Edit: Just read the above article, and it was an interesting take. I'll probably keep listening to their stuff, because the music itself is amazing, and keep an eye out for crossing the line between "hey, why aren't things better" and "we should be #1 and everyone else can suffer."

I think people used to use small aircraft for shots like those. Even as recently as Planet Earth, they had some making-of videos involving two-person craft and cameras on gimbals. Fascinating stuff.