10 Helpful Tips for Shooting Film from a Drone
Today shooting film from a drone is more approachable and more affordable for filmmakers on a budget. Even a newbie can learn how to achieve jaw dropping, results that in the past were only accessible to mega Hollywood productions. That said, using a drone for cinematography can be challenging and not just because learning how to safely pilot one takes a while. It can take quite a bit of trial and error to create useable results.
- Before flying, make sure to find out about the rules in the area you’ll be working in – some country’s don’t even have rules in place yet because it’s still a fairly new technology. Also, use sound judgement when flying.
- Plan out each shot prior to taking off, making the most out of the drone’s battery life (currently, their drone batteries last around 15 minute each).
- Always check out the weather conditions in advance because if you fly your drone in unstable weather you’ll more than likely end up with unusable footage, especially in high winds. Flying in bad weather conditions can also be unsafe (crashing creates the possibility of shrapnel) as well as cause costly damage to the drone.
- If you haven’t had a lot of practice flying a drone, or none at all, fly it in a wide open space (treeless field, etc.), away from urban/congested areas, out of reach of homes, people and vehicles.
- Practice your skills, starting off by taking off, climb a couple of meters, hover, fly from point A to point B and patiently land. Once, you get comfortable with these movements and for the best results, practice flying the drone using nice, fluid, slow movements. Then, practice getting close to something, then slowly rising above it to showcase awe inspiring landscapes.
- Use the drone to tell your story in a way that outshines most other filmmaking tools. While drone technology won’t magically make you a fantastic filmmaker, it will definitely revitalize your ability to be a compelling storyteller.
- Keep possible distractions at a minimum (turn off that cell phone), focusing only on properly operating your drone and the story you’re creating
- Crashes are bound to happen, even for the experts. The best you can do is to figure out how to reduce amount of breakage. If you’re about to crash into something, but are in a position to move right or left, try turning off the throttle which will also stop the rotating propellers. This will reduce the chances of breaking the propellers, motor and other damage as well.
- Make sure that you don’t fly near airports or higher than 122 metres (400 feet). The last thing a drone operator wants to do is collide with a plane.
- Experiment with the camera’s settings so that you learn how to produce the results you want when it’s attached to the drone. The more you learn about this incredible technology the more effective you’ll be at shooting and discovering different, unique results.
Once you’ve worked your way through these 10 tips for shooting film from a drone, it will be time to get serious about the process and there’s a lot more to learn. For filmmakers, it’s a process that will end with incredible results.
photo credit: droneexaminer.com
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