Above the Line: Fred North and the Art of Flying for the Camera.

An exclusive interview with Fred North , with unique insight from aerial cinematographer Dylan Goss

Hey FilmmakersWorld community!

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost eight years since we launched this platform, and it’s even harder to forget that one of the first people who helped elevate it was Fred North. His early rehearsal clips of aerial sequences were among the most engaging and inspiring pieces we ever shared.

So today, it’s a real pleasure to reconnect and go deeper into the world of one of Hollywood’s most legendary helicopter pilots. Fred has collaborated with directors like Sam Hartgrave, Brad Peyton, Mark Molloy, Michael Bay, Tony Scott, Damien Chazelle, Doug Liman, and Peter Berg, as well as top second unit and stunt directors including Simon Crane, Vic Armstrong, and Spiro Razatos.

From Mission: Impossible and Inception to Michael Bay’s Six Underground—and yes, James Bond films, most of the Fast & Furious films, Extraction 2, and we can keep going like this for a while 🙂 Fred’s flying has helped shape some of the most thrilling aerial moments in modern cinema (just mentioning a few).

But Fred doesn’t do it alone. His longtime creative partner, Dylan Goss, is the aerial cinematographer behind many of those unforgettable shots. Their collaboration is a masterclass in precision, trust, and visual storytelling at 10,000 feet. 

Today we’ll also have the opportunity to ask Dylan some questions.

So buckle up, grab some popcorn—or maybe a parachute—because this one might just give you a bit of vertigo. We’ll be embedding a few aerial clips below as well, just in case you’re new around here and want to see what cinematic flight looks like.

Fred, how did your journey into flying for film begin, and was there a specific moment when you realized this wasn’t just about aviation, but about telling stories through the lens of a camera?

I met Larry Blanford, the aerial cameraman who did the first Top Gun movie, and he explained the difference between a normal pilot and a film pilot so, from that moment, I have decided that it was I wanted to be as I have understood it was an expertise and a job….one of the best in the world. 

You make it look easy, but the pressure must be real. How do you prep yourself, mentally and physically, before a big flying day on set?

I sleep 8 hours minimum the night before, I have a light dinner, and I do exercises, then I do breathing techniques, and meditation just before going up.

Your long-time creative partnership with aerial DP Dylan Goss is unique. How did that connection first come about, and how has your collaboration evolved over the years?

He’s like my second wife, the only difference from the first one is that I don’t sleep with him 😂😂. Jokes aside, I love Dylan’s passion for cinema, passion for the job, and passion to do good. 

When you’re in the air with Dylan, how do you sync up so precisely? What’s your process for coordinating complex aerial sequences, particularly those involving action or stunts?

Usually, we see the same thing as fast as the needed shots, so we don’t really talk much in flight. We make a plan before taking off, then we are pretty silent as we focus on the shots.

Visualizza questo post su Instagram

Un post condiviso da Filmmakers World 🎥🎬 (@filmmakersworld)

Alright, time to bring in Dylan for a couple of questions!

Hey Dylan, thanks for joining us—let’s hit you with a couple of questions from the DOP’s seat.

Dylan, you’ve been Fred’s cinematic wingman for years. What’s it like building that kind of trust with a pilot? Which project comes to mind where everything is just locked in creatively?

As you can imagine, there is a ton of trust! From my side, it is literally almost absolute trust being on board that aircraft. However, even as a passenger (crew), I play a role in our safety – sometimes that is simply helping to minimize the number of takes we might do of a shot, lowering that exposure by getting the shot and us not needing “another one”.

Everything we shoot has a level of connection, even just by definition, in how the equipment interacts. But for me, the large stunt sequences when we close down roads and work on set, the “lock” is another level. Fred and I often do not discuss much in those moments and rely on each other to go from step to step as a pair.

Technology in aerial cinematography has come a long way—what tools or innovations have changed the game for you? And how do you stay ahead of the curve while still keeping the “feel” alive in the image?

The last generations of digital cinema cameras are incredibly capable and often without a lot of reconfiguration or limits. In the past, we might have had to land to change filters (which are now internal) or alter the camera setup much. These things are all remote over a network and allow us to make an awful lot out of a flight.

Having said that, in the end, we are always working with an image and how it is evolving via movement (and sometimes lack of the same). To me, what I want to feel is why the image is moving (or stopping, etc) – and beyond simply framing something. This is the language of a movie camera, so connecting to that movement will always bring you more emotion in the final result.

What advice would you give to the new generations approaching a career like yours, and how important is it to build a trusted team in a role like yours?

The team is everything. We can always make the equipment work (I suppose to a limit, but really we can often manage and work with limits here). It’s almost a cliché and a statement you hear in films about having your team and your people. But Fred has taken that to another level, and this is something that I have definitely learned myself, working together. So follow this example, it’s really a foundation that will always be there for you.

Fred, looking back at iconic projects like Inception, Fast & Furious, James Bond films, and many more, were there moments where everything just… clicked—pilot, camera, story, all in one flow?

Yes, absolutely…it is really a natural flow when you understand the storyline, the energy of the film, the needed shots to make the edit, and mostly the director’s vision.

Drones have become more common in recent years, yet you’re still called in for the biggest productions. What is it about piloted aerial shots that drones can’t replicate?

You cannot compare the 2 from far. The overlap between the 2 plate form is maybe 10%, but that is it. They are great to use for what they have been designed for, but they cannot replace a human-flown 1000 horsepower machine 🙂 They are significantly different, therefore different shots.

Drones lack spatial orientation, a lack of depth of field, a lack of battery range, a lack of being able to carry heavy zooms, a lack of human beings flying the aircraft, and the camera makes it extremely difficult to create art shots ..

Aerial cinematography is supposed to tell a story, create an emotion without the audience to tell what we used to do that …often drone shots are too rock n roll, too much movements like FPV drones where the camera has no stabilization…

Most of the time on a movie set, the drone is flying higher than us in the helicopter…because we are connected with the machine and the camera we feel the scene, we feel the world where we fly so we do react as a craft outside of the box when the drone needs to have a plan as short range…

I believe we need both …we are not the same filming platform.

After all these years and so many legendary titles under your belt, what still gets you fired up? What’s something you haven’t shot yet that you dream of capturing from the air?

I am passionate about my job as a film pilot, and I love the flying challenges.

Let’s rewind to Six Underground. Shooting in places like Florence or Rome must have been both thrilling and logistically complex. How did you and your team navigate those tight, historic locations, especially from the air?

It was sensational!! Truly an amazing experience. It was complex in terms of authorization as it took 3 months to get it, but what a unique experience flying above Florence and Rome at an extreme low level!

Looking at your career, which project stands out as the most challenging in terms of prep, logistics, and coordination, especially when it came to aerial sequences?

It is hard as all of the stunt flying we do is complex to organize, but I will say the films like Fast & Furious in Rome and Torino, Extraction 2 in the Czech Republic and Austria were so complicated in terms of permission as the nature of our flying was so out of the box …

The biggest challenge as far as a pilot was Beverly Hills cop 4 downtown Los Angeles helicopter sequence by far, and Extraction 2 Landing on a moving train.

How can you explain to a civil aviation inspector that he needs to give you a permit to land a flying helicopter on a moving train 😂😂.

Thank you, Fred, and thank you, Dylan. Flying for the camera is one of the few jobs on a set where the margin for error is measured in seconds.

More on Fred North and Dylan Goss on Instagram.

If you want to stay in the air a little longer, read our conversation with director Eric Magnan on air-to-air filming, from the TBM camera plane and its Shotover mount to flying eleven aircraft in formation with forty minutes of playtime.