Watch: Chased by a drone at 70 km/h
The making of SAFA Brian's Descent Disciples series
By now most cyclists have seen SAFA Brian’s Descent Disciples series. If you haven’t, check out his YouTube channel but be prepared to cover your eyes in fear a few times as he bombs down descents at terrifying speeds.
One thing that makes SAFA’s videos unique is the quality. The camera winds and turns with the bike in a steady and smooth fashion. Getting deep into the tech talk, the crew behind the Descent Disciples series goes into the details of how they shoot this video with a drone and the strategies they use.
They discuss how the G force in the car can be different from what the drone operator is seeing, which can be extremely disorienting.
At around 2:00, they show video taken from the drone overlayed on footage taken in the car, and its pretty hard to watch. It’s difficult to imagine how they manage with the force of the car turning so much. To avoid feeling motion sickness, the pilot aimed to move as little as possible, pulling his seat fully forward with the seat belt locked and pulled as tight as it would go.
The drone flies surprisingly close to the rider, and the car drives very close to the drone. The whole operation looks complicated but the final product is definitely worth the effort.
