Where Siem Reap and Angkor was challenging but achievable, Phnom Penh proved to be a tad harder. As the centre of government, the recent passing of their beloved King Sihanouk (the previous February) and the more recent national elections, it was not appropriate, nor recommended by anyone (!) to fly the drone in the city.
The team therefore concentrated on using the drone structure itself as a stabiliser to walk through locations without the threat of camera shake so often visible in amateur video footage. This allowed us to ‘walk through’ scenes such as in the Central Market, the passing of monks outside the Royal Palace and the sun fading behind the Victory Monument as if the drone itself was flying at a lower elevation. It still caused interest but did not appear to be any security threat to the wide number of police on the streets and in public spaces.
We also took some gorgeous coastal footage near the township of Sihanoukville to complete our Cambodia filming.