Blending aerial & crane shots

[Joe Citizen]

Say you want a blend these shots together so they appear seamless:

Long aerial shot going over a landscape, then the camera slows and then looks down, and finally plunges down toward the distant subject;
Crane shot takes over, going all the way down to eye level, turning horizontal near the subject, then follows along.

And then do it all in reverse at the end.

How big of a deal is that, and roughly what is involved? Besides being rich enough to hire a long aerial shot and a crane, I mean. If it depends heavily on the exact shot involved, assume the director is flexible on the details and will tailor them to suit the technical requirements, to make it as easy as possible to get it done.

 

[cheeseandachallenge]

Does it have to be a crane? A camera on a drone could give a similar (although not the same movement) and solve the issue of there needing to be a transition between aerial and crane.

 

[Sweetie]

It's not really a question that belongs on a forum like this. It's a question more suited to appropriate crew that are going to pull this off. You could do it practically, you could use special effects, you could use some sort of wipe to make the transaction appear seamless and so on, depending on the shot, you may just use a large crane to cover it all.

The best way would be to sit your people down and have a plan on how you're going to accomplish this and plan it well. Work out exactly what you need, work out the costs of getting that shot and the costs of the alternatives and figure out is the shot really worth the added expense?

 

[jax_rox]

It's possible you could do the whole shot with an Octocopter/drone. Otherwise, you're looking at some sort of setup for the aerial shot - whether its drone or helicopter, then blend in VFX to a steadicam on a crane, which booms down, the steadicam then stepping off, and doing the whole thing in reverse.

It's totally doable, just depends on the budget you have to pull this off, and as Sweetie says - whether it's worth it based on your entire budget. I.e. do you have enough money for everything else plus this shot, or is it a matter of this shot as imagined, and you therefore can't afford props or costumes, for example.

 

[Joe Citizen]

Okay guys, that's pretty much what I was asking - if it was something straightforward, with an "off the shelf" type of solution, or a technical challenge requiring a bespoke solution. Hadn't thought of drones though. Thanks.

 

[Sweetie]

if it was something straightforward

As I said before, it depends on the shot.