There's a new type of drone filmmaking being born.
It's completely different from the traditional drones
that we're used to, and it's different from FPV drones.
I like to call it cinematic FPV.
Traditionally, FPV video is kind of crazy, acrobatic,
doing really cool flips and stuff,
but it doesn't quite fit into videos,
and especially not into movies.
So cinematic FPV, in my mind, is using the advantages
of FPV drones to get cinematic drone shots
that weren't possible before.
And surprisingly, I have no idea how,
I feel like I've gotten kind of good at it now,
or at least a lot better than I used to be.
So here's five tips on how to get cinematic FPV drone shots.
Number one, you gotta fly really close to things.
Because FPV drones have zero latency
between what the drone is seeing, or where it actually is,
and what you're seeing in the goggles,
you're able to maneuver really close to things.
Unlike with traditional drones that we're used to,
there's a lag, or latency, so what you're seeing
on the video screen is actually a little bit delayed
from where your drone actually is.
So if you get close to something,
you've probably already crashed.
Plus, the FPV drones are pretty small,
and they're very powerful.
They have a ton of power,
so you can quickly maneuver around things.
And that's what makes FPV so cool for me,
is being able to fly, even if it's just the ground,
being able to fly so close to it, really, really fast,
you get these crazy dynamic shots
that just weren't possible before.
Literally, just fly close to things.
Fly close to the ground, follow things really close,
and it looks incredible, very cinematic.
Number two, fly smooth.
No flips, no crazy acrobatic moves,
just fly as smoothly and fluidly as possible.
I think that's the biggest difference
between what these pro drone racer FPV guys are doing.
It's a lot of really crazy acrobatic stuff,
and it's really cool, and I cannot do that stuff at all.
But it's not very cinematic.
It doesn't really fit videos.
It's just crazy jarring and just too much.
So cinematic FPV is flying very smoothly,
linking one element to the next as smoothly as possible
while flying really close to things,
without having crazy, all of a sudden movements,
just flying super smooth.
No flips, none of that acrobatic stuff.
It's fun to do, it's really fun to fly like that,
even though I'm not very good at it.
But for cinematic FPV, it just doesn't really work,
with some few exceptions.
For example, this really cool waterfall dive
I did in Iceland, where I kinda do this rotation,
this swirling, but even that,
I tried to do it as smoothly and slowly as possible.
That's what makes it so cool.
If I did a crazy flying off,
and then just a, whoa, super fast flip,
it wouldn't look as cool.
The fact that it's kinda just slow, floaty,
that's what makes it feel much more cinematic.
And even that shot, I think is pushing it a little bit,
but it's really cool.
Number three, explore first, then choose your lines.
How do you get these really smooth shots?
Well, I think you kind of need to explore the area first,
and what better way to do that
than actually just fly around?
And that's one of the most fun things about FPV drones,
is you can just go wherever you want.
You're like, oh, that's a cool area there,
and just fly over there.
It's like the closest feeling I've ever had
to actually flying myself,
because you can just go wherever
and explore whatever areas you want.
And so you wanna explore your surroundings first,
figure out what are the cool features,
are there waterfalls, are there cliffs,
are there really cool rock formations,
and then what's your subject,
and then start choosing your line.
And what I mean by line is just
where are you gonna fly through to get to your subject?
What's the coolest way to kind of showcase where you are?
And if you haven't flown around and explored enough,
you're not gonna know what the coolest elements are
in that environment.
So I highly recommend just doing a little bit of exploring,
even if it's a whole first battery,
just exploring and figuring out things,
and then start doing your actual cinematic lines.
Number four, of course, use an ND filter.
It's one of those things that you might just forget about,
because there's so much other stuff going on.
But I do like to have the shutter speed
a little bit higher than I normally would.
I know a lot of other people too
like to keep it around like one over 96,
or somewhere around there,
instead of just straight 180 degree rule,
which is double whatever your frame rates is.
So if you're filming in 24 frames per second,
a shutter speed of 50.
So I would instead do a shutter speed of like 96-ish,
somewhere around there.
Just because the drone is moving so fast,
you might get a little bit too much motion blur,
which could be cool too,
but I kind of like to make it look even more dynamic
and a little bit more hectic in a way.
So yeah, definitely use ND filters,
but I think it's okay to bump the shutter speed
by just a little bit here.
And then number five,
I think one of the biggest things
that most people forget about is just having a subject.
It's not enough to just fly around
and do really cool things.
You need to have some sort of subject.
And that can be anything from, you know,
a waterfall or a creek that you're following,
or the spine of a mountain,
or even better is actually having a person or a car
or something that you're flying to or following.
It could even be Isaac on a one wheel,
which looks super cool.
♪ I'm working on myself, myself ♪
♪ I really try my best to change, my best ♪
♪ Sometimes even I'm afraid, afraid ♪
As with anything, you wanna be telling story
and having some sort of subject
really helps to actually tell your story,
which in turn, I think makes things more cinematic.
What is cinematic?
It's so many different things,
but I think it really helps to actually have a subject.
And a lot of people just think it's enough
to be flying around with an FPV drone.
And I don't think that that's cinematic most of the time.
I can definitely say my best shots are the ones
where I'm flying really close to things,
super smoothly, and I have a subject,
something that's kind of keeping the attention,
like, oh, what is that coming up over there?
And we're getting closer and closer,
and then we just whiz by it, and then it just continues.
Or we start flying and you're seeing
like a kind of a focal point,
and then all of a sudden, boom, you fly off the cliff
and you get this epic view.
I think for cinematic FPV,
you really need to link a bunch of different things.
It's not enough to just be good at flying FPV drones,
which I see there's so many people
that are way better than I am at flying FPV drones,
but they're not as good at making it look super cinematic.
Not saying I'm the best,
but I think I'm getting better at it,
and I just wanna fly more and more FPV
because it is the coolest thing in terms of experience,
but also the results are nuts.
I've been posting some of those on Instagram
and little shorts and stuff,
and people's reaction to it is just like,
it's the same as me while I'm flying,
and then I get to see the end result.
It's so fun.
I highly, highly recommend it.
It is not overhyped at all.
It is worth it.
Take the time to learn, get into it,
and then use these tips
to fly some really cool cinematic FPV.
Hope these help you guys,
and I'll see you guys later.
Bye.
♪