Licensed drone video production on Sydney Harbour

We've been having fun with the drone on Sydney Harbour over recent weekly providing licensed and legal drone video production to the team at Sail Media, covering the 18-footers events with aerial footage.

The event goes out as a livestream each week (Using a Phantom4 drone with an HDMI output) and Wedge-Tail Pictures was called upon to get the complex approvals process underway with CASA. Shooting legal drone video on Sydney Harbour is a complex production given the helicopters, sea planes, sail masts and ferries, not to mention the tight landing spots for the drone on board a fast-moving boat, so it's been great to provide some expertise and get some great drone video production and aerial photos as well.

Filming with the drone in a fast-paced environment is also a challenge so the bumps and grinds are all part of the process, as the recorded livestream below shows. If you need approvals for legal, safe drone footage in Sydney or around the country, contact us to chat about your shoot today.

1% For The Planet: Wedge-Tail Pictures is in!

Wedge-Tail Pictures was founded with ethical and environmental concerns in mind. We don't make videos for the fossil fuel industry, we're concerned about deforestation, biodiversity, and the looming ecological crisis our planet faces. Where possible, the video production we carry out focuses on environmentally-minded projects. We've carried out pro-bono video production for organisations pushing for meaningful action on climate change and offer discounts to companies and groups wanting a video producer, from cut price live streaming to discounted drone work. We'll also turn up to jobs in our company hybrid car (sadly, off-road locations might still require the 4x4) and we make sure our video edit suite is powered by energy which is GreenPower accredited (baby steps, yes, but getting solar panels on a rental property is a challenge...).

This month we added something new to the mix; joining up to become a One Per Cent For The Planet member. Membership of this US-based organisation commits companies like ours to donate one per cent of their annual profit to approved non-profit environmental organisations. We're super happy to be involved. And it turns out that spying this logo on a product is also a pretty easy way to whittle down overwhelming choices (a recent liquor store run was made a lot easier knowing that Sydney brewery Four Pines brewery are members....lovely drop!).

You can find out more about how the organisation works over at https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/ It would be nice to think that we – and larger companies, too – might be able to increase that commitment in future. For now, we're happy to be in on the movement.

Ultrawide drone video in the wide brown land: 21:9 aspect ratio

When AMG - Australian Meats Group - said they wanted a video production to showcase their black Angus cattle on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River in southwestern NSW, we knew it was the perfect job for the Inspire 2 drone and its range of lenses. Capturing the open plains in stunning 4k vision means two things; a higher-res end product for the audience but also the ability to crop in on the image.

Along with the client, we chose to deliver in super widescreen - a 21:9 aspect ratio as opposed to the more regular 16:9 to in order to showcase the property and cattle with a more cinematic approach.

The video production shoot was deceptively quick; starting at dawn to use for the moment the cows were loaded onto the trucks - using the drone to get the best early light - it was all over by midday, using the Inspire 2, the versatile Mavic Pro 2 drone for a couple of shots, and the Canon c300 mark 2, all of which shoot in 4k and are video production staples.

A shot from the final film of the trucks leaving the property, vintage shearing sheds visible.

There was no script at all; with a background in TV news we know how to interview and get the most from subjects. Many video production teams can bring the latest video, drone and gimbal equipment to you, but storytelling ability is something different.

After the long, long drive back to Sydney, we drafted a working narrative and edited in house in a couple of days, matching the colour for the various cameras, and hey presto. Let us know what you think of the final video production in the comments below.