The weather's been good and Flying Pictures' summer has kicked off to a busy start!
Our aerial filming crew has been working both in the UK for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Gulliver’s Travels, Intruders (starring Clive Owen) and Bollywood’s RA.One (Shahrukh Khan), as well as overseas in the South of France for ‘Monte Carlo’ (Cory Monteith and Andie MacDowell).
Never a dull moment!
Last night at the National Movie Awards we are pleased to note that two films for which we completed the aerial filming were honoured with awards:
Sherlock Holmes for Best Action/Thriller
and
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for Best Family
Flying Pictures has been Warner Brothers' aerial filming company of choice for all of the Harry Potter films and we are delighted that the series has received, in addition, a Special Recognition Award.
Congratulations!
Check out the cover picture of the May issue of Empire magazine in our Film Services, Gallery section.
They call it the "Explosive Blockbuster Issue!" and it features three iconic images from what will be three of the biggest movies of this summer;
Robin Hood, Iron Man 2 and Prince of Persia
We are very happy to say that we were the aerial filming company chosen to work on all three titles, extensively so on Robin Hood and Prince of Persia.
(click on the thumbnail for full pic)
John Marzano one of our very experienced operators (Bond, Robin Hood, Iron Man 2) has just completed aerials for the new Andrew Marr series Megacities in Mexico, Bangladesh and Japan.
It has been announced that Ridley Scott's "ROBIN HOOD" will open the Cannes Film Festival in May.
Flying Pictures completed the aerial filming on this blockbuster last year - and it's not the first pairing of our aerial crew and this great director;
It has been our pleasure to have worked closely with Ridley Scott on Black Hawk Down, Body of Lies, and Kingdom of Heaven amongst others.
As the award season draws to a close with the most prestigious of all, the Oscars.
Flying Pictures is delighted that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince has received a nomination for Best Achievement in Cinematography.
Also, Sherlock Holmes is nominated in 2 categories - one being Best Achievement in Art Direction.
We were fortunate enough to complete the aerial filming on both productions and wish them the very best of luck. We'll be watching!!
Golden Globes:
HBO and BBC’s collaboration, “Into the Storm” starring Brendan Gleeson as Churchill, was nominated for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. Flying Pictures had great pleasure in completing the aerial filming on this Scott Free production.
BAFTAS:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the latest release in the hugely successful film franchise, has received well-deserved nominations in both Production Design and Special Visual Effects. We at Flying Pictures are pleased to say that we have completed the aerial filming on each and every Harry Potter production and we’re delighted that the film is receiving this recognition.
As we at Flying Pictures look back and reflect upon the last 12 months, we feel so fortunate to have completed the aerial filming on many great films in 2009, including;
Ridley Scott’s Untitled Robin Hood Adventure
Sherlock Holmes Gulliver’s Travels Solomon Kane Centurion Your Highness Iron Man 2 5 Killers And Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I and II
2009 also saw the release of several films on which we worked on the aerial filming in 2008 – namely;
Amelia
Valkyrie GI Joe The International
And the biggest grossing film of 2009:
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!
These feature films, together with a wide range of commercials, from Morrisons to Network Rail made 2009 an interesting and diverse year for Flying Pictures aerial filming company and we’d like to wish all our clients past present and future a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!
As the evenings draw in and the weather grows colder... our crews continue to work on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"
They have also recently completed aerial filming on "Your Highness" starring Natalie Portman.
You might have seen our aerials on the new Morrisons ad starring Richard Hammond that is currently on your TV screens too....
The weather may be indifferent, but the aerial filming projects on which we’ve been working have been anything but!
Flying Pictures have completed aerials on several films, including;
Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood movie starring Russell Crowe
and
‘Gulliver’s Travels’ starring Jack Black.
These, together with a number of commercials, including Bacardi and RBS, mean that our aerial crew are having a busy summer.
Our crew have been busy this summer so far completing aerials for Centurion, Neil Marshall's historical action thriller set in 2nd Century Britain
and
Iron Man 2 starring Robert Downey Jnr and Scarlett Johanssen.
We are currently working on "untitled Robin Hood adventure" with Ridley Scott
So far this Spring, Flying Pictures has been busy working on a number of projects, including;
Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jnr
and also on location in the South of France with 5 Killers starring Ashton Kutcher
We are also delighted to have commenced work on the latest Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
In addition to completing aerials for a Diet Coke ad, our crew has recently returned from location in the Czech Republic working on a TV pilot film "The Philanthropist" starring James Purefoy.
Valkyrie is still performing well in the international top box office earnings chart despite strong competition and Mamma Mia has made a return to the top 20 in the last couple of weeks!
We hope you had an excellent Christmas and wish all of our clients; past, present and future, a prosperous 2009.
It's the awards season and we are delighted to see that Mamma Mia and A Quantum of Solace, both films on which we completed aerials, have been nominated for BAFTAS.
All the team here at Flying Pictures wish you a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
2008 - an update
During 2008, we have completed aerials on the following feature films:
A Quantum of Solace
Season of the Witch - Austria
Ondine - Republic of Ireland
Amelia - Canada and Africa
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
A Letter for the King - Scotland
Solomon Kane
GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra - Czech Republic
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - Morocco
Also this year, in addition to special projects, like Postman Pat SDS and the Portsmouth FC flying banner, we have also been involved in the aerial filming of a number of commercials e.g. Morrisons, EDS and Iberdrola.
