Drone videos are full of fresh and interesting shots, and in filmmaking, drone aerial cinematography is even more amazing! More and more people are pursuing high-quality camera drones, drone enthusiasts want to shoot beautiful outdoor scenery, and drone photographers use them to create movies.
Are drones needed in Cinematography?
Drone shots bring a sense of spatial art. They are used to capture amazing aerial landscapes, dynamic tracking shots, and complex overhead perspectives. In addition, they are also used for opening shots, revealing important places, and conveying a sense of scale. These were difficult to achieve before.
Aerial shots in movies require huge costs or use helicopters, but now drones have achieved perfect movie aerial shots at a lower cost. Therefore, drones have an increasingly wide application in the field of film photography.
How are drones used in Cinematography?
Drones are providing filmmakers with various benefits beyond traditional film photography. Drones themselves are extremely flexible and maneuverable, bringing stability and smoothness to drone photography. Cinematography has a strong visual shock and immersive feeling. To make drone footage feel cinematic, some specific drone photography techniques and angles are essential.
Basic cinematic drone actions: push/pull, tracking, aerial pan, parallax, pedestal, reveal, top-down and fly-by, aerial cinematographers can use these drone actions to significantly improve the cinematic quality of the footage.
Before aerial drone photography, photographers can plan drone lenses and shooting angles in advance, pay attention to light and weather in the shooting scene, and plan the drone flight path, all of which can improve the cinematic effect of drones.
Best drones for Aerial Cinematography
Drone cinematography has made great progress thanks to the continuous strengthening and advancement of drone photography technology and flying skills. Not only that, aerial cinema drones have appeared in the real estate industry, tourism and hospitality industry, sports broadcasting, advertising and marketing. The unique aerial perspective fully enhances people's attention and effectively conveys marketing content information, making a deeper impression. Drone technology brings endless creative possibilities.
Best drone for documentary filming: DJI Inspire 3
The DJI Inspire series is the best drone for professional-grade film photography. It supports a variety of camera options, including the Zenmuse X7, which provides excellent image quality and cinematic color grading.
In documentary production, the choice of drone can greatly affect the quality and impact of the final product. The best drones of this type combine high-quality imaging capabilities with powerful flight performance.
The Inspire 3 is equipped with an 8K full-frame sensor, capable of capturing videos and still images with amazing details. The Inspire 3 has excellent performance in color capture, wide-angle view, and detailed close-ups. The Inspire series also allows the camera to rotate 360 degrees without obstruction, providing greater flexibility for lens composition.
The flight performance and image transmission performance of the Inspire 3 drone are also quite powerful. The Inspire 3 has the characteristics of long battery life, high-speed flight, and stable flight. The intelligent flight mode and dual operation mode are friendly designs in film shooting. OcuSync 3.0 image transmission technology and omnidirectional obstacle sensing enhance the safety and stability of drones in documentary cinematography shooting.
Best Drone for Commercial Filming: Autel Robotics EVO II PRO 6K Drone
The Autel Robotics EVO II PRO 6K drone is a high-end drone that offers excellent image quality. It offers 360-degree obstacle avoidance and can shoot 6K video at 30fps or 4K video at 60fps. The Autel EVO II PRO V3 drone is also great for night cinematography. The EVO II PRO has a flight time of about 40 minutes.
The Autel EVO II PRO V3 drone is foldable and quite portable. The 20MP photos and 6K videos bring colorful, high-definition drone images and videos. The Autel EVO II PRO V3 drone has an adjustable aperture of f/2.8-f/11, lossless 3x zoom, and can be paired with ND filters to shoot the best drone images and drone movies in a variety of light conditions.
Autel Robotics EVO II Pro V3 Camera Drone
$2099.00 USD
Best Drone for Live Shooting of Extreme Sports Events: DJI Avata 2
The DJI Avata 2 is the latest version of DJI's FPV (first-person view) drone series, designed to provide an immersive flying experience with advanced features and improved performance.
The Avata 2 offers a 4K UHD camera, an ultra-wide 155-degree field of view, electronic image stabilization (EIS), excellent flight stability and user-friendly controls, making it an ideal choice for amateur and professional drone pilots.
The high-speed visual impact brought by the DJI Avata 2 is very suitable for stunts in some movies and events, and has a stunning effect for shooting large-scale open areas, riding mountain bikes, etc.
How do filmmakers shoot drone movies?
1. Aerial panoramic shooting
Aerial panoramic shooting of drones is one of the most common cinematography shooting angles. Drones can also perform zoom shooting, and the three-axis gimbal keeps the drone stable in hover mode or flight mode!
2. Tracking shots
Tracking shots are usually shot on dynamic people or objects. The tracking effect of drone movies cinematography depends on the matching speed of the drone. Whether the drone can always keep the same altitude, distance and focal length, moving parallel to the subject.
3. Pedestal Shot
This is a shot where the drone flies up and down, without moving the camera/gimbal at all, relying entirely on flying. Pedestal shots are often used to show statues, monuments, and even scenery above the clouds. For drone filmmakers, learning to master this skill is simple.
4. Flyover
Simply put, after the drone camera focuses on the object, the drone continues to fly and cover distance until it flies over the object from above. This shot is very common in commercials, music videos, and TV shows.
5. Reveal Shot
The reveal shot does much the same as the name. It is a technique that reveals our point of interest or the point we want the audience to focus on. Launch the drone in a position that is out of the sight of the subject, and then move it until the subject comes into view.
Post-production of drone movies
Shooting is only the first step in creating a masterpiece of film, post-production is equally important. Edit, color correct, and add special effects to your footage using professional video editing software, such as Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro. Here are some tips for post-production:
- Editing: Edit multiple shots into a coherent storyline to keep the audience interested.
- Color correcting: Adjust color and contrast to make the picture more vivid and professional.
- Sound effects and music: Add appropriate sound effects and background music to enhance the emotional expression of the film.
Regulations and safety when shooting drone movies
When using drones for cinematography, be sure to comply with local laws and regulations to ensure flight safety. If you are in the United States and plan to fly a drone outdoors, don't forget to register your drone, obtain the necessary flight permits, and do not fly in no-fly zones or crowded areas. Check the status of your drone regularly to ensure that the equipment is working properly. When flying commercially, you must obtain a drone flight and license.
Conclusion
Drone cinematography offers endless possibilities for film creation. I hope that through this film's movie drone shooting guide, you can create amazing movie-level works. Fly to the sky, unleash your creativity, and record those incredible moments!
