profesional RED & Drone Shoots

[JamieOlive]

Hello folks, what are you doing. I am fairly new in photopgraphy and film making business, but a recent business opportunity forces me to learn a lot more than i should in a very short period of time.

Specifically, a high end film is about to take place for one of my client and asked me yo assemble a complete business plan for that purpose. The client gave me 5 weeks to put together the plan which started on Monday so a quick and detailed response will be most wellcoming.

My client wants to have a couple of drones for the job of long range shooting plus a small crew camera to handle short range and indoor shooting. Now to the tricky part, the requirements for the film is minimum 4K, which means the on board drone cameras wont cut it. Also it needs to be somewhat light in order not to have custom made drones made for that specific reason.

The budget is 560.000,00 Euros which must include the following:

1) 3 cameras of the same model with at least 4K cabapilities and to be able to run with a small crew (1-2 people max)

2) 2 drones with enough precision control and power to support the before mentioned cameras.

3) Other necessary equipment for the shooting.

 

ALSO i must mention here that i need a complete list of the camera equipment so ssd's, power banks and batteries, lences, mounts etc. must be included. Furthermore the film will be around 85 minutes long and all rendering will be done by an independent outsourced company.

 

At last i wanted your opinion on the Red Camera line up which a friend of mine suggested for those kinds of shoots, but when i show the actual cost of those things it completly blew my mind, 85.000,00 Euros for each one, god.

 

Thank you for your time and please responde as quickly as you can. 

[The Cool n00B]

Firstly, I'd like to point out that if you need to come here for advise with no sense of direction yet, you probably shouldn't be working with a $560K budget and a "client".

 

This is what I've put together for you for fairly cheap:

 

That's RED's own configurator thingy.

[JamieOlive]

Yo man thanks for the quick response.

First of all I used the RED configurator myself and came up with a much beefier solution toping 74.000,00 Euros/ $82.000,00 US, which means for 2 cameras it takes us to $165.000,00 plus $91.000,00 for the cinema kit that we need which sums up to $282.000,00 if you include shipping and insurance for 9 months for those 3 components only. Remember the budget can be adjusted upwards and downwards if necessary, we are talking about 1 million Euros contract here so we cant cheap out too much and ending up having low end results.

Now to some more details, I run a SmB and i handle this client's finances,company structure and also evaluate future expansion plans and possible contracts for a few years now. 

 

 In order to clear things up and avoid unnecessary quotes and hate talk from other people, and i dont mean you man, I advised my client that i am not the most suitable person for the job, cause I neither have much experience in the field, nor one of my emplyees is a working professional in this specific field.

 

Of course i am not his only options but nevertheless he is paying me a fee the the report and insisted I do it anyway so how could i refuse.

Finally i myself studied quite a few in the past few days about this stuff, i am a little puzzled i must admit but Red's aren't my only option but i do not know how to properly evaluate these options or present them to my client in order for him to make a decision, and i find that forums and collective thinking sometimes is very regenerative and helpful.

[AkiraDaarkst]

1 hour ago, JamieOlive said:

 

You're in Greece?  One of my friends is a DoP who is from Greece and his family owns a TV/Film studio in Athens.  I can get you in contact with him.  I can also help out with the selection of camera gear.

 

First of all, are you already 100% sure that the cameras have to be RED?  A RED camera and a drone does not equate light weight or easy to use.  Also, instead of buying the cameras I think it will be better to hire film crews who have their own gear or at least able to rent the gear themselves and produce what is needed.  Let the crews deal with the logistics.

 

@JamieOlive, I've sent you a private message with my friend's email and told him about your enquiry.

[AkiraDaarkst]

1 hour ago, The Cool n00B said:

Firstly, I'd like to point out that if you need to come here for advise with no sense of direction yet, you probably shouldn't be working with a $560K budget and a "client".

 

This is what I've put together for you for fairly cheap:

 

That's RED's own configurator thingy.

I agree with your first point and am confused why someone with very little experience would be given such a task.

