Drones have become the ‘go to’ means of achieving super-effective establishing shots. Gone are the days when millions were spent on a few minutes of helicopter footage, shaky zoom shots and a one-chance-only to get the job done. Nowadays, at least here in the UK the most parsimonious of amateur film-makers can beg, borrow or actually buy a simple drone with in-built camera to shoot video and photographs in 4K and a gamut of frame rates. Just one of the many democratisations (aka lower prices) to have taken place in the world of film-making during the last 20 years.
Phil launching DJI Mini 3 Pro
There is, of course a catch: drone footage has got to remain an amateur pursuit…unless you are prepared to pay the hefty licence fee plus accompanying training. This means that for most of us drone clips have to be restricted to non-commercial productions. The way out of this conundrum is dead simple: pay someone else -with licence – to do the work for you.
Just a few weeks ago Raph and I spent a few weeks in glorious Sri Lanka where flying a drone is a completely different matter. Application has to be made, weeks ahead of any proposed drone flight to the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka detailing dates, times and precise locations. A fee (around £70 at current exchange rate) for up to 100 flights is also payable. The trickiest part though is that a few hours before the actual flight we had to apply in person to the ‘local’ police station to get their go-ahead. At most of these the bemused officer at reception had no idea what to do and waved us on. One notable exception was at the station in Kosgoda where the large and imposing chief of station complete with decorated uniform and a flurry of eager aides deliberated at length the pros and cons of our proposed five minute flight on the local (and mostly deserted) beach. It has to be said that our friend and interpreter (and web designer) Hashan took all this in his stride interpreting calmly the pronouncements of authority.
The iconic soaring, panoramic view over mountains and forest is indeed a heart-lifting episode in any film but for us a tiny drone can be put to work in many other ways. A ‘flight’ through woodland just two feet above the ground can be wondrously effective and can take the place of a hand-held gimbal, an unwieldy crane or even (dare I say?) a dolly shot. Youtubers can now single-handedly record themselves walking and talking with the faithful drone following from front, back or side. Just a few years into camera-equipped drones we have an astonishing raft of ‘moves’ available with myriad safety features making a crash unlikely.
Garden pond, Cheshire, UK
What more can possibly be added to these extraordinary devices? Let’s hope that amongst the inevitable, ever-improving physical and software design features the authorities which oversee and authorise our use of drones see fit to disentangle the messy knots of bureaucracy which bind even the responsible film-maker to pointless protocol. Then we really will be flying high!
Kosgoda Beach, Sri Lanka
