Kirk Watson films
I am a freelance filmmaker, based in Scotland. I can self shoot promotional, documentary, educational and narrative content and edit into a final film. I am also a fully licensed, CAA approved drone pilot and cinematographer. Perfect View Productions has all their own equipment to complete a project.
Whatever your story be it commercial, documentary or fictional we can help you get your message across in a high quality and professional manner.
A fun day out with locals filming for the Capercaillie project about different groups working together for the benefit of these big birds. I was filming some mountain bikers with the drone to go with Katrina’s ground footage she had filmed before. Was fun filming and a bit of exercise.
I spent a couple of days filming the River Spey in flood as often documentary makers are looking for shots of the Spey in flood so I thought I should catch some of it and plus it is very interesting to see it from the air but also devastating seeing what it has done to peoples properties too.
Been a while since I made a drone show reel. A new drone showreel of a selection of work I have been up to over the past while. The clips were all shot for actual jobs I was working on for several different companies. 'Scotland from the Air' was my title then I realised one shot is not from Scotland but heyho. I was thinking Holy Island is north of Hadrians wall but on googling Hadrians wall I learnt (seemingly a common misconception, was for me lol) has always been entirely within England:). But I filmed at Holy Island twice this year on two different jobs so wanted at least one shot in there:)
The showreel has been all filmed by drone using the DJI Inspire 2 with X7 Camera, the DJI Mavic 3 pro CINE and the DJI Mavic 2 pro. Hope you enjoy:)
So a bit of my filming was on last night for this TV Show on the National Geographic program. Was working with Nathan Budd on the Isle of Orkney flying from a boat for the day over the old WWII sunken ships, with the Inspire 2 drone with X7 Camera. Amazingly we got great weather for this as the day I arrived on Orkney to was horrible and the day after the shoot it was also horrible lol. So we were very lucky.Can probably see it on the Disney channel now:)
Awesome time as drone pilot out in Tuscany with GCN. A lot less full on than my Swiss trip last month with GCN:)
Had a great time filming a gravel race called Grinduro in the lovely Tuscany area in Italy. Hank was the very enthusiastic presenter and Stefan the equally enthusiastic director. We made a few films here and the main event was filming the race itself which involved driving round and grabbing shots of Hank as we went. Hank also Gopro’d much of the race as we could not follow a lot of it down closed off gravel roads.
The race feel itself was very chilled and fun and we stayed on a campsite by the beach in 33 degree heat each day so it was lovely:)
The start line was pretty hectic with 3 other drones in the air lol. But we managed to work around each other. I used the Mavic 3 pro CINE where I could and the Mini 3 pro in places near people and buildings:) a few pics below….
Final evening Tuscany filming sunset on the beach for a sequence with Hank.
A Tuscan village and church
So a large part of my August was taken up as the Drone pilot for this TV show produced by Solus Productions with Tony directing, Jim Producing, Sean as DOP, Colin on sound, Rowen as production, and Kitty and Niamh in trainee positions. It will be released later this year or the start of next year:)
Then Jules (the teacher in Balamorey) and Greg (Victor in Still Game) were our talent who travelled round Scotland filming with different cold water swimmers to find out why they all do it. We were in Fife, Aberfeldy, Kenmore, Aviemore, Loch Ness, Skye, Mull and Iona:)
Was such a brilliant crew and made for a very fun job. Jules and Greg are superb fun too. Plus we all got in swimming in a lot of the places as we went too. A few pictures of some of the BTS.
Aerial Filming the Boat swim day:)
The awesome Solus Productions crew:)
Loch Ness
The short documentary of the Tour Des Staions Ultimate 1000 that Oli raced in, is out today. Such an amazing effort Oli did cycling this, he had only ever cycled a race up to 380km previously.
Beautifully edited by Stefan Darque who was also directing and main camera, driving was Steve of Elmy Cycles who did a brilliant job staying awake for it. It has turned into a great little film and I believe a longer version is coming. Lots of shots from the air here from myself:) Have a watch in the link below.
