The Project
"Clean" — the 2021 action thriller directed by Paul Solet and co-written by Solet and Adrien Brody. Brody stars in the title role, and the film was a longtime passion project for him: he also produced it and composed its score. IFC Films gave it a theatrical release in January 2022 after its Tribeca Film Festival premiere. The production filmed in Utica, New York.
Lyfted Media provided aerial cinematography for the production in Utica, NY.
The Challenge
Feature work doesn't forgive. Aerials for a narrative film have to match the director's visual language, hit precise marks, and integrate with a full production's schedule, safety protocols, and chain of command. Utica's locations — post-industrial streets, the working-class city grid the story lives in — needed an aerial eye that could find the cinematic in the everyday without showboating. The film is a gritty character study rooted in those streets, and the aerials had to serve that tone, not overpower it.
And on a feature, the drone team is one department among many. Show up, execute the shot list, stay out of everyone else's way.
What Lyfted Media Did
We flew a DJI Inspire 2 in a dual-operator configuration: one pilot flying the aircraft, one dedicated camera operator working the shot. That split is what separates cinema drone work from single-operator flying. The pilot owns safety, airspace, and positioning. The camera operator owns framing, movement, and performance — take after take, with the precision a narrative schedule demands.
The Inspire 2's interchangeable lens options and retractable landing gear — a full 360-degree unobstructed camera view — made it the right aircraft for controlled, repeatable cinematic moves over the Utica locations.
The Result
Aerial cinematography contributed to a released Hollywood feature headlined by an Academy Award winner (Brody won Best Actor for The Pianist). Released theatrically by IFC Films in 2022 and now streaming.
Work With Us
Producing in New York? Lyfted Media provides aerial cinematography for features, episodic television, and commercials — operating in New York and based in Virginia Beach. Part 107 certified, dual-operator capable, and disciplined on a feature set. Bring us in during pre-production: contact us about your shoot.