Land, Air, And Sea: Wedding Films Without Limits

Modern wedding films aren't tripods in the back of a room, they are works of art. Or at least they can be. Soaring aerial cinematography for weddings is the latest announcement from Higher Definition Media. Brides love it, a recent bride said, “We were privileged enough to be one of the first couples to experience the aerial cinematography and were absolutely amazed at the shots they captured!”

HDM has been looking for something to raise the bar on their projects, and after much research they decided that aerial cinematography was the next step. To that end, they found a world class RC helicopter pilot. Kyle Dahl joined the HDM team in October 2010. Dahl is the number one pilot for Mikado helicopter among other sponsors. In 2009-2010, Dahl became one of the top three R/C helicopter pilots worldwide, by finishing in one of the the top three positions at all major international R/C helicopter competitions, including 1st place at the Extreme Flight Championships.

HDM is heavily invested in a UAV drone designed specifically for aerial cinematography. Scylla, as it's been named, is currently the only UAV of it's class in commercial use in the U.S. It features advanced stabilization, GPS, telemetry technology, independent camera control, and a downlink that displays the video feed along with all the flight data such as altitude, GPS position, speed, battery levels, etc. Andrew Waite, owner of HDM says, “Finding a top notch pilot was critical. The last thing we want is to see our investment crash and burn. Kyle gives us that confidence not only for the equipment investment, but because he can get the shots that most pilots can't.”

“Getting to integrate aerial shots and underwater footage into our wedding films makes the editing process a lot more exciting,” Says Kim Freels, lead editor at HDM. “Creating an original feel for each couple is much easier with the tools at our disposal.” HDM is quickly gaining attention from their match-moved 3D titles for their wedding films. Joshua Moore, the VFX lead says, “I'm excited about the visual effects we've started doing in our wedding films. Integrating 3D work into our moving shots is a challenge, but it's fun, and I'm sure this is only the beginning”.

The HDM team members are filmmakers at heart. They just finished shooting their third feature film, which premiers on January 21st, 2011. “By shooting the film on DSLRs and the RED One we were able to keep much of the production in-house, including the aerial shots,” says Amber Waite, production manager.

Land, air, and sea, we do it all - anywhere in the world. HDM is a full service video and film production company based in Bakersfield, California. 
Visit their website www.hdmweb.com