Shooting a Book Trailer with a Drone

Since Amazon is hyping drones I thought I would tell my drone story. We shot the first book trailer for my novel Rocket Man with a camera mounted on a drone. My friend is a filmmaker and he procured the use of the drone and since the book involves rockets I brought the model rockets to a field in Oak Park Illinois just west of Chicago. The drone we were using was worth thousands and the digital camera was worth more. Ok. Keep that in the back of your mind.

He set up the drone and I set up the rockets. It was cold and our fingers numbed out fast but we got to the point where I was holding the ignition switch and he was holding his laptop for the drone. His drone looks just like the ones we are now seeing in Amazon commericals and news footage. A spider with a bunch of propellers. So he lifted the drone off and got it above the trees and I hit the ignition switch and whoosh. The rocket blasted off.

We watched the footage in his laptop as the drone hovered and followed the rocket until the parachute popped out. We did this over and over. On about the tenth time we decided to put a bigger engine in the rocket and so we took the drone really high. We were staring up when the drone suddenly took off for Chicago. My friend jammed the keys on his laptop but the drone had slipped out of range and was now cruising for the West side.

We jumped into his car and started chasing the drone. It sends out a wifi signal he explained and I grabbed the laptop and started searching for the DRONE2 signal. We drove into residential neighborhoods. The drone had a fail safe where once it lost contact it was supposed to set itself down and send out its signal. That is if it didn't just crash into a tree or lose power and smash into the ground. We drove and drove looking for the thousands of dollars that would be lost if we didn't find the drone and the camera.

We were about to give up when we turned a corner and I picked up the drone signal DRONE2 searching wifi signals with my phone. We pulled over and looked up and down the street. It could be anywhere my friend muttered as we got out of the car. I turned and saw twinkling green diodes on a slanted roof. The drone. One in a million we would find it, but we were able to bring it down with the laptop.

So when Amazon talks about delivering your packages with a drone... know that it might get there or it might just take off and fly over Chicago and go land on someone's roof.

www.williamhazelgrove.com
Rocket Man Book Trailer
 

Zapping Jane Fonda

That old antiwar bogey girl. Jane Fonda. At least Rand Paul lit the match to the correct old ordinance because if the Republican/Teaparty gang is not fighting the last roundup of long haired bearded bums then what are they fighting? Wont Get Fooled again plays on while Rand talks and talks and talks. Zapped by hovering drones. If there is a reason we cant get rid of guns this is it. Jane Fonda is in  mortal danger of getting zapped by a drone. So says Rand.

But I digress. And if the black  helicopters are coming for every bunker building patriot then we have bigger problems than a deadlocked Congress. Even John McCain couldn't take enough acid for this one. The Hitlerian Obama coming for those who dare to defy. There must be some lunacy in the asylum but Rand figures thirteen hours will give him an opportunity to be heard. Even Paul Ryan couldn't pull that off. Imagine thirteen hours of Ayne Rand.

But of course the worry over drones is real. Don't Tread On ME and please don't zap me with a drone. And his example of Jane Fonda while certainly dated puts it all in perfect relief. That war never really died and we are certainly fighting it out among the boomer guard. Did you or do you support the War?  Or are you one of those peaceniks.

And if you are the Obama drones will get you. Pass the bong.

www.billhazelgrove.com