There’s always new and exciting things happening here at One Floor Up. Recently, I sat down with my colleague Vic about a super unique project he worked on. Let’s learn some more!
What’s your name and title at One Floor Up?
I’m Vic Milbrath and I’m a Producer at OFU.
You recently worked on a shoot for Spright. Can you tell us a little about Spright and what the intent was behind this video?
Sure. Spright is a global drone solutions provider offering drone services to the utility and healthcare industries. For this project we filmed two types of unmanned aircraft. The first was a drone designed to inspect utility lines. With how many utility lines there are in the world it makes sense to automate this process with technology rather than manpower. Plus it’s much safer. The drone has a sensor package that captures RGB, LiDAR, and thermal data. It can cover a ton of ground in a single flight, then it passes that info to the utility company so they know which lines need additional work. The second aircraft was a wingcopter that transports medical supplies in emergency situations to rural and remote communities. It literally saves lives. Both aircraft and the technology behind them are extremely beneficial. So the intent was to spread this message and show off their technology.
This shoot involved a lot of drone work — drones shooting drones as you mentioned, can you tell me what that was like?
It was pretty cool. The drones and wingcopter that Spright uses are much larger and faster than typical drones so we had to make sure our drones and pilots could not only keep up with them, but capture beautiful content at the same time. Each of their drones reached different speeds too, so we had to use different types of drones to match their capabilities. On our end we used a Mavic 3 Cine, an Inspire 2, and an FPV drone with a hanging cinema camera. For safety, our drones also had to stay at least 20 feet away from their drones at all times so that added an extra layer of difficulty. Seeing all the drones whipping around each other in the sky felt a little bit like watching a miniature Top Gun movie. Tom Cruise never showed up though unfortunately.
I heard after this shoot you got your drone license yourself. Was there a moment while shooting that inspired you to get your drone license?
Oh yeah, for sure. I had flown drones before but never at this level. The pilots we worked with were amazingly talented, and precise. I was in awe watching it all play out and it definitely made me want to take my own drone skills to the next level. We also ran into a lot of rules and regulations with airspace restrictions and safety protocols. It was all very interesting to me, so I wanted to dig in deeper, and getting my own license helped with that as well.
What was the most challenging aspect of this project?
The most challenging part was just coordinating everything beforehand with the number of people that were involved. There were a number of pilots obviously, we had a crew filming on the ground as well, the Spright marketing team, then the Spright safety team that had to provide final approval on all flight plans and procedures. There were a lot of moving parts but everyone was a pro so it came together pretty well.
What problem did creating this video project solve for Spright?
Spright has some very impressive technology that should be portrayed in an equally impressive way. They had videos before but they were getting dated and their technology and services had expanded since those were made. It was time to freshen things up a bit and get all the info current. With how cool Spright’s technology is and how much it can help the industry, and people in general really, they deserve to have great videos that communicate that.
What was your biggest takeaway from the Spright project?
Anything is possible. Initially the concept of drones filming drones sounded like a lot. There are altitude restrictions, airspace restrictions, weather and wind are big factors, and that’s all discussed before anyone even takes off. Step by step though you learn more and get more comfortable.
After doing a drone project like this, what excited you about the possibility of future drone work?
I’m kind of a sucker for new technology and drones are getting better every day. I’ve always thought drones offered a unique perspective to every project, so the better they get and the better we can use them the better our work will be for our clients.
