When you start using your drone to shoot aerial videos, you will soon notice that your videos do not look as captivating as the professional drone footages. This is mainly due to the fact that professionals know several tactics to capture and edit their drone footage in a way that makes it look more cinematic. And below, we will look at four such tips that will take your drone videos to the next level.
Never Go Too High
The first thing you must remember is never to go too high. Many people make this mistake and end up with a video where the surface is so far away from the view that everything on it looks vaguely unclear. In addition, you will also lose out on the angle and perspective of the shot, which will make the video less interesting. Now, the Federal Aviation Administration limits drone to fly at a height of 500 feet or less. However, it is recommended that you keep the drone at a height of just around 200 feet. This should be good enough to capture landscapes from a good enough height without sacrificing any details.
Slow, Subtle Movements
What makes a drone video extremely captivating is its slow, subtle movements. But those who are beginners in using drones often tend to take erratic shots that are about 2 to 3 seconds long. Unfortunately, such shots are not likely to create the dreamy, ethereal feel that one gets from watching popular drone videos. As such, you should try to take shots which are at least 6 seconds in length. And make sure that the movement of the drone is smooth and not too jarred.
Adjust Camera Settings
When you receive your drone, the camera will be set to the default settings. This often results in videos that look too colorful and sharp. But this is not what we want. The ideal way to capture drone videos is to set the picture to a neutral mode so that the video looks less saturated with color. And once the video is captured, you can easily color grade it in the exact manner you need through any popular video editing software.
Film Emulation
The last trick to get a cinematic looking drone video is to use film emulation. All drone cameras, no matter how good they are, will always produce videos that look too sharp and look like documentary quality videos. This is in complete contrast to cinematic footage that tends to look softer and have an epic feeling to them. And one way to mimic such cinematic look is by adding a film emulation effect to the video footage after all the color grading has been done. If you are planning to send your videos to any drone video awards and competitions, then you must definitely follow this step since it will give you a massive advantage over other participants who might just present the regular drone footage.
In addition to the above, there are countless other cinematography tricks that can make your drone videos look more captivating. And once you have mastered these four tips, you can explore and move on to newer ways