There are more drones and UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) than ever before in our skies. Which is why finding the right team to capture your ideas is so important. At aireel, we pride ourself of delivering the best footage from angles you didn’t think were possible.
With an extensive background in film & TV, we truly understand this industry and the highly demanding nature of being on set. We operate safely and legally while ensuring that we capture incredible footage.
We’re based in Brighton, Sussex, but can travel all around the UK, and internationally to help capture your aerial footage.
We are licenced to fly and film commercially by the CAA and ready to work with you to take your production to the next level.
We understand the importance of keeping a high level of consistency across your shoot. Our professional team have a background in film and TV and know exactly how to get the most out of the equipment that we use to ensure the footage you receive is everything you wanted and more.
So often, drone footage is seen as being “functional” rather than creative, with a limited number of potential shots which can be achieved – you know the ones I’m referring to! There are many occasions when these big wides are useful, but drones can do so much more, and we can provide you with those shots.
We always fly with a drone operator and a separate camera operator. Flying in a two-person setup immediately allows for more creativity as it gives the drone and camera separate, fluid control. This, combined with a forward-thinking approach to using drones, means that we’re not limited to those common drone shots.
Lucas Tucknott is an award-winning Director of Photography, a Camera Operator and a Steadicam Operator. He has been involved in the creative industry since 2005 filming live music in Brighton. From there, he started his first video production company and soon he moved onto working on film and commercials.
He has been privileged to work on hundreds of productions, ranging from filming a Chinook helicopter landing on the back of a carrier for the Royal Navy, to hiking for hours to an ice waterfall in -20 degrees just to ensure that he gets the perfect shots for a feature. His experience has seen him working on live broadcast productions to feature-length films, shooting around the world on RED and ARRI cameras.
He has a remarkable ability to capture stunning footage and his talent for aerial cinematography is no less impressive.
Nik Carter started out as a production assistant on short films and music videos. Over the years, he worked his way up to become a Producer of feature films. Nik’s strategic and practical thinking keeps him one step ahead of the game. His unflappable manner is always a calming influence on set; things can change in a moment’s notice, but Nik’s ability to stay calm and keep the team in focus never wavers.
From the moment Nik first picked up a drone, he know he had found another passion. The creative demands together with the constant need for safety and preparation combine to provide Nik with the challenges he craves.
Nik ensures that Aireel is always up-to-date with the latest safety requirements in an ever-changing world.
We’re dedicated to bringing you cinema-quality video. Flying on the latest DJI Inspire 2, we use a Zenmuse X5S to capture up to 5.2K footage.
We’re capable of capturing 5.2K 30fps CinemaDNG video and Apple ProRes video, as well as 4K 60fps using H.264 and 4K 30fps using H.265 (both at 100Mbps). The Zenmuse X5S was designed to keep pace with the rigours of high-end professional aerial imaging.
The DJI Inspire 2 perfectly combines size and performance — it is small enough to be nimble and fast in the air, but large enough to be able to carry a high-quality camera with an incredible stabilizing gimble and be able to withstand windier days.
Everything we have for our Inspire 2 packs into one convenient case (although we also have a separate case for our safety equipment). Having everything together allows us to travel around sets quickly and easily.
Safety is paramount when it comes to flying. The air space in the UK is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and dangerous flying cannot only be reckless, but illegal. In order to be able to fly commercially, we’re licenced by the CAA. Our team is fully trained to ensure that they capture the incredible footage that they do, legally and safely.
Before every flight, we carry out site surveys, risk assessments, and where required, will also inform the local Air Traffic Authority to ensure that everything goes smoothly.
Of course! It’s illegal to operate a drone commercially in the UK without correct licencing from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The CAA’s website has lots of information about this, including a page where you can check our license. However, if you have any specific questions about this, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
We are legally able to fly in most places in the UK. There are some obvious exceptions to the rule (near airports), and some less obvious exceptions (restricted flight zones). One of the first things we’ll ask you when you make an enquiry is the exact location you’d like us to fly so we can start the planning process. And even if your location is in a flight restricted area, we’ll do our best to get permission to fly there!
There are other laws that we need to keep in mind too, such as how close we can be to buildings and people who aren’t involved in the work we’re doing, and how high and far we can flight. There’s a really good breakdown of all this information on the Drone Safe website. As we’re licensed by the CAA, we’re able to fly within a 50m bubble in most areas.
As always, if you’ve got a specific question, let us know, and we’ll help you out!
The weather is hugely important for drone flight. We can fly in most circumstances, however, rain and wind really aren’t our friends here. We use multiple sources of data to keep an eye on the weather leading up to a flight.
If we don’t think the weather will be on our side, and that flying the drone will be unsafe, then we’ll work with you to reschedule the flight. We might be able to reschedule for that day, but if we can’t we’ll work with you to find a new time.
The quick answer is yes!
The more detailed answer is that to do so, we’d need to see where we’re flying in daylight to be able to ensure flying at night will be safe.
If night time shooting is going to take your project to the next level, get in touch and we can run you through the details!
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