Meet the Million Dollar Crew: Martin Trotz
02/02/2021
Feb 2, 2021
More than 29,00 people from 125 countries submitted their favorite HERO9 Black clips for the chance to be featured in the third annual Million Dollar Challenge highlight reel. Only 56 creators made the cut, earning almost $18,000 a piece.
This series celebrates these creators and their creative processes. We hope these behind-the-scenes looks inspire you as much as they did us.
Million Dollar Challenge recipient Martin Trotz was flying high long before he learned of his inclusion in the HERO9 Black Million Dollar Challenge. And we mean that literally, Martin is a well-versed aerobatic pilot. Now, he's flying a little bit higher knowing that his clip made it into the final highlight reel.
We caught up with Martin to find out what went into landing the perfect shot.
GoPro: Tell us more about your Million Dollar shot-the lighting and the coordination must have taken a lot of preparation and work! We'd love to learn how it all came together.
Martin: The idea for these videos came up quite a while ago while I was watching aerobatic videos with some other pilots at the airfield one evening. Over time, a few maneuvers and camera perspectives developed.
In order to get the right shots from the desired perspective, we determined that we would need at least two nice looking aerobatic planes and a third plane to house the camera, which would fly fast enough to keep up with the others. We then looked for the perfect camera mounts and angles to show the planes directly from the front.
Once everything was organized, we started observing the weather forecast, because even though the flight scenes alone would be spectacular for sure, they can become perfect with the right light and cloud setup. When the forecast finally looked really promising, we met at the airfield for a final brief and to practice all the maneuvers together on the ground. Since formation-flying at speeds of up to 160 knots, and at distances of sometimes less than 15 feet, requires a lot of precision, it is very important that you know your exact position at all times and that you can rely on your wingman to do the same. All tasks were clearly distributed.
We, as the formation leader, carried the camera and were responsible for watching out for other air traffic, choosing the flight path, and ensuring we did not fly into any restricted airspace. We tried our best to perform all the maneuvers at the right angle to the sun to get the most out of every single take. The two other pilots were responsible for announcing the respective maneuvers, focusing on precise movements, and staying in close formation.
When we were finally in the air, we quickly realized that we could hardly have chosen a better day. The light and clouds were exactly as we had imagined. When all the scenes were filmed, we landed back at our home airfield shortly after sunset and couldnt wait to see all the footage for the first time.
What are your go-to settings for capturing GoPro content mid-flight?
Since this video was actually our first air-to-air filming with the new GoPro, I used the first minutes in flight to try out various settings. I shot most of the recordings in 2.7K at 120fps to be able to crop some parts in editing and to slow down certain scenes.
We heard your day job is working as an air traffic controller. Does that mean that aerobatic flying is a hobby? And when did you first get into flying?
I developed a connection with aviation early on in my childhood since I grew up right next to an airfield. I'd spend my time photographing and filming all the planes. Early on, I knew that one day I would like to be steering those planes myself. Finally, when I was 16, I started to train for my pilots license for single-engine piston aircraft. I used my very first flights to find out how and where I could mount my digital camera on the outside of the aircraft in order to share all these beautiful in-flight moments. Since the first GoPro was on the market, I have hardly spent a flight without a camera on the wing and have probably tried every possible position and angle.
In order to ease the financial burden of my flying hobby, I used to work in the little tower of our aerodrome on the weekend and developed my passion for the profession of air traffic controller. After graduating from school, the job prospects for working in the cockpit were not good at all, so I decided to study aeronautical engineering and then did my training as an air traffic controller. So today, working at a big airport with all the airliners for a living and flying small aircraft for fun is my best case scenario.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by SKYTEXTER (@sky.texter)
Do you have exciting stunt plans lined up for 2021?
The list of ideas for 2021 is indeed already quite full. First and foremost, I would like to finish cutting the entire video that made it into the HERO9 Black Million Dollar Challenge. In addition, during our recent flights, we developed some more ideas for camera angles, settings and scenes.
One of the biggest projects is for sure to accompany my longtime aviation friends Bernhard Diehl (@bernie.climbs.clouds) and Manuel Lange while flying in the German and European skies as part of the SKYTEXTER formation. This formation consists of a group of very experienced aerobatic pilots with five modified planes that are operated at an altitude of approximately 10,000 feet and use their smoke system to write messages in the sky.
Anything else you want to share?
First of all, we are so grateful that we made the cut for the Million Dollar Challenge, even though this was not our intention at the beginning. Being selected amongst so many submitted clips has shown us that it is absolutely worth pursuing every idea to the end, because you have the chance to be positively surprised. This video is definitely
LINK: | https://gopro.com/en/gb/news/million-dollar-challenge-martin-trotz... |
See more stories from gopro |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
26/04/2024
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and Myriad Solutions
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and...
