2021 televisual.com 85


EURO 2020


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