How to Shoot Cinematic Drone Footage

Drones are a great way to spice up your video project and achieve unique perspectives. Today, we are going to review helpful tips to keep in mind when shooting aerial footage.

Variety

Achieve a much more entertaining video by capturing a variety of shots rather than one viewpoint. When you shoot everything from one viewpoint, the video becomes stagnant and the audience loses interest. Additionally, if you do multiple projects, all of your work starts to look the same. We recommend getting a wide variety so you can narrow it down in post production.

Scale

Scale ties into having a variety of shots. Your job is to paint the picture for the audience, and you can do that by using scale to your advantage. Let’s say you are tracking a car in the mountains from 15 feet away, that shot instantly becomes worth more once you pan out to show the audience how small the car is relative to the surrounding mountains.

Slow Movements

When using your drone, your instinct might be to go full speed. On certain occasions, going full speed might be the look you want. However, I encourage you to utilize slow movements if you haven’t explored it before. Often times, a slow panning or revealing shot will have a more emotional impact.

Time of Day

Just as you would plan what time of day you shoot with a camera, the same rule applies to drone footage. Sunsets and sunrise seem to be the sweet spot for achieving the most cinematic look possible. The shadows that the earth casts also gives the footage a more dynamic feel.

Subject

In many situations, you won’t be able to have a subject in your footage, and that’s okay. But, if we are really digging into what makes a shot more interesting, having a subject would be a great start. As I mentioned earlier, this can also give the audience a sense of scale.

Other Helpful Tips

Plan your shots before you fly and get inspiration from other photographers
Color grade and match your drone footage to your shots from other cameras
Use an ND filter to control sunlight and bright surfaces

We Recommend

DJI Mavic 2 Pro

Inspiration

Below are a few videos that take into account all of the tips I’ve mentioned. These examples show you just how cinematic your footage can look when edited properly with great music.