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I mean I get it, sometimes that drone shot gives scale to the crazy shit these skiers do. But oh my god, why are there SO many bad drone shots. If you can’t get the whole clip in a smooth shot without it being a jagged 2 part clip why even bother. Drive me nuts, if the shots sick, gr8. If it’s not, why act like it’s this new unbelievable tech. Just grab a fuckin camera…
I'm a licensed drone pilot w/ countless flight hours logged over the years, the simple answer is drone ski action shots are way harder to nail than they look to non-pilots who have never tried to capture complex aerials like that.
Almost anyone can pick up a modern drone and get solid scenic shots of a static landscape, but introducing the variables of a skier performing a trick off/on/around a feature(s) makes the shot exponentially harder for every element to line up. Combine the fact that you're (depending on which drone is used) most likely single-op: both piloting the drone to line up the shot while avoiding crashing, keeping the skier properly in the camera frame, and always keeping an eye on important telemetry/battery data, it's a lot to juggle simultaneously.
The best aerial action shots I've personally filmed are whenever we're able to split responsibilities w/ multiple flight controllers: one person piloting full time, and the other framing/operating the camera full time. The pilot has a permanent forward facing low-lag feed to reference, which frees up the bottom mounted cinema camera to aim anywhere 360° independently of the aircrafts movements.
Unfortunately for duel-op to work properly, both the pilot and cam-op have to be very familiar w/ each others skillsets and communication both ways has to be precise and efficient while the bird is in the air draining precious battery every second. You can't just hop on duel-op w/ a rando or minimal experience person/pair and expect great results off the bat, and will often give you even worse results than just doing traditional single-op. It's rare for me that the stars align for a great duel-op session, but when it does happen there's a solid chance some magic will come out of it...
IanAvery-LeafI'm a licensed drone pilot w/ countless flight hours logged over the years, the simple answer is drone ski action shots are way harder to nail than they look to non-pilots who have never tried to capture complex aerials like that.
Almost anyone can pick up a modern drone and get solid scenic shots of a static landscape, but introducing the variables of a skier performing a trick off/on/around a feature(s) makes the shot exponentially harder for every element to line up. Combine the fact that you're (depending on which drone is used) most likely single-op: both piloting the drone to line up the shot while avoiding crashing, keeping the skier properly in the camera frame, and always keeping an eye on important telemetry/battery data, it's a lot to juggle simultaneously.
The best aerial action shots I've personally filmed are whenever we're able to split responsibilities w/ multiple flight controllers: one person piloting full time, and the other framing/operating the camera full time. The pilot has a permanent forward facing low-lag feed to reference, which frees up the bottom mounted cinema camera to aim anywhere 360° independently of the aircrafts movements.
Unfortunately for duel-op to work properly, both the pilot and cam-op have to be very familiar w/ each others skillsets and communication both ways has to be precise and efficient while the bird is in the air draining precious battery every second. You can't just hop on duel-op w/ a rando or minimal experience person/pair and expect great results off the bat, and will often give you even worse results than just doing traditional single-op. It's rare for me that the stars align for a great duel-op session, but when it does happen there's a solid chance some magic will come out of it...
No doubt thanks for all that info, interesting to hear the difference in equipment. Some of the coolest shots can be drone, just feel it’s overused a bit especially when they aren’t primo shots.
