How to shoot perfect aerial footage. The 3 S rule

Drone pilots know specific tricks for getting good shots! Let's look at some of them together.

In every field of work there are people who believe that a highly sophisticated and innovative tool, or even just a very current and trendy one like civilian drones, is enough to do a job well or to turn its owner into a professional.
The truth is that the tool itself doesn't even do 20% of the work! Professional photographers think so when they meet someone who, after buying a DSLR, believes they've reached the threshold of being able to call themselves a "photographer".

In truth, the more sophisticated and professional a work tool is, the more it needs to be handled by someone with experience and expertise in the field. The field of drone technology in general, and of aerial photography (with drones and telescopic poles) in particular, is no exception.

Before buying and using a drone, it is in fact important to know that:

• there are fairly strict ENAC rules and regulations governing their use,
• drones can be dangerous to people and property if not used by competent hands,
• there are specific tricks for shooting aerial footage with a drone. Let's look at 3 of them together, which we classify as the
  
  

3S Rule

Surface

Before starting to shoot, it is important to calculate as accurately as possible the surface area to be filmed. It's not enough to have a beach or a beautiful city at your disposal and launch your drone; that might have been enough a few years ago, when drone videos were a complete novelty and a "simple" flight left everyone speechless. Now you need a real storyboard for your shots, also because the battery of our aircraft is not infinite!
It lasts 20 minutes, and it is important to make the best use of that time, knowing in advance where you're going to fly, and having as precise an idea as possible of the final result you want to achieve.

Symmetry

To give your video a harmonious look, having a beautiful subject (for example, a beautiful landscape) is not enough. It would be like thinking that a beautiful model is all you need for a beautiful photo. When defining your storyboard, you should pay particular attention to the symmetry of the images.
We have noticed that the alternating rhyme effect is very popular with users. But what is the alternating rhyme effect? It is the choice to alternate images belonging to different semantic areas in a symmetrical way: the sea filmed from right to left - a meadow filmed from left to right - the sea at another time of day and in different light from right to left - a meadow at another time of day and in different light from left to right, and so on.
This creates rhythm, entertains, engages, and helps the viewer follow the flight of the drone and your creativity on an emotional level.

Support

Especially at the beginning, it is not wise to shoot footage (or fly drones) alone. Not only for reasons of safety and caution, but also for creative purposes. However light drones may be, they are still objects in flight piloted from the ground, they have to deal with air friction, and in some cases even light wind. You always need someone who keeps their eyes fixed on the flying object, while another person alternates their gaze between the drone and the remote controller, also to watch on their own device what the aircraft is filming, as a director does. And a good director, since the dawn of time, certainly does not work alone.

To learn these and other tricks, and above all to find out much more about the 3 points listed at the beginning, Aerealclick organizes technical courses to teach how to use drones and to obtain the licence required by the aviation authority.
Write to us to find out more!