This was a pretty fun yet crazy filming job making this documentary. Fun because we were in the Swiss alps and with a great team of people. Stefan as director and first camera, Oli racing his bike, Steve driving the van, James riding the motorbike and myself doing the aerial filming.
The crazy bit was we did a 37 hr shift on day one of the race filming, and driving for Steve then we got about 3 hrs sleep the next night and 3 hrs the following night. (James stuck to his legally insured 10hrs a day driving:) So there really should have been two crews covering this! But GCN does like getting free overtime out of everyone lol! But we just got on with it in a very happy way as we were there and needed to film it and support Oli and everyone. Hopefully it all looks good when it comes out tomorrow on the GCN channel:)
I also got to see the North Face of the Eiger which I’d always wanted to do and Oli got an amazing position in the race for it being his first Ultra race.
The race was the Tour Des Stations 1000 Ultimate. Meaning 40 racers would do 1000 km and climb 26000m in the race! Oil did it in 72 hrs which is incredible! Need to watch it to see how he did:) A few pics of the lovely Swiss alps below.
Some hairpins
The hotel from Goldfinger
The North Face of the Eiger
Fun day popping round a few houses in the North east of Scotland to get drone shots for Scotlands home of the year. Nice to meet the owners and see these places. One was near my parents house and one was near my house lol.
I had free rain just to be creative with my drone for an hour or so at each location. looking forward to seeing the show:) Unfortunately I can’t show the houses until after.
Lovely job here on the first episode of Jules’ and Greg’s Wild Swim with Solus Productions who I normally shoot the drone on Dana for.
Was a fantastic team here and lovely to see these tidal pools along the Fife coast. Was very pleased that Greg is super sound and so is his wife as I am a big ‘Still Game’ and ‘Chewing the Fat’ fan:)
I was tasked with catching footage of the pair swimming in these tidal pools with others. Also getting some driving shots and shots crossing the queensferry crossing. More to come on the next episodes.
This was a fun trip to get involved with. Possibly the sweatiest filming I’ve ever done but amazing to visit the Caribbean for my first time.
Here Harry the director had written a dating segment and we had 3 different couples out on dates to see how they got on. Laura was presenting and Nigel Francis was on sound and we had India from productions and Freddy as a researcher/helping with cameras there too. A brilliant team and we stayed at the lovely Sandles resort.
We even got a few hours off each day at lunchtime to enjoy a swim and relaxed lunch as we started early and finished late each day. With be on in the Autumn and you can see how the couples got on.
The fabulous film team:)
Great fun working with this team from the central belt with Tern TV. Craig Directing and Seamus MacCrackin as DOP. I was doing the aerial filming as we did several different activities on the Isle of Skye and Rona. the Mavic 3 Pro was put to test as at times it was too windy for my Inspire 2 with X7 Camera. Gusting 45mph on the Quirking and still held a stable image just had to do the landing in the lee of the hill.
I think it comes out in the autumn.
The team on the boat to Rona
Compared to my last time in Shetland we had amazing weather this week here. The Dana team headed to Shetland by boat and plane.
Hamish Directing as usual and first camera, Kenny presenting with Owen alongside, Rich and milky on safety and my self doing the aerial filming. Produced by Solus Productions for BBC ALBA.
We climbed on some spectacular sea cliffs and even did a first accent in one of the UK’s most Northerly spots:)
Kenny leading up an E3 at Esha Ness
Esha Ness Lighthouse
Shetland team
A great few days in the Cairngorm mountains filming with an awesome team with Hamish Directing and camera, Kenny presenting with his mate Jenna and Rich on safety with his wife Gillian doing a bit of portering.
We headed in to climb the scramble up onto Angels Peak after staying in the Garbh Corrie Bothy for the night. Well most of us in tents. then we climbing up Ben Macdui and onto Craggan Coire Etchancan to camp just above it. the team then climbed Talisman and we walked out in pouring rain:) Fortunately the weather stayed reasonable for the rest of the trip but just involved very early starts to avoid the worst of the rain each day.
