'Heart-stirring' National Day parade footage: From terrifying pressure to emotional outburst

Steadicam photographer Le Bao Han, along with cameramen and directors of photography at VFC and VTV, shared behind-the-scenes stories on National Day September 2.

Part of the crew that created the National Day Parade and Marching Ceremony on September 2 - Photo: Facebook Do Thanh Hai

After the live broadcast of the National Day Parade and Celebration on September 2nd was praised for its image quality, camera angles, and shots, the cameramen spoke up to tell behind-the-scenes stories.

Le Bao Han: From terrible pressure to emotional outburst

On the evening of September 3, steadicam cameraman Le Bao Han shared a post from VTV Times about the people behind the footage of military parades and marches. He shared his behind-the-scenes story.

Cinematographers Le Bao Han and Nghiem Ba Hoai, head of VFC's photography department - Photo: FBNV

Le Bao Han received an invitation from VTV at the end of June. At first, he was very surprised and then sent a quote for the Arri Trinity steadicam.

After sending the quote, he thought that "a once in 80 years mission" should not be charged at "full rate", so he calculated that there would be no salary but only need to pay for personnel travel expenses.

Later, when he was selected to use the Trinity steadicam to film at the anniversary ceremony, Mr. Nghiem Ba Hoai (head of the photography department, Television Film Center (VFC), Vietnam Television) suggested that he pay a fee to ensure his rights.

When arriving at Ba Dinh Square on the first day of training, Le Bao Han asked to cut across the tank convoy to film a 180-degree turn.

Even though she defended this plan, Le Bao Han was still under a lot of pressure because if she stumbled just once, an incident would occur that would affect the program.

"I was under terrible mental pressure, until yesterday's rehearsal, pressure in the security area, regulations on where I could go and where I couldn't, because my machine was the most sensitive and dangerous" - he wrote.

Every time he successfully cut the group, he was happy. During the rehearsal, there were times when things didn't go as planned, but luckily he didn't make any mistakes.

Behind the scenes of Le Bao Han filming steadicam on September 2 - Video : FBNV

He described the feeling when he successfully completed it: "My emotions exploded, the whole VTV team screamed in the intercom, it was a success everyone! I have never had to endure such a terrible mentality on a project. But every second and minute is worth it, a steadicam operator can probably only do it once in their life."

Le Bao Han thanked his colleagues at VTV for giving him this opportunity: "Perhaps this is a glorious milestone in our entire career."

Epic footage in the sky of National Day

On VTV Times page, the people behind the majestic footage in the sky during the parade also expressed their thoughts.

VTV Times wrote: "To have eye-catching footage of more than 30 fighter planes and helicopters of the Vietnam Air Force performing emotionally, the VTV crew worked day and night so that each footage could both depict the grand scale and maintain its artistic value."

The director of photography is Mr. Nghiem Ba Hoai, responsible for filming the overall images taking place in front of Ba Dinh Square. Meanwhile, cinematographer Vu Trung Kien (director of photography department, VFC) is the one who directly filmed in the sky with many creative solutions.

VTV's filming crew at the National Day celebration, parade, and march on September 2 - Photo: FBNV

Mr. Vu Trung Kien and his colleagues designed 15 specialized steel boxes to fix the camera on each type of aircraft, calculating the mounting position to ensure both firmness and absolute flight safety.

He shared: "The biggest challenge was mounting the camera on the wings of the aircraft when the formation was flying close together - something that had never been done before. We had to calculate carefully down to every millimeter to maintain the artistic angle while still achieving 200% safety."

This job requires not only technical skills but also close coordination with the pilots. Each flight route, camera position, and angle are carefully discussed with the flight leader to ensure absolute safety while still fully recording the scale and strength of the flight squadron.

Filmmakers in the process of mounting cameras on the plane - Photo: VTV TIMES

The moment Mr. Kien remembers most was when the formation flew over Ba Dinh Square in the mist. On the ground, visibility was limited, but from above, through the cameras mounted on the wings of the plane, the image of the formation still appeared sharp.

"At that time, I was both a professional and an audience member, feeling proud of what we brought to millions of viewers," he told VTV Times .

Crew of 500 people, headed by director Do Thanh Hai

On the evening of September 3, journalist - editor Long Vu wrote on his personal page about the crew's recent journey: "People on social networks often mention Han filming with the steadicam and Duc editing the color (Truong Huyen Duc - PV). It is absolutely true that they are excellent at their jobs.

They are 2 out of perhaps 500 brothers - 500 positions in the crew who have been working hard for the past few months and fortunately have all done very well in their assigned tasks. And behind them, leading the super-huge crew to create the television work that people are lovingly calling "absolutely cinematic", "a masterpiece with 10 points without any buts" is director Do Thanh Hai.

Back to topic

LE GIANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nhung-thuoc-phim-dieu-binh-quoc-khanh-say-dam-long-nguoi-tu-ap-luc-kinh-hoang-den-vo-oa-cam-xuc-20250903224613965.htm