Why Pick an FPV Drone Over Conventional in Film?
Conventional drone footage has been a staple in the film industry for over a decade now. Before drones became mainstream, helicopters were the default choice. Unfortunately, they are extremely expensive to run and are much more dangerous than a drone for tight proximity shots. The introduction of prosumer drones made aerial shots much more accessible for smaller productions.
What’s the difference?
The camera on FPV drones are hard mounted directly to the frame. Every move the airframe makes translates to camera movement. They are also typically a lot more agile, an powerful. A better choice for chasing subjects at high speed and close proximity.
Conventional drone can be compared to a tripod or a camera jib in the air. The drone moves independently to the airframe. They do a really good job at keeping the horizon level, and smoothing out the extraneous movement due to corrections. These types of drones are what people typically think when they think of drones, and are the most commonly used platform.
FPV drone with a cinema camera mounted
Conventional drone (DJI Mavic 4 Pro)
When to Choose what?
Both have their use case, but it’s important to choose the right tool for the job. Conventional is typically a pretty safe choice for most use cases, but it can’t do everything.
Although you might think seeing the drone movement in the shot would be a downside, if done well adds a lot of energy and immersion in to the footage. One of the most famous examples of FPV in cinema is Ambulance by Michael Bay.
I was actually hired by a DP last year to shoot some FPV for a music video after they saw the aerials in Ambulance. They had a street in downtown Calgary shut down for a day to film the video. I used a small drone weighing less than 205 grams with a de-cased GoPro for compliance with their filming permit. The video featured quite a large chunk of the shots I took. Super fun shoot, as it isn’t very common to get asked to do building dives.
Another very common use case is music festivals in conjunction with very small conventional drones. FPV is what will be used for any drone videos you see surfing the crowd, or orbiting the artists. The editors love to add this stuff in their high energy edits, and recap videos.
On occasion I am asked to do drone tours for businesses and real estate. The agility allows me to fly close to talent and shoot through small gaps not typically possible with other drones.
See what other types of shots are possible with FPV.
