- [Voiceover] Take off.
(drone buzzing)
(upbeat music)
- This is the DJI Mini 3.
And in this video,
I'm gonna show you exactly how I create a cinematic sequence
using this drone.
Now I'm working on a video about California's gold rush
and I want to use my drone
to capture some of these epic landscapes
where they used to have all these different gold mines.
So in this video I'm gonna show you behind the scenes,
how I'd actually use a drone
to capture some different shots.
And so I'm gonna show you exactly what I do
with the drone in the sky.
And I'm also gonna show you how I use the controller
to be able to capture these scenes
and use them in a video that has more of a story.
All right. let's get into it.
(upbeat music)
Now, before we get started,
I wanna say a special thanks to our sponsor,
which is Wirestock.
And Wirestock is a tool for you to start making money
off your photos, videos, and vector art.
So how it works is that Wirestock distributes your content
to a bunch of different stock agencies.
And so as a creator, all you have to do
is worry about creating awesome looking footage or photos
and then uploading it to the site.
Now, one of the coolest features about using Wirestock
is that they will do all the keywording and metadata
for you.
All you have to do is upload your footage and submit it.
So you can spend less time on the computer doing data entry
and more time out in the field creating.
Now, personally, I've been uploading stock footage for years
and Wirestock definitely makes it easy.
You have one dashboard
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everything about the photos, videos,
vector art that you've uploaded.
And you can see where you're making your money
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One of the other really cool things about Wirestock
is that they create a portfolio for you
so that you could use that
and show your work to potential clients
or anybody that's interested in buying your stock.
So next time you're out shooting some photos or videos
think of some different shots that you could use
as stock footage and upload them to Wirestock.
I'll include a link down below the description
to where you can get started right now.
(upbeat music)
So I wanna shoot a shot here that's gonna be an intro
to the sequence of actually getting to the location
of where these gold mines are.
And we're out here in this cool valley
with all these crazy Joshua trees,
kind of at the base of the mountain
before we start climbing.
And what I want to get is a few different shots
that shows offroading to get there.
And I just wanna start with an entrance shot
and I'm gonna use what I call a raise up
with a push forward.
So it's a fairly simple movement to do
but it is a little bit harder to perfect
because you have to get your timing right.
And so I'm gonna be pushing forward on the right joystick
while pulling up on the gimbal.
And what happens is you're gonna be seeing the ground
and you're gonna be seeing motion
but you don't know where you're at.
And then it reveals the scene in front of you.
And then the subject's gonna be moving through the shot.
Now, when I'm doing all these moves,
I'm gonna be having Jesse driving my Jeep
and I'm gonna be out of the car operating.
Okay, same thing, just keep driving
and go around the curve a little bit further.
And that allows me to have a lot of control
and also be able to see everything going on.
I could see where the drone is
and I could see where the Jeep is driving through the scene.
And the key thing with this shot is timing.
I wanna make sure that my Jeep is driving through the scene
at a spot that's not at center
but a little bit before center,
so that as the gimbal comes up, you see the Jeep passing by,
and it's all just moving nicely together.
I don't want the Jeep to be way off in the distance.
And I also don't want it to be outta frame
as that gimbal comes up to center.
(upbeat music)
So I just got to one of the old gold mines
and this is gonna be a key point in the story
'cause I'm talking about all these different gold mines
throughout the mountains.
Now I wanna show myself approaching this location
and actually walking up to the mine.
And to do that, I don't wanna just have like a tripod shot,
I wanna have a moving shot with the drone.
So I'm going to be having the drone move forward this way
as I'm walking towards this gold mine.
And so the idea is it's kind of like that third person,
like the video game feel,
where it's up over behind me
as I'm walking towards this mine.
And I'm gonna be doing this just using the controller.
I'm just pushing forward on the right joystick.
And I'll just have the controller down by my sides.
So you'll see the controller in the shot, but I don't mind.
It's not a big deal to see this once in a while
but it'll be a cool looking shot to use for the video
because I'm gonna be going past my Jeep here.
And then you'll see the gold mine in the distance
and we'll be approaching it together.
So we're kind of walking towards the gold mine as one.
It's a super simple shot,
but I'm gonna use the C mode so I can go super slow
and try to match my speed
as I'm walking towards this gold mine.
(upbeat music)
That is one shot that I might use,
but in the edit, I might want an option.
So a lot of times when I'm doing shots like this
I might do a few different types of shots
even though it's the same scene.
I might just only use one of them.
So for this, I like that reveal
where I'm walking towards the gold mine.
But the other way to play this
is starting low in on the gold mine and then coming out.
