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Parliament House drones on -

Via the other Aunty... :

Backstory: What happened when the ABC asked to fly a drone inside Parliament House?
By camera operator Greg Nelson
Posted about 8 hours ago
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A drone films Annabel Crabb walking through Parliament House during the making of The House.

Getting permission to film inside Parliament House is notoriously difficult.

Ask anyone in the Press Gallery about filming or taking pictures anywhere but the most public areas and they'll be able to offer up a tale about the time they ran foul of the Serjeant-at-Arms or the Usher of the Black Rod.



Drone operator Alastair Smith discusses the flight plan with The House production team and Parliament House staff.

It's a testament to the negotiating skills of the team behind the new Annabel Crabb series, The House, that they not only gained access to a majority of the building with documentary film cameras but also a drone.

Take a bow, director Stamatia Maroupas and series producer Madeleine Hawcroft.
Years of planning, constant meetings, approval processes and paperwork eventually led to Australia's Parliament House being opened up like never before.



Flight crew flying a drone inside the Senate chamber.

The result is a six-part series that explores the building, its influence on the political process and the people who work behind the scenes to keep the 'city on the hill' running smoothly.

The building itself is an architectural wonder but it's grandeur is only glimpsed by the public.

So, what better way to gain an appreciation for its scale and design than soaring overhead with a remotely piloted aircraft, or drone.



It took years of planning, meetings and paperwork to get permission to fly a drone and film inside Parliament House.

The series begins with a pre-dawn ritual — the changing of the giant flag atop the House.
It's a strictly controlled process for safety reasons and that meant sending camera operators up the flagpole was simply not viable.

The ARRI cameras and support rigs we used on this shoot weigh between 20 and 25 kilograms. They're big and bulky and almost impossible to safely fit into the small trolley elevator that trundles up one of the flag pole legs.

There's next to no room on the tiny platform where the flag change takes place for filming either so this is where the drone really came into its own.



The view from the drone flying over Parliament House for the first time during filming of The House.

Having an aerial camera system allowed us in one take to go from an intimate close up of the workers riding up in the trolley to a grand vista showing the flag and Parliament House looking resplendent in the sunrise.

It's a breathtaking image that can't be achieved as easily, if indeed at all, by conventional means. Fortunately, Canberra's autumn weather played along too and Capital Hill has rarely looked as spectacular on film.

Whether sweeping overhead, offering a never before seen bird's eye view of the courtyards or treetop-level vistas of the Parliament, the Inspire 1 drone opened up a world of filming possibilities for the series.



The drone in flight inside the House of Representatives. - Drone operator command input to drone - "Go to guns" -

Not least of these was the ability to fly and film inside the building.

Long before the aircraft even arrived in Canberra, there was a flurry of meetings and approvals being sent back and forward between the production team, Parliamentary Services, the Heliguy flight crew, AFP (Australian Federal Police), CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) and countless other acronym departments.

Permissions were a long time coming and with the film schedule tightening and the pre-determined flying days locked in, the process was finally completed on the morning of the first flight.



The drone operator took great care to keep a safe distance from the artwork inside Parliament House.

Even with the necessary approvals, strict controls for flying the aircraft inside were still needed. Minimum safety distances had to be maintained, risks to heritage items avoided and areas closed off to staff.

This proved to be quite a challenge with a great number of interested onlookers keen to see what all the excitement was about. The numbers swelled even more when word spread that a drone was actually flying inside the House.



Maintaining a safe distance from people while filming inside Parliament House required some skilful flying, but there was plenty of open space in the Members Hall.

Now, with all this excitement, it's tempting to lay claim to being the first to fly a drone inside Parliament House.

Unfortunately as we discovered, that honour belongs, somewhat ignominiously, to some camera operators from Channel Seven.

One very quiet day, about 10 years ago, they purchased a remote-controlled helicopter, emblazoned it with Channel Seven stickers and flew from the Press Gallery down to the Members Hall.

The whole incident was captured on film and set vaingloriously to Ride of the Valkyries. It was a very different time in the House back then but the video still didn't last long on YouTube.


[url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/about/backstory/television/2017-08-08/flying-a-drone-through-parliament-house/8780500#lightbox-content-lightbox-40]
Giving a new meaning to the term 'crossing the floor' - the view from the drone flying from one side of the Senate chamber to the other.

It's truly a rare privilege that we have been granted on this series.
Access to the staid halls, the grand chambers and the hard-working staff of this building did not come easily.

Capturing it from every angle was essential and flying the drone inside and around Parliament was important to help achieve this.

It's a unique view we may never see on film again.

The House with Annabel Crabb begins at 8:00 pm on ABC and iview.

MTF...P2