Filming: Killer Landslides

This summer I had the pleasure to accompany  a film crew with my TBS discovery Pro to record aerial shots for the PBS science show NOVA. We were filming at the rupture zone of a landslide site near Preonzo in the south of Switzerland. The terrain is quite spectacular with all the cliffs and cracks as only about half of the unstable ground came down during the last incident in 2012. The ground we were walking and flying over is in fact the dirt and debris of a future landslide. Scary!

My Discovery case next to the cracks at the rupture zone of the landslide. The metal wires are crack meters.
My Discovery case next to the cracks at the rupture zone of the landslide. The metal wires are crack meters.

Luckily we didn’t have to carry everything up the mountain as we had a helicopter flying our material and the whole crew directly to the location. In addition to the film crew, we were accompanied by a local geologist and an expert from Geopravent, who knew the area and could tell us where the ground was safe to walk. In the past they installed the life saving equipment to detect the 2012 landslide.

NOVA film crew interviewing the experts from Geopravent.
NOVA film crew interviewing the experts from Geopravent.

It was a very interesting day where I learned a lot about landslides. Everything was safe and we could get some beautiful shots from these potentially harmful piles of rock. I am looking forward to watching the NOVA episode about Killer Landslides. Maybe you can spot some Discovery Pro footage!

Cracks were all over the film location in Preonzo, Switzerland. This made walking and flying more challenging than usual.
Cracks were all over the film location in Preonzo, Switzerland. This made walking and flying more challenging than usual.

 

Picture taken from the helicopter taking the whole film crew to the top of the landslide.
Picture taken from the helicopter taking the whole film crew to the top of the landslide.

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