Filming Highland Towers With A Drone: "It Felt Like Something Was Watching You"
Ever wondered what Highland Towers look like after its collapse on 11 December 1993?
By Rohini Rajaratnam — 25 Jun 2015, 12:49 PM
Four friends set out on a mission to explore what's left of the infamous Highland Towers giving viewers a "virtual" tour of the area with a drone
A drone services provider decided to use one of its drones to scope out the infamous site of the fallen Highland Towers condo.
The drones specialists who go by the moniker OFO (Ohsem Flying Objekt) have put up a video cobbled from footage taken by a drone, the fallen units can be seen standing eerily empty.
themalaymailonline.com
Throwback to 11 June 1993, one out of three Highland Towers blocks collapsed, killing 48 residents in what was Malaysia's most tragic building collapse
So what sparked this eerie idea? According to Amri Majid, the creative director of OFO, there were two reasons behind this project:
The group, comprising of 4 individuals (Amri Iqwan Abd Majid, Muhamad Armi Abd Majib, Fauzy Mohd Rahim dan Kamarul Ehram Kamaruddin) realised nobody around the world has ever made such a video.
"At the same time we are also promoting the power of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to the public. Drones are so much more than just a hobby. It has limitless potential and we want to educate people about it," he added.
The video took three days to shoot, coupled with a week of editing to complete the final product. Excluding the drones, which were mostly built by themselves from scratch, the only cost incurred was for petrol.
Wondering if drone flying is even legal? According to Jabatan Penerbangan Awam (DCA), as long as the weight of the drone does not exceed 20kg and is not flown above 120 meters, all is good.
What was the scariest part of the project? Highland Towers is, after all, listed as one of the spookiest places in Malaysia.
In an interview with SAYS, Amri confessed, "The person most affected was our pilot as he was wearing the goggle camera feed and could only see the feed and nothing else. If anything does pop out, he'll be the first one to see it."
"To add, the location is really eerie. Once you enter the premise, you get the other-worldy feeling and you can't help but feel like somebody or something is watching you," he added.
This was even worse at night when they deployed the drone within 200 meters of the building so they could only rely on their sight if they lost signal completely.
Watched the video yet? If you have, you would have realised there was some interference with the feed. But don't worry, it isn't what you think it is!
"The interference might be cause by our "line of sight". Our system uses a line of sight system and since the location has a lot of overgrown trees and bushes, that could have blocked our signal path," said Amri.
So, will we be seeing more "virtual" tours in the future?
"Yes, there are several more locations for us to explore as long as the area is big enough. We want to showcase the power of a drone, which can cover a vast area in a short span of time," Amri concluded.