Drone videography: Basic and creative aerial filming techniques for drone video cameras

If you have a drone video camera but don’t know how to film professional-looking videos, watch these footage to get some ideas for basic and creative drone filming techniques.

Basic drone filming techniques

Whether filming a larger scene or a specific subject, drone videos can learn from the established practices in theater and video productions. Check the video below – other than flying over or circling around the scene/subject, there are some basic shots such as:

  • Pan shot: camera moves from left to right or from right to left.
  • Tracking shot or dolly shot: camera moves parallel to the subject.
  • Pedestal shot: camera moves vertically parallel to the subject.
  • Still shot: camera records action or activity; camera itself does not move.

Creative drone filming techniques

When we combine some basic shots and draw on the unique perspective of the drone video camera, we can produce a variety of creative shots. Let’s watch a few creative shots that are easy to implement but will sure add a professional touch to your drone video.

Use a foreground subject: find relevant objects to use in the foreground; for instance, when revealing a larger scene, start flying from behind a foreground subject.

Line of sight: camera moves straight forward or backward to reveal objects on both sides.

Start from the specific: start from a close shot of a subject then gradually reveal the scene.

The sample shots above are just tip of the iceberg – there are many people who have been doing  creative and innovative work with drone video filming. For instance, check out the collection of fantastic drone videos by Sky-Hook; or take a look at the creative use of shots in the drone video below:

Best-selling drones at Amazon:

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About Mu Lin

Dr. Mu Lin is a digital journalism professional and educator in New Jersey, United States. Dr. Lin manages an online marketing company. He also manages MulinBlog Online J-School (www.mulinblog.com/mooc), a free online journalism training program, which offers courses such as Audio Slideshow Storytelling; Introduction to Social Media Marketing; Writing for the Web; Google Mapping for Communicators; Introduction to Data Visualization; Introduction to Web Metrics and Google Analytics.
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