Drone filming

[Paul Arden]

Hi folks,

I know that TZ has a drone because I’ve been watching his footage! Who else uses them? I’m trying to learn as much as I can and ultimately would like to get fish captures on film. Flying over water terrifies me but I have a float-thingy which takes some of the pressure off!

Cheers, Paul

[t.z.]

That last thing I learned is that one can use the little wheel for gimbal movements very effectively, specifically when flying rather high. It does not make much difference fly long distances very high to show a landscape / location shot. Much easier to bring the drone straight up to 50 to 100m and a little bit (say 100m) back from your location you want to reveal. You can program the little button on the left side on your remote to quickly toggle between pointing the camera straight down or level (straight on) That way you very quickly check the framing & exposure of the beginning and end of your little sequence.

Fly up in sports mode, then switch to cinematic so the drone stays put. Film your location by pointing the camera straight down and then bring it slowly up with the gimbal wheel. Try to keep a steady speed. Set your gimbal setting so it can rotate above horizon and rotate all the way up pointing upwards. You be thankful for that little extra time at the end when editing. You should check the gimbal control settings (rotation speed, smoothness) also to match your needs. I think slower is better, you can always ramp up in post.

Exposure - You will recognise that you have quite a difference in exposure from the straight down to the horizontal frame. This can be fixed with auto exposure. This is OK since this in arial shot meant for shooting a scene without much moving objects in it. Make sure to use very slow gimbal rotation so the auto exposure does not "jump".

I really like this shot and it is one of the easiest to perform from technical standpoint and also from a "fear of loosing the drone" point of view. It also is beneficial to use this when one must be aware of other people which might be annoyed by the drone. Quick and dirty.

Once you have better feel for this technique you can maybe use it for capturing the strike and the release moment as well.

[Paul Arden]

Hi TZ,

I find it difficult to fish, or drive the boat for that matter, and fly and film at the same time. Since I’ve bought this floating pad for the drone taking off and landing on water is now possible. I don’t know if this makes me feel easier or not! But it certainly seems to work.

If I ever have guests here again I will at least be able to film them!

Cheers, Paul

[Viking Lars]

Not knowing which drone you have, the ones I'm used to fly has a "follow mode", which can follow a person as long as there's battery to fly. That would be a very useful feature for you when you sneak up on a snakehead.

L

[Paul Arden]

I have that - it’s a Mavic Air 2. Last time I tried to us this it didn’t follow me however but I now know that’s because I had it in Tripod mode!

[t.z.]

The follow mode (probably based on Obamas algorithm for shooting people with drones) does not work too well, I find. One keeps checking wether it actually follows and it might be that the drone just switches the subject it follows. The follow mode is optical so it tries to recognise a dude in a camp shit on a boat. Hm .... might be tricky.

I'd try flying close to right above. that way you can "zoom" in and out by the height you fly. Film in 4K so you can zoom in in post.

[Paul Arden]

Tracking from the side on the lake should be easy. It always recognises the subject as a boat. My only real concern has been water. Also it doesn’t look so exciting filming yourself flying a drone, that doesn’t really help at all I always shoot in 4K!

Cheers, Paul

[t.z.]

Tracking from the side on the lake should be easy. It always recognises the subject as a boat. My only real concern has been water. Also it doesn’t look so exciting filming yourself flying a drone, that doesn’t really help at all I always shoot in 4K!

Cheers, Paul

I see that and I understand the water worry. However, trying to get closer should one need to look closer at the "action" is more difficult from the side than from above. If the thing is straight above you can simply bring it down a bit. Much more to see with a CPL filter as well.