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29 March 2024

Light, Action, Drones: Film industry keen to use drones

Published
By VM Sathish

Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles that remote controlled by radio waves. They are notorious for precision shootings and bombing in low intensity wars, but they can be customized for use in commercial uses including the aerial shooting of commercial movies and films.

A number of film shooting companies in the region have shown interest in obtaining the customized version of drones with more accuracy, so that they can use these roaming robots to shoot challenging scenes in outdoor shooting locations, especially the risky and expensive scenes currently shot from helicopters, planes or from high rise buildings. Drones have been approved for use in shooting Hollywood movies.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7, Sameer Lakhani, Managing Director, Global Capital Partners (GCP), a UAE based company that has invested in Novatech USA for developing commercial applications for the deadly war toy, said, a number of film makers, property developers, real estate companies, film makers and logistic firms have shown interest in obtaining the expensive toy, which if used wisely, can not only deliver courier packages, shoot video and pictures from above and can land any pre assigned locations with a four centimeter accuracy –it means the unmanned aerial vehicle can land within four centimeters of the assigned location.

He said last month, the Federal Aviation Administration of the USA has permitted six film making companies to use camera equipped drones to be used at certain television and movie shooting sites. The Motion Picture Association of the USA was putting pressure to allow commercial use of drones in film shootings and the new FAA decision has opened a number of new commercial avenues for using drones –in agriculture, online trading, news media, logistics, education and healthcare. The six American film companies can now use drone equipped cameras to shoot in outdoor shooting locations, closed for public. The drones cannot fly above 400 feet and night shooting is prohibited, according to media reports.

Leading Entertainment companies like Sony Pictures Entertainment and Paramount Pictures have been reportedly using drones in overseas shoots for movies like Transformers: Age of Extinction and Skyfall. By using drones these companies can save a lot of money spent on risky helicopter shoots, said Sameer. Regulation of the airspace and object avoidance are two major challenges facing the commercial use of drones. Days are not far to order a drone delivery of a pizza from the neighborhood restaurant. it can also be used to deliver medicines, food and humanitarian aid during natural calamities.

At the  ‘Smart drones for Smart Cities’ held on October 14, 2014 in Dubai, commercial visitors have shown interest in using the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology or drones for a thnumber of uses in the real estate and construction sector, home automation and entertainment, especially in film shootings. GCP has partnered with drone expert and security entrepreneur, Samy Kamkar to form Novatech USA (a GCP group company) to customize drones for use in agriculture, logistics, real estate and other areas. Claiming that Dubai is all poised to enter an elite club of Smart Cities worldwide and the use of drones is going to make Dubai more smart.

The use of autonomous drones in the logistics industry is already a trend and major multinational companies like DHL are working on their projects to deliver 2 kg courier packets using drones. The German company is expected to use drones to deliver supplies to an island of Juist –for the first time in Europe. “The drones that we have customized can carry a higher payload of 8 kgs packets that can be delivered more accurately,” he said. Various Government Departments in the UAE are planning to use drones for document delivery.

A four centimeter accuracy means that the drone will land within four centimeters plus or minus of the pre assigned area. The drone can be controlled from a lap top and special App,” he said adding that the current accuracy rate for drones is six to eight yards, which is quite risky for using them in precision assignments.  “In case of a video shooting or aerial shooting 4 cm accuracy rate is quite important. Many film shootings currently done using the help of helicopters and planes can be avoided with the use of remote controlled drones. These drones can carry video cameras up to eight kilograms and facilitate film shootings. A number of film companies have shown interest in our drones, which cost about Dh 110,000 ($30,000 per drone). The online book selling Amazon.com has been considering a drone delivery service, according to reports.

 Kamkar is a 28-year old technology expert who spearheads drone technology presented a live demonstration of the 4 cm accurate drone that he claims to have developed followed by an interactive workshop at the Waldorf Astoria, Palm Jumeirah, and Dubai in which science and technology enthusiasts from all across the MENA attended. In addition to private company representatives, l government representatives too have participated in the technology event.   Kamkar, an early technology promoter, has lectured at international venues, including institutes like the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism.

“An accurate drone can be used to facilitate land demarcation work in many areas in Dubai. It can be used to avoid the human error that caused an investor to build a villa in a wrong plot of land. The Land Department can effectively use drones for land and plot demarcation,” said Lakhani, who is an investor in the property market and real estate sector of UAE.

At just 17,  Kamkar founded Fonality, a unified communications company, raising $24 million for it. He has collaborated with The Wall Street Journal for the discovery of phone tracking and opened the discussion on better protection for data privacy. Since 2010, he has delivered talks in over a dozen countries about mobile security and cryptanalysis. The daily non- military usage of drones is still a developing subject for common consumer intelligence, in most parts of the world. Kamkar's interactive sessions and live demos enabled further understanding into this intelligent security and automation. "Think bad. Do good," is the timely catchword used about the potential use of drones in commercial side. Drones are the creation of war industry and a debate is going on whether to subsidize the war machinery by encouraging commercial use of drones, normally used to bomb and for surveillance and espionage.

Among the topics discussed in the conference were drones, security and the latest interactive technology related to home automation; specific drone applications in agriculture, construction, policing, mining, energy, solar, mapping, logistics and delivery. Novatech's is ready with some solutions to existing limitations of drones including extended flight time, autonomous flight, long-range communication, modular sensor system and encryption; live outdoors drone demonstrations; Thalmic Myo Armband with Live Demo; Mobile Security and Mobile Payments (iPhone 6, Google Wallet, RFID, HID) and also Smarthome and Smart devices. “The precision of the RFID technology having an accuracy of 4cm opens up a plethora of applications in the booming real estate sector in the UAE and the Middle East; in particular it allows for seamless and man less demarcation of land plot parcels with pin point accuracy; furthermore it aids in the area calculation of the regulator for end units for the purposes of title deeds.

These and many more applications open up dimensions for ease of accessibility of information as Dubai transforms itself to being the pioneer and leader in ‘Smart Cities’. Drones are here to reshape the smart cities of the future and Dubai is determined to stay ahead of the automation game. Commerce, health and education are just a few of the critical fields that will positively impacted with the understanding and correct employment of drone technology.  However, critics have raised question marks about the dangers of using unmanned aerial vehicles in crowded cities like \Dubai, and eyebrows are raised as to whether these flying objects will not interfere with the civilian flights.