So I'm gonna do a shot where I'm walking up
and you'll see me,
and then it reverses back out and away.
So I'm gonna pull down on the right joystick
and I'm gonna pull up on the left joystick
and that's gonna fly the drone backwards
but also going up at the same time.
And as the drone drifts away,
I'm gonna look down at my screen,
and I'll play around with the gimbal
to make sure I tilt just enough
where it has like this cool look
and you can see where I'm at in this big landscape.
(upbeat music)
(drone buzzing)
All right.
So for this shot,
there's this massive Joshua tree, that's huge.
So the shot that I want to get
is a Dolly shot left or right.
And I kind of want to pan across this tree.
So it's filling the frame
and you get the sense of like we're out here
in the Joshua trees.
And then as I come out from one of the sides
you'll see the Jeep passing through the shot.
So the Jeep's gonna be moving faster than my drone.
I'm gonna be doing a slow crawl with my Mini 3.
And I'm just gonna be panning across.
And then you'll see the Jeep driving in the distance
and it'll eventually leave frame and drive off.
So to do this shot, it's fairly simple.
You just pull right on the right joystick
or left on the right joystick.
And the drone is just gonna move left or right in the sky.
And I'm gonna do this at a slow pace
so I'm gonna use the C mode.
(upbeat music)
So one thing that's really cool about the Mini 3 Pro
is that it shoots in 4k 60 frames per second.
So all of this footage that I've been shooting today,
I've been shooting in 4k 60.
And I'm not necessarily gonna use 4k 60,
but when I have it in a drone,
it gives you the flexibility
to be able to slow down your footage,
and it helps make smoother shots.
So if you're not perfect with your movements,
well, you could use the 60 frames per second,
slow it down half speed,
and you'll have a much smoother shot.
You could even add some post stabilization
and really create some cool looks out of your drone moves.
And I'm always using the stabilization and slow motion
just to make my shots look that much smoother.
So this whole area is just full of a ton of Joshua trees.
And one of the shots I want to capture
is just some environmental shots
of these trees in this big landscape.
And so what I want to do is get the drones super low
and actually tilt the gimbal up.
On this drone, you can tilt up past 90 degrees
which allows you to get these shots
that point a little bit towards the sky.
And I wanna look up at the towering Joshua trees
and then I'm gonna do an orbit.
So I'm gonna pull right on the right joystick
and left on the left joystick
or right on the left joystick
and left on the right joystick.
And what that's gonna do is create a circle
around the Joshua tree that I'm filming
and it'll create an arcing motion.
Now, ideally what I want to do
is get this as smooth as possible
so it just feels like this rotation,
as I'm moving through the landscape.
And I'm gonna get myself low
so it's gonna feel kind of like a gimbal shot.
And that's one thing when you're using a drone,
you don't always have to be way up in the sky.
Sometimes it's good just to be down low
and get these shots
that you might be able to get with a gimbal
but you're gonna be much smoother,
and you're gonna be able to travel much further distances
when you have this drone,
and you're moving across these big landscapes.
(gentle piano music)
So this next shot is kind of like the typical shot you see
when you see overlanding videos or offroading or car shots.
And that is right in front of the car, moving backwards.
Super simple shot to achieve, but it looks really good.
All you do is pull back on the right joystick
and you're moving backwards at the same pace
that the car is moving forwards.
And ideally you want to get yourself down low
and right in front of the vehicle,
because it's gonna give you that perspective
where you're looking back on the car.
And so as my Jeep is driving through this landscape,
you'll get this really cool dynamic shot
where there's a lot of motion
and you can see the truck moving through the landscape.
The only thing that you really have to worry about
is what's behind you,
make sure that you have a clear path.
And I like to do this shot on straightaways
because it's gonna make it a lot easier
to follow the vehicle in front
when you have more of a straight path behind.
(gentle piano music)
Okay, these Joshua trees are just too awesome
so I need to get a few more shots.
This one in particular, out there in the distance
has such a cool unique look to it.
So I'm gonna do something a little bit different.
I'm gonna do the orbit as I'm ascending up into the sky.
And so to perform this,
I'm gonna be pulling right on the left joystick
and left on the right joystick.
And I'm gonna be doing the same orbit.
However, I'm also gonna be pushing up on the left joystick.
And so you're gonna be pushing the left joystick
at one of the two angles upwards.
And so the drone is gonna do kind of a helix
up into the sky as you're rotating around this Joshua tree.
Now, I'm gonna do this a couple ways.
I'm gonna do one where the camera's at 90 degrees
pointed straight out,
and then also one where it's tilted up.