Angels Peak
Coire Etchachan
Fun day filming with Nicky and Ollie at Thorabella Farm open day. Hundreds of people turned up to look round the farm and see the animals. Weather was perfect too. I spent most of the day with a ground camera but also several drone flights during the day to see the farm from the air:)
The farm as people start arriving:)
Appeared in a few papers over the weekend to advertise the National Geographic series called Europe from above. I shot a few of the UK parts of it mainly in Scotland with Barra airport, Up Hella Ya in Shetland, an Archeological dig on Holy Island where a few. Great to be involved in this and the second series for me. Below arte a few paper articles and seemingly it ran in around 100 regional papers too. Nice phot of me in the Sun lol.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/22629778/brits-never-heard-traditional-events/
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/uk-news/top-unknown-traditional-uk-events-30193275
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/top-unknown-traditional-uk-events-30193038
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1779034/top-traditional-uk-events-competitions-cheese-rolling
Me and my Inspire 2 drone with the X7 camera that I use to shoot the series.
Great day out doing the spring aerial filming for ‘This Farming Life’. I visited two farms with my Inspire 2 with the prime lenses and cycled through my set of 16 batteries 2.5 times haha. A lot of footage.
The last time filming with these guys was in the autumn and now back for a different weather season. We started up in Dallas at a farm with Water Buffalo, goats, rabbits, bees, pigs and more with Ollie and Nikki filming several Spring shots. Emma and Alison from BBC keeping me right on what they needed out of the day.
Then we headed to Newtonmore with Robert and Jenni to film Alpacas and spring lambs. Great bunch of people and good fun content to create for the program.
In between being a drone pilot getting kissed by an Alpaca, not my type but a nice gesture:)
Drone filming the sheep in Newtonmore and Robert driving to check the lambs:)
Had a few days spare so thought I’d edit up a wee drone showreel of the past few winters for you to see. Summer one coming later:)
Drone showreel of aerial filming in Scotland during the winter months:)
'Winter in the Scottish highlands' is a drone showreel from the past winter seasons around Scotland filming.
This was filmed mainly on the Mavic 2 pro DJI Drone and sometimes the DJI Inspire 2 drone with X7 Camera. All filmed by myself Kirk Watson. I am a qualified drone pilot, drone operator or aerial cinematographer living in the Scottish Highlands.
Music is from https://www.belugalagoon.com the track is called 'King of the Cold'
Dana on BBC ALBA is available on iplayer (at times) season 3 out in autumn
Roaming in the Wild BBC Scotland is available on iplayer (at times) or Amazon prime
Ephemeral with Guy Robertson, Greg Boswell and Hamish Frost climbing is available at: https://filmfestivalflix.com/product/brit-rock-iv-purchase/#tab-description
Here's the clips if you are wondering where they are taken:)
1: Caledonian pine forest Cairngorms National Park
2: Caledonian pine forest Cairngorms National Park
3: Glen Tilt and yes a fox appeared in my shot which was beautiful
4: River tilt and Atholl Highlander Sandy Ried's car
5: River tilt and Atholl Highlander Sandy Ried's car
6: River tilt and Atholl Highlander Sandy Ried's car
7: River tilt and Atholl Highlander Sandy Ried stood on bridge
8: Glen tilt
9: Red deer at Blair atoll castle
10: Sgùrr nan Gillean, Skye
11: Looking towards Sgurr a' Bhastier, I think:)
12: Coinneach MacFhraing (Kenny Rankin) and Matt Glenn heading up Sgurr nan Gillean, Skye.
