Aerial Footage is the ‘Helicopter’ Shot

Let’s be honest, drone shots have the Wow! factor, and they’re very satisfying. 

Action-packed, immersive, viewing the world from perspectives not normally accessible to the human experience, they marinate any video marketing campaign with an instant sense of scale and charisma which elevates the messaging.  With increasing accessibility to drone equipment, it is hard to imagine any campaign not involving the magic.

However, as with all other professions film has its own grammar, and acquiring drone shots may be one thing, but knowing beforehand what to acquire and then later how to utilise it in the editing phase is altogether something more.  We must learn our trade, so to speak, and this means imagining first which shot we want, plus how this will later sequence – helping us tell the story the overall project, in sync with all marketing objectives, is seeking to convey.

Drones are fun, and learning to fly them is fun.  But there are real-world consequences for getting a shot wrong – namely, loss and damage to property – and therefore nimble fingers are an additional must.  Still, let’s for now highlight the six shots we may want to consider:

1.    The Reveal shot – where we place an obstruction, say a tree, before our true subject, and move up or across to reveal him or her. Suspense and discovery are its effect.

2.    Tracking shot – we follow a car or skateboarder or perhaps a running dog booming up the street, and keeping a smooth lock on our subject. This kinetic energy captured on film has a vibrant, sizzling quality.

3.    Orbit shot – rotating around a subject while keeping it centred. There is a mythical quality to this shot, particularly if the subject is high up and the rotating backdrop is a vast landscape and the sky accessing the very heavens.

4.    Top-Down shot – it’s the bird’s eye view. This one hits us differently because we rarely see the world like this. Beautiful patterns and symmetry emerge, and while the world unveiled is real, there is also an abstract quality to it.

5.    The Pull-Away shot – this one often ends the movie, as the ‘Hero’ has conquered his challenges and himself and this shot’s effect is to place him harmoniously within his new environment.  The shot would start in close, then we pull out and show him, say, at the mountain’s edge watching a glorious sunset while before him a vast landscape whispers new potentials.  This is unforgettable.

6.    The Low-Down shot – keeping our perspective, say, barely above the river’s waterline as we skim along with its flow.  This often is a dynamic entry to a scene, and is totally immersive, leading us to the beginnings of a new adventure.

All of these shots, which between them can be mixed and intercut, not only have their aesthetic, they each have their own place in the continuum of visual storytelling.  Use these tastefully and wisely, and above all, have fun.