Waterproof FPV Shot – Behind The Scenes

Here we go with the director Ilanna Barkusky who had the opportunity to use the FPV to film the dive of an Olympic swimmer, Katrina Young, and team up with Team USA on two different projects.

HOW DID THE CREATIVE IDEA OF USING A FPV DRONE TO FILM AN OLYMPIC SWIMMER’S DIVE COME ABOUT?

This year, I had the opportunity to team up with Team USA diver Katrina Young on two different projects.
When it came time to think about how we were going to capture her dives off the 10m platform, I immediately thought of using FPV.

As she is flipping and descending into the water so quickly, we needed a way to keep up with her if we wanted to showcase her ability in the best way possible.

The creative concept for a video we were working on was about putting the viewer into Katrina’s position and mindset to understand what goes through her head during big competitions such as the Olympics.

As FPV literally puts you in a first-person point of view, it was a no-brainer to be able to lend that perspective of what it feels like to dive off the 10m platform with her.

HOW DID YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHTS PROFESSIONALS FOR THIS SPECIFIC JOB?

I quickly went to Drone Dudes with the idea. I have been working with them for the last two years, and they really know how to innovate and bring any crazy idea to life.

Jake and Ryan suggested we use a waterproof drone. So we would be able to follow her into the water and capture the entire thing, from platform to pool. 

HOW DID THE DRONE DUDES PREPARE FOR THIS SHOOT?

Jake Howard, the FPV pilot, on executing the shot said:

It involved building a custom housing inside to protect the electronics and a lot of conformal coating.

It is a modified shendrones hydrophobe – modified in-house by the Drone Dudes team to be totally waterproof, as opposed to just water resistant.

We built and tested it in about 2 weeks. There were a couple of rebuilds along the way while we were getting the waterproofing down correctly.

We let it dry out afterward, sometimes some of the electronic parts need to be quickly replaced but other than that we just give it some time between uses.

Below is the link to the post, and the shot is perfectly executed!
Shot on the all-new GoPro Hero 11 Black – 4K 120 FPS!

Great job to you all guys and thanks for sharing with the community!

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