Film AFF Students
 

Filming AFF students is very similar to filming a formation skydive. Instead of a 4-way, you are filming a “3-way”.

The instructor and student are going to use the video footage you took to debrief the jump. They are going to want to see exit presentation, body posture, reactions to hand signals, practice touches, altitude checks and deployment.

I find that if I fly slightly above the main-side-instructor, all the requirements listed above will be in frame. There is an added benefit to flying in this spot. Some students get so fixated on the camera flyer that they forget the dive and are unresponsive to the instructor’s commands. By being just a little bit high, the student will not be able to see the camera flyer and thus not be distracted.

Make sure, however, that you are not directly above the student at any time. This goes especially for higher AFF levels, where the student gets released. Movements are unpredictable, and an instructor may decide to pull for a student at anytime (yes, even at 11.500 ft).

Once the student has completed their required practice-touches and altitude-checks, it is ok for the camera flyer to come on level and take a few pictures.

If the student were to get distracted at this point in the skydive, flying back up to the previous position (slightly above the main-side-instructor) is advisable. It forces the student to arch due to the raised head and chest, which makes for a much more stable position at pull-time. With the camera now being close to the main-side-instructor again, the student will be looking in the direction of the instructor.

Make sure that once the student is deployed that you give enough separation between yourself and the other AFF instructors.

Don’t give hand signals to an AFF student if you are flying camera. It is not your job to coach the student.

Filming Tandems
 

Filming Tandems can be a very creative process. You are not just capturing video anymore, but interacting with the tandem passenger and tandem master. Some camera flyers and tandem masters have routines that they act out together for a more energetic video (for example: telling jokes, and choreographed skydives).

When it comes to the jump, you can either film the exit from the camera step and film it like a FS jump, or you can front float the exit.

I prefer to front float tandem exits because it gives you a much closer shot of the student and their reaction to leaving the plane. You also get the added bonus of having the airplane in the background getting smaller and smaller.

This exit requires a little bit of back fly knowledge, as you leave the plane with your back presented to the relative wind. For this exit you want to set yourself up in the part of the door that is closest to the nose of the plane (looking towards the tale). Hold on to the door jam with both hands and get your entire body as low as you can. Then it is just a matter of waiting for the exit count and presenting your back to the wind.

As the relative wind goes through it’s transition (the hill), you can transition as well (belly, back, or sit). This is as fancy as I get. Tandem passengers only care about one thing: Their Face. If you get too crazy with barrel rolls and flying on your head, they are not going to like it. Students have no idea how difficult some of these maneuvers are and have no appreciation for them. Keep it simple. What might look good to a skydiver may not look good to a newbie to the sport.

There are a couple of things to look out for that are unique to tandems:

• The drogue
• The "trap door"

The drogue is quite simple. It looks like an over sized pilot chute that stabilizes and slows the tandem down to a reasonable speed during freefall. Most tandem masters will throw the drogue out on the hill. Every instructors timing is different. Just make sure as the videographer that you don’t find yourself directly behind the tandem while the drogue is being released.

The trap door effect occurs on deployment. As the tandem master deploys the main parachute, the drogue collapses. This causes the tandem to suddenly surge down and forward. I recommend staying at the tandems side as it gets closer to pull time. As you see the main chute being deployed, backslide away from the tandem and watch the deployment.

[Sample video AFF Tandem]