Most people think a “no” means end of the road.

In film production, you hear it all the time:

“We don’t have the money.”
“There’s no time.”
“That’s not possible.”

But a “no” isn’t the end. It’s a clue. A sign that something important might be hiding, maybe even something worth chasing.

A Personal Story About a No

The Dream Job

Once, I got asked to make a commercial with fighter jets.
A dream job!

But it came with a big NO.

Changing the Idea

At first, in the agency breif, most of the film took place in the air.

But I rewrote it. I changed the story to focus more to “getting ready to fly”.
Walking through the hangar, getting into the jet, starting the engine.
Only a short moment would happen in the air.

Why? Because good quality film scenes, needs control.

You can’t control the light or camera angles in the air, not with the tools we had.

The GoPro Problem

Even with a story that just had a few seconds in the air, those seconds in a way became even more importanat and had to look really great.

But I was told there was only one approved way to film inside the plane.
The pilot had to hold a GoPro camera.

And a big movie moment filmed with a GoPro is like pulling out a water gun in a scene from The Godfather.

Finding a Way In

The positive thing, I thought, was that if I just got a “no” to changing cameras… then so did everyone else before me.

But if we could be the first to get a better camera inside, that would be special.

So I kept asking:

“Why only a GoPro?”

After some time, I got the real answer: it wasn’t about the camera, it was about the weight. The mount in the fighter jet cockpit was approved for a camera in the GoPro’s weight class — not the GoPro itself.

So I found a camera online, a Blackmagic Micro. Same size, much better quality.

I bought it on speculation, brought it to the client, and gave my best pitch on why we really needed to use it.

Two Answers

One week later, we got two pieces of news:

The new camera was actually approved! YES!
The shoot was delayed by three months.

A New Idea

Later, that delay turned out to be a gift.

I had been so focused on getting a better camera, I forgot one thing: the pilot had to run it.

That’s why they used GoPros before, they’re fully automatic. Anyone can use them.

But the Blackmagic camera? It’s like a puzzle: no screen, small batteries, a menu like Morse code.

Not easy for a fighter pilot flying at 1,000 km/h on a tight schedule to manage on a big production day.

But now… we had three extra months.

What if I could find a pilot who wanted to learn how to be a camera operator? Someone I could train? Someone who could film before the main shoot?

Above the clouds, it’s always sunny, so the material would match even if it rained later on the official production day.

The Pilot Who Became a Cinematographer

By this time, I had talked to many people on the team.

I’d asked so many GoPro questions, I was now talking directly with pilots.

So I started asking a new question:

“Who wants to learn to film?”

One person raised their hand.

It’s a long story, but:
He got the camera.
We met on Teams.
I helped him set it up and taught him the basics of filming.

Over the next few weeks, he sent me hours and hours of test footage.

You can see the camera in the visor in this picture.

The Crescendo!

When the shoot day came closer, we finally managed to pull it off!

In those hours of test footage the pilot sent me, I found 4 seconds with the right exposure, the right framing, the right move through the clouds so you could feel the speed. We had our crescendo! All filmed with the camera we wanted!

And all the cockpit footage was done before the actual shoot day. (And now we just had to make the rest of the film 😉)

The Result

First, the pilot filmed himself flying up through the clouds.
Then again, pointing the camera forward. ⬇️

Other Productions Ask to Borrow It

Since then, I’ve shared those 4 seconds with other campaigns for the same client.

When other productions call me, they say things like:

“How did you film those shots in the air?!”
“We didn’t have time to get those flight shots. Can we use yours?”

And honestly, I get it.
It only took me about 10,000 hours to make them happen!

A “no” isn’t the end. It’s a clue!

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I Got a No, So I Trained a Fighter Pilot to Be a Cameraman