Altitude is Everything: What helicopter filming brings to your commercial property video

April 2, 2023

When we think about filming aerial footage for commercial property videos there are generally two options that come to mind. Drones are the easier, more accessible way to capture footage from the sky, and they play an important role in commercial property video production, but they do have their limitations. To really take your property video to the next level, adding a helicopter shoot will give you the cinematic touch to showcase your asset.

Altitude is everything

Where drone’s stop, helicopters begin.  Drone’s are an important video production tool, but there are downsides like flight zone restrictions, height restrictions and CASA rules and regulations limiting where, when and how they can be flown.

A helicopter can fly unrestricted over populated areas, it doesn’t matter if it’s a railway line, major road or CBD during rush hour.  If your property is near an airport the drone is a no-go, which is not the case for a helicopter.

The helicopter allows you to target locations that are nestled in highly built up areas to showcase their location in context, this simply can’t be done with a drone as you can’t get up high enough.  Track graphics into the helicopter footage to pinpoint your property and showcase its position amongst critical infrastructure and other key assets.

A helicopter also gives you a greater reach. You can physically go from one location to another location showing the route and travel time, no matter the distance. The drone always has to be in line of sight of the operator which restricts mobility and distance.

As well as bringing scale and scope to your video, high altitude bespoke helicopter filming gives you the most up to date version of your building in situ as it is today. Our cities change and develop constantly so stock footage can date quickly. A bespoke helicopter shoot provides you with the most up to date footage and you get to capture the exact shots you want.

Feature film camera & lens quality

Camera quality and movement can be an issue even if you’re using a large commercial drone as drones have a weight limit which restricts the type of camera and the lens that it can carry. Not so with a helicopter.

The Shot Over camera system, a gimbal mounted camera system attached externally to the helicopter and widely used in the feature film & TV production world, is now becoming more accessible for corporate and commercial property video production. This system can carry a high end, heavy weight camera and importantly very long lenses, without any shake. This type of kit captures a range of cinematic shots.  For example, a long lens can create compression (of distance), which compresses distance between things in the shot making them look closer together and allowing you to get more in a single shot, giving you a cinematic style and epic nature.

Get the full picture

A helicopter gives you the complete picture, it establishes your property in context of the wider surroundings.  Set the scene at scale with the helicopter, move to the drone for closer aerial detail of your building, then down to the ground and finally inside. All aspects, all angles. The complete picture.

Work with the best

Given the cost involved, when it comes to helicopter filming it absolutely pays to work with the best, those who have the established relationships; pilots, aerial cinematography specialists and a video production company experienced with heli-shoots.  They have a relationship with Air Traffic Control, they understand the processes involved, they know how to adapt to unexpectedly changing situations and most importantly, they know how to work together to capture the right footage. When you’re spending that amount of money on a property video don’t cut corners.

If you would like to find out more about helicopter filming for commercial property videos, contact the experienced YourFilm production team today. With a network of +1,000 crew Australia-wide including expert aerial cinematographers and pilots and an in-house animation studio with high end 2D and 3D graphics specialists, YourFilm is uniquely positioned to deliver premium helicopter property videos anywhere in Australia.