26/04/2024
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talent' award
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talen...
26/04/2024
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted Brie Clayton April 26, 2024 0 Comments Picture Shop announced Chris Evans will lead Unscripte...
26/04/2024
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024 0 Comments By participating in this survey,...
26/04/2024
Hi Barbie! Mattel Launching First FAST Channels on Samsung TV Plus
Toy maker Mattel said it is working with Samsung to launch its first free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels later this year....
26/04/2024
Marty Moe Named President Of Trusted Media Brands
Trusted Media Brands (TMB) said it named Marty Moe as president....
26/04/2024
Ron Howard Directs Jim Henson Documentary for Disney Plus
Ron Howard is the director on Jim Henson Idea Man, a documentary that premieres on Disney Plus May 31. Henson of course created Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big...
26/04/2024
Kraken Skate Away From RSN Root Sports for Deals With Tegna, Amazon
The ice continues to melt under the regional sports network business as the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League have made a long-term deal to broadcast...
26/04/2024
Warner Bros. Discovery Launches Olli First-Party Data Platform
Heading into the upfronts, Warner Bros. Discovery said it launched Olli, a first-party data platform advertiser can use for converged, targeted advertising camp...
26/04/2024
The Equalizer' Gets Season 5 on CBS
CBS has renewed the drama The Equalizer, which will see season five on in 2024-2025. Queen Latifah stars....
26/04/2024
The CW Inks New Deal for Miss USA, Miss Teen USA
The CW has entered into an exclusive multiyear broadcast partnership for the Miss USA Pageant and the Miss Teen USA Pageant. The 73rd Miss USA Pageant will air ...
26/04/2024
Fuse Urging Young Viewers To Vote With Blunt Campaign
Fuse Media isn't mincing words in a campaign urging its young viewers to register and participate in the 2024 elections....
26/04/2024
Neil Gaiman's Sandman' Universe Expands With Dead Boy Detectives'
Dead Boy Detectives, a series from Neil Gaiman about a detective agency staffed by ghosts, debuts on Netflix April 25. George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri are in t...
26/04/2024
The Story Collective opens largest film and TV studio in the heart of London
The Story Collective has gradually repurposed the former Mortlake Brewery to include production offices, workshops and sound stages By Matthew Corrigan Publi...
26/04/2024
Richard Perkett joins Amagi as chief product officer
Perkett joins the company following a 25 year career in product management, product marketing, engineering and user experience (UX) across multiple industries ...
26/04/2024
Teradek Announces Smaller More Robust Built-in Antennas f...
Teradek, the industry leader in wireless video transmitters and receivers, announced today the launch of new Bolt 6 LT 750 and Bolt 6 Monitor Module 750 RX with...
26/04/2024
Amagi Names Richard Perkett Chief Product Officer
NEW YORK Amagi has appointed Richard Perkett chief product officer (CPO)....
26/04/2024
NAB Board Election Results Announced
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced the results of the 2024 NAB Radio and Television Board of Directors elections. The...
26/04/2024
Mattel to Launch First FAST Channels on Samsung TV Plus
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. & NEW YORK Mattel has announced a deal to launch its first three 24/7 free ad supported streaming (FAST) channels on Samsung TV Plus, Samsung...
26/04/2024
NextGen TV Launches In Portland, Maine
PORTLAND, Maine Viewers here can now receive the NextGen TV signals of five local stations with the launch of ATSC 3.0 service from host station WPFO, which is ...
26/04/2024
Rogers Inks Agreement to Deploy Comcast's Products and Technologies
TORONTO Rogers Communications has signed a 10-year agreement with Comcast to bring the latest Xfinity products and technology to Canadians....
26/04/2024
Calrec scoops third Argo win with NAB Show Product of the...
Calrec is very pleased to announce the benefits of its highly flexible approach to customer service has been recognized with a third award for the Argo range. T...
26/04/2024
New Adobe Photoshop with Advanced Generative Fill and Generate Image Brings New Superpowers to All
New Adobe Photoshop with Advanced Generative Fill and Generate Image Brings New ...
26/04/2024
Trends And Takeaways From NAB Show 2024
Trends And Takeaways From NAB Show 2024 Melanie Ciotti April 25, 2024 0 Comments NAB's Eric Trabb (right) awards SNS with two NAB Show Product of ...
26/04/2024
Sony's Ci Media Cloud Keeps NHRA Moving
Sony's Ci Media Cloud Keeps NHRA Moving Brie Clayton April 25, 2024 0 Comments Cloud-Based Media Asset Management and Collaboration Platform Accel...
