The drone or the unmanned aerial vehicle is a game-changer when video shooting is concerned. There are a number of factors that you need to consider with shooting and using drone footage. In the following post, we have gone over the five basic tricks to master so that your drone cinematography comes out perfect every time.
Going slow just like the experts do
This is an essential facet about shot technique and maneuvers when it comes to shooting drone video. Slow is not only cinematic, but it also gives the impression of stability to a viewer. Think about those big-budget action movies of documentaries with aerial shots using a helicopter. This increases production value.
Play with the RC control stick of the drone till you have mastered multi-directional movements as and when you want them without any jerky movement. Accelerate and brake slowly to not jar the camera, which can yield a pixilated image. To maintain consistency with the movement, you need to practice run your aerial shots to calculate angles and wind directions better before the final take.
Using the double axes for movement
This tip is directly from the big-budget Hollywood flicks where every aerial shot is a wide-angled double axes movement shot. This means you have two axes for movement at the same time. This gives the immersive idea about a moving shot. The feeling that you are living the moment in action.
If you are looking to put a shot of flying, then movement on two axes, namely backward and downwards is a great example and often used in feature films. All you need to maintain is the speed of movement across the different axes, which needs to be the same for the sake of continuity.
Using the strafe
Strafing is the sideways movement keeping the focus at the center. This is often the mode used in many wide-angled and aerial shots and FPS combat games. If you are looking to reveal features in a landscape or going for any effective reveal then instead of moving backward and forward, you can use strafing to beautiful effects.
Use orbiting
Orbiting is an advanced form of strafing where you fixed the strafe direction to either left or right. You can even play with the rotation of the drone and use the yaw stick in the opposite direction during the strafing. Go easy on the control so that your drone doesn’t spin out of axis and goes bust.
About the fly-through
The fly-through is quite a common technique that is easy to use and applied by many amateur videographers. Yes, these are cinematic but a bit tricky since you are essentially relying on just the controller screen for the navigation. This is the typical drone shot so avoid overusing it. Only include it if it is a shot that your video reel cannot do without.
That is all the information you will need before shooting your first outdoor video with a drone. Keep practicing, and you will soon start shooting like a pro.
