Movie drone aces flying in
THE city’s reputation as a film hub has helped lure a world-leading drone cinematography company to the Gold Coast.
Melbourne-based company XM2 has worked on blockbusters films including
Thor: Ragnarok, Lion, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Aquaman and
Pacific Rim Uprising and hit US-filmed TV series Westworld.
The company, which also has offices in Los Angeles and Seoul, will open a Coast office at Village Roadshow Studios following April’s Commonwealth Games.
Company founder, chief pilot and cinematographer Stephen Oh said it made sense to have an office at the studios as most of the company’s Australian work was in Queensland.
“I have been spending 70 per cent of my time on the Gold Coast filming, so it just makes sense,” he said.
“It will allow us to communicate with producers because they usually set up their offices there, too.”
XM2 has worked with British naturalist Sir David Attenborough and been involved in filming in 13 countries.
The company, which helped pioneer the use of drones for movie-making, became the first operators in the world to physically stabilise the Red Epic camera from a drone in 2013.
“Drones are really disruptive technology and we are at the leading edge and intend to stay there,” Mr Oh said.
“It comes at a massive cost but we want to be at the pointy end.”
Mr Oh, who began flying drones 17 years ago, has 27 years’ experience in the film industry.
“The advantage I have is in movie workflow,” he said.
“I know the industry and know what everyone does, so it makes it a lot easier to get the shots they want.”
Hollywood’s increasing demand for extra-special angles has seen XM2 branch out to design and build its own aircraft through its research and development arm, XM2 Labs.
“Off-the-shelf machines just cannot do everything we need, so it is easier to build our own,” Mr Oh said.
Village Roadshow Studios President Lynne Benzie said the studios were excited to welcome XM2 to the Oxenford lot. “It is exciting to work with a company that embraces new and innovative technology that compliments what domestic and international film productions require,” she said.
XM2’s machines are also replacing the need for filmmakers to use cameras to be mounted on helicopters.
Its latest machine, a fourarmed drone with a takeoff weight of 75kgs known as the XM2 Sierra, can carry an Alexa 65 camera with a Panavision 200-400mm lens – a 65mm large format device that films in 6k and is often used for stunning landscape shots in IMAX and extra wide-screen movies.
“It can carry on par with what cranes and helicopters can carry and there is no need to compromise,” Mr Oh said.
The drones can also be reconfigured in minutes rather than hours – a huge advantage when movie production costs sometimes top $30,000 an hour.
“There can be 1200 to 1300 people on set when filming outdoors and when you have that many people waiting on you there is a lot of pressure – but that’s what we love,” Mr Oh said.