We have done a little more drone flying since the last blog. Not a lot. Just the one ‘work’ related batch and a bit of practice at home with the nano.
What we have been doing is looking at other pilots drone video to learn what works and what does not…… There is a ton of it out there. Hundreds of 2-10 minute boring as paint drying videos.
What’s interesting is that they are (for the most part) just gushing with excitement about how amazing the flight and video is…… Umm… It’s a sunset….. It’s a beach…. It’s a park….
It has no meaning to the viewer. None.
To them and their friends/family, sure, I bet it is a cool memory video, but to me and you, not so much.
We don’t know what the holiday was about, we don’t know just how amazing the sunset was (yeah, ok, it looks pretty from 200 feet up, but we really don’t need a full eight minutes of hovering to enjoy it).
Storytelling
Video is about storytelling. Did Hitchcock or Spielberg or Cameron have a drone? No, they made great movies because they could direct people to tell a great story.
I personally think that drone flying is amazing when it is told as part of a story.
Here is our first attempt.
To be clear, we are all finding our way with the drone. But, that said, I think it helps tell the story.
(Looking forward to sharing with you all the next video that our team is editing at the moment, it has some more drone footage in it).
If you are super interested we can share what bits are drone and what’s not (it might surprise you which shots are from the drone), otherwise, have fun guessing…..
Drone Based Data Gathering
What I am looking into more and more is using the drone as a tool. The ability to quickly and cheaply get video and data from a different viewpoint is something that is going to come into play more and more as time goes by.
Check out these websites; (Not in any order, just a bookmark dump)
https://www.mapsmadeeasy.com/drone_mapping
https://www.dronedeploy.com/
https://pix4d.com/
http://www.3dflow.net/3df-zephyr-pro-3d-models-from-photos/
http://www.agisoft.com/
And this (but you need to sign in to read it); https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303559305_A_Statistical_Examination_of_Image_Stitching_Software_Packages_For_Use_With_Unmanned_Aerial_Systems
To-Do List
I guess my point is this, drones are cool, yeah, sure, but if you just upload a home video it has very little impact.
Tell a story and use your drone as part of that story and you will get some traction.
But, for me, the real power of the drone I suspect is science. I am super looking forward to getting my hands on some footage and software.
Watch this space.
