American Cinematographer - August 2018 - 71

Photo courtesy of the AC archives.

"We do a lot of VFX now," says Oh.
This work has actually been getting XM2
involved in productions at the earliest
stages, with services including LIDAR data
capture, which produces 3D representations
of a given target using a pulsed laser to
measure distance, and photogrammetry,
which produces textured models from
which location measurement and volumetric data can be gathered. "You can make
your previs out of it," Oh offers, "and you
can look at it to measure and realize, 'Ah, I
can't back all the trucks up there.' Directors
can see what a location looks like without
ever going there."
XM2 also offers independent twohead operation from a single drone - two
cameras are rigged from one drone, with an
operator assigned for each camera, allowing
for two focal lengths or two separate moves
from a shared vantage when shooting oneoff scenarios such as car stunts. The
company has also flown lights from its
drones, as well as 360-degree cameras -
one above the rotors and one below - for
VR applications.
Following the successful collaboration on Dead Men Tell No Tales, Cameron
brought XM2 out for the HBO series Westworld. "Every camera on [the Westworld]
set shoots film," Oh recounts. "They didn't
want to shoot digital at all. And the challenge with film is there's a weight displacement when the film goes from one spool to
the other, and that plays with the balancing
of the gimbal. We resolved those issues and
did lots of shooting with the Arri 235 with a
200-foot mag on it.
"Paul's my personal mentor," Oh
continues. "He's a visionary. He said, 'You
know, there are going to be bigger cameras

coming soon. You need to fly those
things.'" When Arri Rental soon thereafter
announced its Alexa 65, Oh remembers
Cameron telling him, "'If you can get that
system up in the sky, it'd be cool.' So we
said, 'Let's make that aircraft.'"
The result is the Sierra, which offers a
payload capacity of 65 pounds and a maximum takeoff weight of 150 pounds. The
system can carry the Alexa 65 as well as
"almost any camera and lens package available," says Oh, "including the Arri 435" -
and the camera can be configured either
above or below the rotors.
"Cranes can reach up to 70 feet,
while a helicopter's minimum heights are
limited, particularly in urban environments,"
he continues. "The Sierra fills the gap in
height between cranes and helicopters
without compromising the image. There's
no resolution loss when using this drone."
This is because the same camera and
lens package used by the main unit can fly
on the Sierra. "We can even leave the
viewfinder on there," Oh says. "The whole
camera system can come off the Sierra and
go straight onto a dolly or Technocrane."
This ability to use the same camera and
lenses as the main unit is a significant boon
for the production overall, says Oh, saving
on the equipment that needs to be rented,
prepped and insured, and in turn trimming
all of those costs.
The Sierra was recently put through
its paces, flying a Millennium DXL camera in
an indoor location for a video that was used
to announce Panavision's Primo X series of
lenses (pictured, page 72), which have been
specially designed for use on drones and
gimbals. Launching with two primes -
14mm (T3.1) and 24mm (T1.6) - and a 24-

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