360° EAGLE CAMERA
PROJECT DETAILS
Client — Red Bull
Agency — Peter Clausen Film & TV
Category — 360° VR Production
Online — About
Date — 08 June 2017
The 360° Eagle Camera – developed by Peter Clausen Film & TV in collaboration with Red Bull Media House and falconer Paul Klima – makes us forget that humans are not born to fly.
Placed on the back of a specially trained eagle the 360° eagle camera delivers a panoramic view from the »king of the sky’s« perspective. We coast over rough mountainsides. Dive playfully through narrow gorges. Reach the most secluded places seemingly without any effort.
Next to the fascinating view, the eagle’s elegant and effective flight aesthetic amazes. We glide effortless over pastures and forests until a new destination catches our attention. Two powerful wing beats and a smooth change of direction get us to catch the next updraught, dangerously close to a steep slope, up into stunning heights.
The Camera
In months of work we developed and »tailored« a 4K camera and rigging system for the eagles Bruno and Fritzi. We considered the eagles’ anatomy, head position and radius of wing movements to find the ideal position for the camera. The small »backpack rigs« can also be adjusted individual to every eagle so the bird is not disturbed in its movement.
The cameras were adjusted accordingly and underwent a radical diet. The weight should be as low as possible, that’s why we removed everything unnecessary. After several tests with the professionally trained Bruno and Fritzi, we have now built an Eagle Cam system in two versions, 16:9 and 360°.
Our first production included documenting some gorgeous mountain formations in the Dolomites. Our three-person crew and the two eagles gets dropped off via helicopter at several mountain summits from where the eagles start their flight. We track the eagles’ flight movements so we can always see where the eagles are heading.
After flying and landing successfully, depending on the outcome of the camera material the eagles get rewarded, prepared for another flight or they can relax.
Flying over the impressive Dolomites on the back of an eagle is a truly elevating feeling and particularly in 360° mode simply fascinating – for a short while you have a real feeling of being weightless.