AERIAL AMERICA
by David Royle
When audiences viewed the landmark series, Planet Earth, they were wowed by the richness of the visual experience and especially by the astonishing aerial sequences. It was a series that really delivered on the promise of HD.
Now an ambitious new project is underway to film America on a scale and from a perspective that has never been achieved before. Using the same camera rigging as Planet Earth, an elite camera and helicopter team will criss-cross America over the next nine months, filming every state from the air. Their goal: to capture the wonders of the continent – both natural and man-made – in extraordinary detail and to tell the story of America from a bird’s eye view.
The Smithsonian Network’s 50 part series, entitled Aerial America is already underway, and the results from shooting California and Hawaii are stunning. Director Eric Cochran is an L.A. cameraman who has directed and shot everything from life on board an aircraft carrier for Smithsonian to Extreme Makeover Home Edition for ABC to crocodiles in Costa Rica for National Geographic. “For this show we used the Cineflex to get the rock solid focal lengths in order to get sequences, close ups, mediums etc.”
Sudden changes in weather always make aerial cinematography tricky. Yet Eric says that wasn’t the most difficult hurdle: “The biggest challenge with aerials and HD is simply keeping the lens clean from bugs and ocean spray!”
Like all good directors, Eric knows that planning and preparation is key to success. But then you need a little luck as well…such as a volcano erupting. “The live volcano shots on the big island are extraordinary. And we were right on top of it and nearly in it.”
In just five days, Eric and his team flew over five of the Hawaiian islands, filming everything from big wave surfers to pineapple pickers, from cascading waterfalls to the solemnity of Pearl Harbor. “Shooting in HD,” says Smithsonian field producer Greta Pittard, “allowed us to fly longer distances and shoot longer sequences without constantly having to reload the mags, which would have been nigh impossible, given the few flat surfaces and the remoteness of the islands of Hawaii.”
The next stage of this epic journey will start in Arkansas and move northeast in time to capture the fall foliage in New England. British aerial director and cinematographer Richard Mervyn will be leading this part of the expedition. He is one of the most experienced aerial filmmakers in the world. “My first flight was with Marc Wooff, an American pilot who had flown in Vietnam. As soon as I went into the air, I knew that was what I wanted to do.”
Mervyn says that he disagrees with people who say it’s harder to work with HD. Although he says that HD allows no tolerance for soft focus, he likes the latitude it allows for exposure. “I had a shot of a sunset on Vesuvius. All Vesuvius was black. I said to the editor ‘it’s kind of black but the sky looks great.’ He just raised the chroma and there it was. In SD, you’d have so much gain in it.”
Mervyn’s company, Skyworks, has shot HD aerials all over the world. But he says the opportunity to shoot the Smithsonian Networks’ series across America is a dream he’s had for thirty years. “Flying is much easier in this country. It’s just wonderful. It’s a society that welcomes helicopters. People wave at you here, whereas they make rude remarks elsewhere. The challenge is the enormity, to really find what makes each state tick. We’re going to offer people views they’ve never seen before.” 
