"UFM2 - POV"

To put you in the driver's seat, here is some "POV" raw footage shot in the production of "Lil Prop / Big Prop" - a music video featured in FitzGerald's documentary on Ultralights called "UFM2" available on this website on Blu-ray or DVD or On Line.

A note from Brian FitzGerald about this cut:

I was looking at some things I shot a couple of years ago and thought you might find this interesting. I spent the good part of a flying season shooting a piece called "Lil Prop" that is featured in my documentary on Ultralight Flying called "UFM2".

The theme of this music video was to be a "mythic, low-level, Kansas adventure flight". In doing that I determined to show as much of the interesting scenery of Kansas as I could pack into my timeframe and budget. I decided it would be neat to show wheat growing, corn, milo, riverbeds, hay fields, sunflowers, the Flint Hills and windmills - all from a low level. I used a single camera technique in which you shoot your angles one at a time and then edit them together in post production for the final movie. Of course when you do this, you have to throw out tons of footage so I thought it would be neat for a change to let you get a peak into the technique. The technique requires many passes over the same land areas with the camera placed all over the airplane in order to enhance the effect. I used 5 camera positions. Often the camera would tilt off angle some time during the flight and the whole mission would be worthless. Mounting a camera on an ultralight is quite a challenge from a number of aspects.

As you watch this raw footage keep in mind that I used a wide angle lens. Like your car or truck mirror says "Things are closer than they appear in the mirror". (It is important to pay attention when flying down low like this so you don't harvest the corn prematurely...) I like the wide angle, though, because without it the viewing angle is too limited and you lose the dynamic sense of the scene - particularly from the wing angle.

Anyway, I found a really nice corn field with a picturesque farmhouse/silo at the end of it. I asked the owners and the folks adjacent to the field if it would be OK to shoot the segments while the corn was high and they all thought it was cool. At one point you will see me waving to the folks with the neat farm house.

I picked this particular POV because I am very happy the way it turned out after much effort to both stabilize the camera and keep the camera mount out of the shot. Also, I think it is one of the most dynamic angles taken of this type of flying I have seen.

(NOTE TO STUDENTS OF FILM: I understand some may think I am misusing the term POV to describe this shot but I stand by it. If you are interested, email me and I'll discuss it.)

Blue Skies & Tailwinds!