Getting military aircraft in your film.

[Germy1979]

Soooo, I have this funny little short I'm putting together involving a SEAL unit on a duck hunt.  (How efficiently badass that would be carried out like a regular OP with the use of all of their resources.) 

 

I'll be spending the better part of the next month in a field down south blowing it all to hell, lol. 

 

The only thing missing is a pretty vital piece and that is the helicopters that fly them in.  Surprisingly, this entire sketch will be done with practical effects sans the 1,000 ducks that get digitally demolished..  We're really blowing shit up. 

 

My question is, among you guys, have any of you had any envolvement with the military and getting the use of their aircraft for a feature?  I'm not Michael Bay, so I imagine it'll be a ridiculous endeavor, or it just won't happen because they'll want millions.  I can't seem to find anything online about it. 

 

I'm not looking for a squadron of Blackhawks to drop 20 feet off the deck, but I do want a rather sexy sunrise lift off as well as some interior shots flying.  a few aerial shots, plus the field landing touch & go. 

 

Literally, everything else is good to go

[Huuow]

If you were ambitiously enough, you would have enlisted already... getting your shots while flying some badass combat mission.. maybe you could even use some of the explosions!

 

 

yes, I´m not fond of the project... also the fun is in not killing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24VA0tTTsvM

[Germy1979]

If you were ambitiously enough, you would have enlisted already... getting your shots while flying some badass combat mission.. maybe you could even use some of the explosions!
 
 
yes, I´m not fond of the project... also the fun is in not killing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24VA0tTTsvM

I'm not sure if you're being a typical forum smartass with this comment or what, but thanks for your opinion....?....


.....anyway, moving forward.

So has anyone had experience getting military involvement for their feature?

[Huuow]

Nah, no way of trolling or something...

 

I´m allergic to how carelessly most students or young filmmakers use weaponry in their movies... Sorry for prejudging you, don´t know who you are. Based on what you have written I assume It´s more about the coolness but spending any ethical thoughts...

 

I would find it rather difficult to make a funny movie out of that topic. In the hands of Monty Python, yes. But since your movie is perfectly shootable without the helicopter scenes, your "sexy sunrise" shot makes me think you´re off track on what´s important.

 

The helicopter scene only tells the audience, guys there´s an awesome war movie and some dudes fly in a helicopter. The joke that they actually are about to hunt ducks, is pretty lame then... definatly not worth the effort. But again, I don´t know the script.

 

If they hunt ducks with a professional seal unit behaviour then I don´t get the joke. Cause they normally kill people and you just flip people with ducks and all of a sudden it´s funny?

 

The chances of beeing a very shallow movie is high if you don´t know why you are doing this...

 

 

other than that, nope sorry, got no experience in military involvement in movies... my advice would be: less is more. Do an areal shot with like an octocopter, maybe you can add a blackhawk shadow in post and use the sound (heli & radio speakings) to get desired impression.

[Germy1979]

Well if you look at it that way, then yes it sounds retarded as hell. I wouldn't over analyze it to the point of negativity
Since you haven't seen storyboards, or know how the sunrise shot plays into the next, or rather anything for that matter, etc. I also wouldn't toss the regular condescending forum DP vibe of "amateur" on someone either. . (Good God I'm glad forums didn't exist when I was a kid getting into filmmaking.)
It's great you have an opinion on why it'll fail though! If every concept put to film required your point of view, a lot of people would probably
Keep their ideas at arms length sounds like. 95% of the sketch is in the delivery however, so while it's great you decided to
Throw your opinion in there, you don't know the details.

Other than that, thanks for having no input on my original question, lol. A simple no, or just "not replying" would've sufficed.... Alas everyone has an opinion.

[QuickHitRecord]

I've featured a Sea Knight helicopter in one of my pieces. It was in a training film for the Marine Corps, and even that was a struggle. The military has to document and justify every flight plan so unless you are doing something for them, or you have enough political influence, or you are a member of the press doing a ride-along, I think that it's unlikely that you're going to get that kind of cooperation from them. They have more important things to do.

 

I'm not sure where you are based, but if you have the money for it, there is a company outside of LA (or perhaps as far away as the Mojave Desert; I can't remember) that has some land in the desert and a bunch of military vehicles that you can rent for use in your films. But I'm not sure if they have helicopters, and even if they do, it won't be cheap.

 

Third option would be to setup your camera with a telephoto lens near a base and try to get those shots on the sly. I wouldn't recommend being close to the actual base perimeter, but you can figure out the general flight paths that they are using and position yourself accordingly.

 

And of course, there is always stock footage.

[Huuow]

k.

 

next time you want no opinion just say your question then

 

imagin your quote: "I'll be spending the [..] next month in a field down south blowing it all to hell, lol." in a speech bubble over your user pic.

 

happy hunting

[Germy1979]

k.
 
next time you want no opinion just say your question then
 
imagin your quote: "I'll be spending the [..] next month in a field down south blowing it all to hell, lol." in a speech bubble over your user pic.
 
happy hunting

Yeah, you know what man, sorry for being a dick. Seriously. That was pretty immature to defend the
Project when it was presented like a redneck with a camera & some explosives.. So my apologies
For blasting off over it. I like over the top humor. I see every cut in my head and think "how could anyone
Not laugh their asses off at this scene?" But, nobody's seen anything yet.

To follow up however, I found a squadron of rebuilt Huey Hogs about 45 minutes away that will begin memberships and event
Flying next year. Oddly enough the PR lady was very sweet and down to earth on the concept of working with me, and
The negotiation is pretty awesome considering they need a videographer to get the word out there. Double whammy

[andy lee]

Airshows are great for caputing low flying shots of MIlitary aircraft legally with no issues - Ive just shot some WW2 warbirds this summer at airshows - for free

[dishe]

I'd find the nearest military training camp and see if you cant find some enthusiastic administrators that would be game.

 

I have friends that shot footage over at West Point Military base in upstate NY because they were friends with some of the cadets there. Granted it wasn't anything crazy like a helicopter scene, mostly just stuff happening on location, but it never hurts to ask.

[tehgeek]

I was going to say CGI the sunset shot but no idea how you wold go about the interior.

[Axel]

I was going to say CGI the sunset shot but no idea how you wold go about the interior.

 

Great fan of making ofs, fan of the DV Rebel's Guide, great fan of the traditional make-believe approach that the great masters of the silent movie era began, great fan of meticulous storyboards and so forth, I hope this old clip might inspire you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRS9cpOMYv0

[Germy1979]

Great fan of making ofs, fan of the DV Rebel's Guide, great fan of the traditional make-believe approach that the great masters of the silent movie era began, great fan of meticulous storyboards and so forth, I hope this old clip might inspire you:

That was awesome!!!