Today was the day that we broke out the drone! It was the first day of aerial cinematography on the feature film, “Shifting Gears”. It’s incredible what the use of drones has done for independent films. The use of a drone adds a level of production value that use to cost upwards of $10,000 (more than the budget of some indie films).
Aerial Cinematography – Alone Yet Not Alone
The photo below was taken during the filming of the 2014 Oscar Nominated film “Alone Yet Not Alone”. (I was awake for at least 24 hours at the time this photo). After a long 18 hour over night shoot (the last night of the week, of course) the producer decided we needed to capture the fall foliage before all the leaves fall.
Aerial Cinematography on the Oscar Nominated film Alone Yet Not Alone
So once we wrapped at 7AM the first AC and I loaded up the our camera gear, drove four hours to meet up with the helicopter in Richmond, VA. We then set up the Tyler mount and mount the camera as quickly as possible (at least an hour). After an uncomfortable four hour flight we arrived at an airport near Beckley, West Virginia. Here we would stretch our legs, make last minute tweaks and use the restroom while the pilot refueled.
Finally we are ready to shoot! We head to our destination, a river valley winding through the West Virginia mountains. After flying for another three or fours hours searching for shots and trying to direct and coordinate with our helicopter pilot over the helicopter noise, we were able to film some beautiful scenic landscape shots until we ran out of cards and the sunlight fell below the mountains. After one more stop to refuel it was finally time to head back to get some long over due sleep.
Save Money and Time with Drones.
So after a 36+ hour, and over $10K of expenses not including our overtime, we had maybe a minute of footage for the film. Shifting Gears was able to afford to keep a drone on standby for the entire shoot, we had access to the drone for less than the cost that one day on Alone Yet Not Alone.
The use of drones saves your production time and money. The biggest benefit in my opinion is the the drone allows you to get shots that are not possible with a helicopter, a drone will (safely) get very close to the subject. You can fly across the water or even through doors and windows of a house. This opens up so many new shot possibilities, only the sky is the limit!