I did another video on my second channel
where I did this tilt up helix move
around this giant rock that I did a video about.
And it had such a cool look because you don't see the ground
and you're kind of circling up around the rock.
So I'm gonna do the same thing with this Joshua tree
and just get this shot
where you're gonna see some of the ground,
and then it's gonna send up into the sky.
(gentle upbeat music)
So something really cool with the Mini 3
is that your gimbal can rotate up to 60 degrees up,
which is crazy 'cause most drones it's 30.
So like I have it close to this Joshua tree
just so we could get this view of it.
And like you're looking straight up at this Joshua tree.
It's such a cool look
because normally with drones you don't have the range
to be able to do this.
Okay. So for this next shot
what I want to do is get a top down shot of my Jeep
driving through this path here,
kind of has a cool look to it.
So when I do these top down shots I'll do different styles,
but for this, I just wanna follow the Jeep
and keep at the same pace.
So I'm gonna be right overhead looking straight down,
and then I'm just gonna try to follow it.
And I'm gonna have the drone pointing forward
the same direction that the Jeep is moving.
And if it takes a turn, I'm gonna try to turn with it.
So I wanna almost be glued to that Jeep
and really feel that movement going back and forth.
And it kind of feels like this overhead,
like you're looking at a map or something straight down
and the Jeep is moving through it.
It's like looking at your navigation
where the arrow stays straight and the map is moving around,
but we're gonna play around
with that concept of having the Jeep on these dirt trails.
(gentle upbeat music)
So the next shot's gonna be another landscape shot
but I wanna show my Jeep moving through the landscape
but I don't wanna follow the Jeep.
So I almost want to get like a big epic landscape shot
and then the Jeep enters
and just kind of moves through the frame on its own pace,
not working with the drone.
So sometimes I like moves
where I'm moving exactly the pace of my subject
whereas other times I want the subject
to be moving at a different pace.
And I'm just doing a shot of say this big open landscape.
So for this, I wanna get high in the sky.
I wanna do an orbit.
So just like some of the other orbits in this video.
But the difference is I wanna do a nice big wide orbit.
So I'm moving super slow, I'm in C mode.
I'm only pulling slightly on each of the joysticks
so it has this really big arcing motion.
But then you'll see the Jeep in the distance
moving through the landscape.
(gentle upbeat music)
So for this shot, I wanna show a bunch of motion.
And I'm basically gonna fly straight
through all of these Joshua trees, keeping the drone low.
And all I'm doing is pushing forward on the right joystick
but I'm gonna put it in sport mode.
And when you're in this mode, you don't have any sensors.
So you just need to make sure
that you have a clear line of sight where you're going,
and you make sure you can see the drone
because you don't wanna crash it.
But bumping up the speed, ramps up the energy.
And it's really cool to see a landscape
as you just blast through it.
You've noticed throughout this video,
I've been close to objects
and I'm trying to move past things
because it just feels a lot more cinematic
when you're closer to objects.
Now it does take some practice to be able to do this.
And you wanna make sure
that you're comfortable flying closer to objects.
But it's something
that will make your shots really stand out,
especially when you're flying close and fast
through objects.
(gentle upbeat music)
So whenever I do a shot
and I'm doing like a straight out shot,
I try to do something else on the way back
just so I have more footage to work with.
So I just did this shot where I'm zooming out
and now I'm just bringing the drone back
and keeping it kind of high and just flying backwards.
So it just gives me something else to work with in the edit.
You never know.
It's always good to get extra shots when you're out filming.
So the story is about gold mines
and there's an old gold mine right here.
I wanna get a couple shots just showing this gold mine
in the landscape.
So what I wanna do is I want to descend down
and curve around the gold mine,
and my Jeep which is right behind us,
is gonna be off in the distance.
So to perform this move,
I'm going to be pulling down on the left joystick
while also doing an orbit.
(upbeat music)
So this spot is too cool, I need to get another shot.
I wanna just come over this ridge line
and then tilt down onto this gold mine.
I don't know which one I'm gonna use
but it's good to have options
when I actually get into editing.
So what I'm gonna do for this shot is I'm gonna push forward
while tilting the camera down.
So it's pushing up on the right joystick
while bringing the gimbal down.
And what I'm gonna do is come up over this ridge line
while the camera points down at this goldmine.
(upbeat music)
The DJI Mini 3 is definitely an awesome drone
to shoot adventure style videos.
It packs up super small
and it's got a ton of features built in.
Now, next you need to watch this video right here
which goes through nine different shots.
That's gonna help you craft a cinematic sequence
especially when you're stuck and not sure what shots to get
when you're out filming, go check it out.