New Zealand based helicopter company Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters filmed the aerial sequences for Disney's Pete’s Dragon, utilizing the groundbreaking SHOTOVER F1 gyro-stabilized camera system. Developed by New Zealand-based SHOTOVER, the company’s K1 and F1 platforms are the go to choice for Hollywood’s biggest productions with other recent and upcoming credits including Fast 8, Suicide Squad, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Spectre, Suicide Squad, Kong: Skull Island and Transformers 5.
A reimagining of Disney’s family classic, Pete’s Dragon is the adventure of an orphaned boy named Pete and his best friend - a friendly dragon named Elliot.
In Disney's Pete’s Dragon, New Zealand plays Millhaven, an American Pacific Northwest logging town. Queenstown’s Deer Park Heights and the area just below the Remarkables appear in the trailer promoting the movie as Pete watches Elliot the dragon appear from beneath a cliff top to fly over him.
New Zealand is globally recognized as a highly sought-after filming location. Filming in Queenstown and surrounds not only provides the most spectacular scenery but world class services from Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters & SHOTOVER Camera Systems.
“SHOTOVER systems allow filmmakers around the world to bring their creative visions to life with unsurpassed intensity and drama,” said SHOTOVER CEO Brad Hurndell. “We are excited to have been selected for this home-town assignment and think audiences will be thrilled with the amazing images the aerial team has been able to capture.”
Disney’s Pete’s Dragon opened in U.S. theatres on August 12, 2016, and is set for New Zealand release in September.
Watch Good Morning America go behind the scenes with the aerial team from the film: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/scenes-petes-dragon-movie-made-41255969