 

As for your list of parts, I can assure that is only the beginning.  The DSMC drone package you selected is not enough to mount a RED camera on a drone and start using it.  It's missing a wireless video transmission system for the drone operators to monitor what is being filmed.  And with a RED camera it will require at least two people to operate and film with a drone.  One person to focus on flying the drone and at least another person to operate the camera and lens, gimbal movement, etc.  The lens will require a wireless follow focus (and perhaps zoom) control system if the operator does not want to rely on autofocus with the camera.  Adding all these accessories, it even the lightest RED camera package could end up weighing at least 5-10kg and will require a drone with sufficient lift capacity.

 

Frankly, the client or business that wants to produce this film is better off hiring someone who can assemble their own crew for the job and already has access to the gear.  This would probably mean approaching a production company.

[JamieOlive]

Man thank you for your answers, yeah I am from Greece and I have already sent you an private message ,i hope i cleared some of your confusion but either way thank you. No it doesn't have to be a RED, but it does have some minimum requirements to put into consideration as I explained,earlier.. And it has to make financial sense...

As for the drone I am quite confused as well. In my preliminary search I estimated between 10-14kg of weight and I couldn't find something suitable unless he is willing to pay 7-8 grand for each in which case he can rent a helicopter for the job, but that's what he wants....

[AkiraDaarkst]

1 hour ago, JamieOlive said:

Man thank you for your answers, yeah I am from Greece and I have already sent you an private message ,i hope i cleared some of your confusion but either way thank you. No it doesn't have to be a RED, but it does have some minimum requirements to put into consideration as I explained,earlier.. And it has to make financial sense...

As for the drone I am quite confused as well. In my preliminary search I estimated between 10-14kg of weight and I couldn't find something suitable unless he is willing to pay 7-8 grand for each in which case he can rent a helicopter for the job, but that's what he wants....

For immediate concerns, instead of focusing on which specific brand or model of camera to use, focus on putting together a checklist of the types of gear that will be necessary.  Something like this for example.

• Camera
• Lens(es)
• Microphones
• Boom pole
• Field audio recorder
• Memory card/storage medium for camera
• Batteries
• XLR cables
• HDMI or BNC cables
• Power cables
• Follow focus
• Field monitor
• Wireless video transmission system
• Tripod
• Rail system for camera rig
• Shoulder rig
• Steadicam or motorized gimbal, vest harness
• Dolly, slider, jib, crane
• Light stands, C-stands, various types of support stands
• Lighting kits
• Power supplies and banks
• Backup data storage system
• Converters, adapters
• other types of cables, rig systems, mounting systems, accessories, etc.etc.etc.

And also list the type of people you will need to hire.

• Director
• Camera operator(s)
• Gaffer
• Sound engineer
• Boom operator
• Grip
• Drone operator

and more.

 

In productions like these normally you'd sit down with specialists of different areas and have them write up a list of equipment they plan to use and will need to be acquired.  The camera operator or DoP will make decisions about the camera and lenses, the sound engineer will make decisions about the sound equipment, the lighting specialist will make decisions about the lights and light setup used.  It will be difficult for a single individual to think of everything, so consulting with people who specialize in their areas will be best.

 

Then the next step is to fill out what specific model or brand for each item in the list, and quantity. For lenses, the types of focal lengths needed.  For microphones the various types necessary

[HapyM3al]

Honestly dont know RED camera enough to comment on that. Just word of warning with audio. Dont even bother with a mic on the drone, just going to get wind and rotor noise. 

 

I can recommend a drone however:

 

http://store.freeflysystems.com/collections/rebates/products/freefly-alta-8-free-movi-m5

 

I would purchase extra 4 batteries so that have extra time to fly around. Of course need to add controller. Picture of the drone has RED on it. The ALTA also folds up neatly and really looks like go to professional drone. Not sure on how easy it is to fly, pretty sure will be simple for the price you going to pay. Also have option of having the camera on top or the bottom

 

Would love to have setup like that, quality footage going to get is amazing. 

 

[JamieOlive]

@HapyM3al , thank you very much , i actually hadn't noticed this drone. It seems dependable and it has red capabilities thank you very much and it is "somewhat affordable" for something that comes right out of the box. 

And it has some incredible features aside from basic functionality. 

Thank you very much for your time and effort...!!!!

 

P/S: Most likely will be piloted by a profesional pilot, so that is out of the equation.