13: Coinneach MacFhraing (Kenny Rankin) and Matt Glenn heading up Sgurr nan Gillean, Skye. For TV show Dana
14: Coinneach MacFhraing (Kenny Rankin) and Matt Glenn heading up Sgurr nan Gillean, Skye. For TV show Dana
15: Coinneach MacFhraing (Kenny Rankin) and Matt Glenn heading up Am Basteir, Skye. For TV show Dana
16: Coinneach MacFhraing (Kenny Rankin) and Matt Glenn heading up Am Basteir, Skye. For TV show Dana
17: Coinneach MacFhraing (Kenny Rankin) and Matt Glenn stood on summit of Am Basteir, Skye. For TV show Dana
18: Coinneach MacFhraing (Kenny Rankin) and Matt Glenn stood on the Basteir tooth, Skye. For TV show Dana
19: The Campsies in December at sunrise. For Roaming in the Wild BBC Scotland.
20: Andrew O'Donnell and Mark Taylor rafting the Glazert river. For Roaming in the Wild BBC Scotland.
21: Andrew O'Donnell and Mark Taylor rafting the River Kelvin. For Roaming in the Wild BBC Scotland.
22: Andrew O'Donnell and Mark Taylor rafting the River Kelvin. For Roaming in the Wild BBC Scotland.
23: Guy Robertson and Hamish Frost walk into An Teallach for a new route. For award wining film Ephemeral by Alastair Lee of Posing productions link above to purchase from Britrock film tours.
24: Guy Robertson and Hamish Frost walk into An Teallach for a new route.
25-27: Guy Robertson climbing on An Teallach.
28: View into Loch Avon in the Cairngorms
29: Coire an Lochain, Cairngorms National Park.
30: Coire an t-Sneachda, Cairngorms National Park.
31: Beinn Eighe with Coinneach MacFhraing (Kenny Rankin) and Rori Hawthorn teaser of Dana season 3 on BBC ALBA out in Autumn.
32: Beinn Eighe with Coinneach MacFhraing (Kenny Rankin) and Rori Hawthorn teaser of Dana season 3 on BBC ALBA out in Autumn.
33: Ben Nevis North Face
34: Guy Robertson soloing an ice route on the Ben.
35-37: Greg Boswell on a first ascent of some hanging ice on Ben Nevis. Hamish Frost and Guy Robertson are below belaying. Alastair Lee filming from above. Full film available on link at top, Brit Rock.
38-42: Cairngorm Plateau with Andrew O'Donnell and Mark Taylor of Beluga Lagoon ski mountaineering and I am in a few shots flying and skiing. This was the Cairngorms episode of Roaming in the Wild. Can see on Amazon Prime.
Great few days filming with Deva Smith from Stramash films as we film with Orbital a company leading the way with tidal power. Super interesting to see what they do. Also very interesting flying my drone from a moving boat that can’t stop for me as it’s towing a 700 ton turbine. usually have the option of getting the boat to slow down or stop completely as I land. deva was catching the drone and did a great job at it as he has done it many times before.
Had to set up NOTAMS with Kirkwall airport for this as the final position was within the FRZ . Lovely being out on a boat round Orkney and it was a great sunny day:)
Headed to Malta for a great film job with ITV This Morning. Here we are filming a piece about film locations and Malta has been used for many: Gladiator, Game of Thrones, Troy and many more. Joe for Gavin and Stacey is the presenter here. Such a lovely lady and very good fun to work with. Dom is the director from ITV This Morning and his dad is from Malta who we met along with several other family members hahaha. Handy having a director who knows all the places in Malta and having a Maltese second name helps too:)
Here I was doing the main camera work. Mostly on the Gimbal. I was also doing the sound as budget was tight. Then the drone work on top too.
Was interesting doing the drone permits for here but fortunately I have been registered here for years. Every flight must be authorised by their civil aviation authority so there is a lot of online paperwork to set up a job. But straight forward after you do the first few and get used to the system.
The tourism board helped us lots and sorted our permits and an amazing hotel to stay in. A bit better than normal being the number 1 hotel there:)
Our 5 star hotel ‘The Phoenicia Malta’ such an amazing place and lovely people.
The outdoor pool and the end of a few hundred meters of lovely gardens:)
Our film team with Mario the guide (with encyclopaedic knowledge of the island) Dom in the back and Joe the presenter up front.
