Exclusive: How Dubai pilots helped keep the Star Wars saga flying high

Andrew Masterson, one of two Helidubai helicopter pilots who worked on Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Abu Dhabi last year, explains the technical aspects of his part of the filmmaking process.

The Millennium Falcon under attack in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. LucasFilm, Disney / AP Photo

Helidubai helicopter pilots Andrew Masterson and Andy Nettleton worked with Hollywood director J J Abrams and the crew of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens when they were filming in Abu Dhabi last year.

In this exclusive interview, Masterson reveals the meticulous planning, technical challenges and the skilful flying that went into making sure that the filmmakers got the aerial shots they needed.

“Directors will generally listen to our advice but sometimes we have to take them flying to show the restrictions or why our suggested angles and shots will work better.

Because we work very closely with the aerial DOP [director of photography] and cameramen, Andy [Nettleton, his fellow pilot] and I have a very good working relationship with most of them personally. This means that when we go for a briefing we are already in a well-established relationship with most of the aerial team, we know each other’s limits, and can discuss the pros and cons of the shots without it being personal.

In essence the helicopter is the camera mount and the pilot is the “grip” who puts the mount in the right place for the cameraman to get the shot.

Not every helicopter pilot can be or wants to be a grip as it is essential that the pilot has the ability to instinctively fly the helicopter while seeing the required shot in his minds eye.

This means the aerial-filming pilot needs to be able to low-fly, fly in formation with other aircraft, at night, in built-up areas or over sea/sand/ice, et cetera, instinctively, while considering the shots and also constantly running the risk assessment process and updating it on the go, according to the conditions of the flight.

It’s not always harmonious, and we can have a heated debate occasionally, but we all take each other’s advice and then work to get the best and safest shots.

For all shoots we carry security on board who can veto a shot when airborne but this is rare as it’s all been pre-planned.

We will generally do an aerial reconnaissance before the actual shoot with the directors, as this gives them the opportunity to see for themselves the actual shots being done so they can change or look for alternatives.

The aircraft of choice for these shoots is the Airbus AS350B3 helicopter, which can carry pretty much any kind of camera system, and its big brother the AS355NP, which is the twin engine version.”