26/04/2024
2024 Emerging Leaders Internship Program Open for Applications, Deadline May 31st
Capitol Broadcasting & Leadership Triangle Collaborate for Third Year Capitol B...
26/04/2024
MIX 101.5 Launches New YouTube Shows
The staff at CBC Radio have been hard at work creating several new features for listeners and viewers. Several debuts are taking place this spring. I have nev...
26/04/2024
Ross Video Unveils Raiden: An All-New Data-Driven Weather Graphics System
Powered by XPression, the world's fastest-growing real-time motion graphics engine, Raiden combines data gathering, processing, and visualization tools to t...
26/04/2024
The Real-Time 6-to-12-String Guitar Converter
By Craig Anderton With this technique, when you play a standard 6-string electric guitar, you'll hear the rich, vibrant sound of a 12-string guitar. The pr...
25/04/2024
Inside the Archives: Highlighting the Importance of Preservation for the Festival's 40th Edition
Sundance Institute Founder Robert Redford during a press conference at the 1996 ...
25/04/2024
SNS Dealer Of The Year Awards: See The Full List Of Winners
alt= class=wp-image-12361 data-lazy-src=/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NAB-booth-2024-960x540-1.jpg/> Set against a vibrant backdrop of innovation and collaboratio...
25/04/2024
Trends And Takeaways From NAB Show 2024
alt= class=wp-image-12356 data-lazy-src=/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NAB-mod-win-960x540-1.jpg/>NAB's Eric Trabb (right) awards SNS with two NAB Show Product...
25/04/2024
Peacock Subs Jump 55% YoY to 34M in Q1 2024
PHILADELPHIA Comcast beat earnings estimates in its Q1 2024 financial report, as streaming losses continued to decline and Peacock's paid subscribers spiked...
25/04/2024
Seattle Kraken Inks Deals with Tegna and Prime Video
SEATTLE The Seattle Kraken have inked new multi-year agreements with Tegna and Prime Video that will expand access to their games over broadcast stations and st...
25/04/2024
Opinion: charting a cloud driven future
M2A Medias Matt Hughes asks, is it time for news broadcasting to shift to the cloud? By Contributor Published: April 25, 2024 M2A Media's Matt Hughes ...
25/04/2024
Cintel Scanner G3 HDR+ Restores Egypt's Cinema Treasures to Their Former Glory
Cintel Scanner G3 HDR Restores Egypt's Cinema Treasures to Their Former Glo...
25/04/2024
Sinclair Names Kevin Coskren Chief Meteorologist at KTUL Tulsa
Sinclair Broadcast Group said it named Kevin Coskren chief meteorologist at KTUL, its ABC affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma....
25/04/2024
Attend The Business of TV News Event in D.C. on May 2
The Business of TV News, a new one-day event featuring Martha Raddatz, Shannon Bream, Glenn Kirschner and other major figures in television news, happens at Hot...
25/04/2024
Problematic FCC Conditions On Station Sale Could Create Detroit Drama
Conditions put on the proposed sale of WADL Detroit, to Mission Broadcasting have created a potential drama in the Motor City....
25/04/2024
TelevisaUnivision 1Q Loss Widens But DTC Business Expected To Turn Profit in Second Half
TelevisaUnivision reported a $52 million loss in the first quarter, up from $3 m...
25/04/2024
Comcast Earnings Flat As Video, Broadband Sub Losses Continue
Comcast reported flat first-quarter earnings as it reduced the red ink at Peacock but continued to lose video and broadband customers....
25/04/2024
Vevo Brings Music Videos To Telly's Dual Screen TVs
Music-video network Vevo said it launched its app on Telly, the company offering consumers free dual-screen TVs in return for data about what they're watchi...
25/04/2024
Future Today Redesigns Streaming App Interfaces
Future Today said it has introduced a redesigned user interface for about half of its 300 streaming apps, including Fawesome, HappyKids and iFood.TV....
25/04/2024
Czech mates
The writer and director of a hit Czech series tell Robert Shepherd about their approach to portraying real-life Pakistani kidnappings on the small screen, while...
25/04/2024
Molinaire Creative Group opens new Liverpool facility
Notorious DIT will work with the Liverpool Film Office to increase opportunities for regional talent By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 25, 2024 Updated:...
25/04/2024
Deutsche Telekom Powers New MagentaTV Service With Broadp...
Broadpeak , a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming solutions for content providers and pay-TV operators worldwide, announced t...
25/04/2024
Lightware Enhances Microsoft Teams Rooms with Powerful BY...
Lightware Visual Engineering, a leading manufacturer of connectivity solutions for the professional integrated systems market and a pioneer in signal management...