Flying Pictures had the pleasure of working on the aerial filming for the Dutch feature film Der Brief voor de Koning, earlier this year and we are happy to learn that it has picked up no less than 4 film awards in Europe.
Ridley Scott's latest feature is released in the UK tomorrow. Our crew worked extensively on location in Morocco at the end of last year on both the aerial filming and helicopter stunt flying on this acclaimed action thriller starring Leonardo diCaprio and Russell Crowe.
Our crew have just returned from a stint working on location in Austria. They have completed aerials on a new Nicolas Cage feature film, also starring Ron Perlman
Flying Pictures completed aerials this summer on the latest film in the Bond franchise and the 11th consecutive one on which we have worked.
We are delighted that it has broken box office records in the UK over its initial release weekend.
So far this Autumn, Flying Pictures has completed aerial filming in various locations, including;
Morocco for Disney Films' Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, starring Jake Gyllenhaal
and Ireland for a Colin Farrell film "Ondine".
"MAMMA MIA" breaks UK film record! We also notice that of the top ten highest grossing British films, we completed aerials on 8 of them!
We have also just learned that "Stardust" a film we completed aerials on in 2006 has been nominated for a Children's BAFTA
Working for The Launch Group and in conjunction with Chrome Productions, last weekend Flying Pictures was responsible for the co-ordination, piloting and filming of the aerial stunt work for a viral video to mark the relaunch of this much-loved character. Type 'Postman Pat SDS' into youtube to view it!
"Mamma Mia!" a film that we had the pleasure of working on last summer, continues its phenomenal box office success.
Morrisons Commercials; Working for Flight Logistics, our camera crew was involved with the aerial filming of both the ad with Richard Hammond in the glider and the one with the parachute starring Denise Van Outen. Another film on which we worked recently; "Hellboy II, the Golden Army" will be released at the cinemas this week in the UK.
"Prince Caspian" and "Mamma Mia": Flying Pictures had the pleasure of working on two of the hottest box office properties of the moment. "AMELIA"Film based on the legendary exploits of Amelia Earhart and starring Richard Gere and Hilary Swank. Our crew is currently working on this very interesting project. 12th May 2008 FA CUP WINNERS Portsmouth FC and Flying Pictures worked together in early May to put on a jaw dropping aerial display of the club's new away shirt. A 200 foot banner displaying the new strip was filmed flying over the landmark sites of Portsmouth. The shoot culminated in the spreading of the shirt over the deck of H.M.S. Ark Royal and with Harry Redknapp and the football team in attendance to meet the crew and pose for pictures. A fine day for a great spectacle "DARK SKY/GI JOE" - we have been working in the Czech Republic on this production, due for release next year.
QUANTUM OF SOLACE - now completed aerial filming work on location for the new Bond filmHARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE - now completed all aerialsEDS - aerial filming of the financial district and landmarks of London for their commercialIBERDROLA- on location in Spain for their commercialTHE LETTER FOR THE KING - on location in Scotland for this forthcoming feature film
BODY OF LIES HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE THE INTERNATIONAL THE COLOUR OF MAGIC MAMMA MIA CHURCHILL AT WAR HELL BOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY COMMERCIALS FOR HONDA & OCADO NATIONAL TREASURE II: BOOK OF SECRETS VALKYRIE THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: Prince Caspian BABYLON A.D. MADE OF HONOR DOOMSDAY, working with our very own Marc Wolff as 2nd Unit Director
28 WEEKS LATER
THE FANTASTIC 4 : The Rise of the Silver Surfer THE DARK IS RISING
"BODY OF LIES"
One of our aerial units is currently filming in Morocco on Ridley Scott's new film "Body Of Lies". The film stars Leonardo Di Caprio and Russell Crowe. We have two Dauphin helicopters painted by us to look like military aircraft for the film. The AS350B2 Squirrel camera helicopter is equipped with one of our 35mm Wescams and also one of our HD Cineflex camera systems. The team is due to return to the UK on the 12th December.
Flying Pictures are now able to offer the Wescam 35mm System for use on the Long Ranger series of helicopters. For further information please contact us.
Flying Pictures have worked on 3 of the 5 films nominated for a BAFTA, in the THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the Outstanding British Film of the Year category.
CASINO ROYALE - Michael G Wilson/Barbara Broccoli/Martin Campbell/Neal Purvis/Robert Wade/Paul Haggis
THE QUEEN - Andy Harries/Christine Langan/Tracey Seaward/Stephen Frears/Peter Morgan
UNITED 93 - Tim Bevan/Lloyd Levin/Paul Greengrass.
Having just seen the cast & crew screening of Daniel Craig as James Bond 007 in Casino Royale, Flying Pictures would like to congratulate Eon Productions and all the cast and crew on an excellent film. Our aerial unit shot on location in the Bahamas, the Czech Republic, Lake Como in Italy and here in the UK
Once again our aerial unit has been shooting on location in Morocco. This time on the Mike Nichols film "Charlie Wilson's War" staring Tom Hanks & Julia Roberts. The team were filming near Marrakech and at 9,500 feet up in the Atlas mountains. See the latest pictures from the location in our picture gallery.
Flying Pictures has teamed up with Panavision in the UK to fit the Genesis Hi Definition camera with the superb optics of the Primo 11-1 zoom into the Wescam.
Our Wescam system is still able to provide the VFX depatment the data stream providing realtime camera and lens positional data.