“Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I’m here to take drone video of your facility. I won’t be long.” Orange shafts of sunlight filled the new storefront, illuminating the staff. The smiles lessened in untroubled faces, slight creases appeared in unmarred foreheads. I explained for the third time that day that I had been hired by the building company to make videos of this facility along with several others, all with the consent of their respective owners.
Their faces returned to the bland, friendly shapes shared by all semi-sales customer service people and they made reassuring noises, offering me bottled water and showing me how to get past the front gate. Back outside, I glanced at the sun and quickly prepped my Phantom 4 for flight. The light was changing rapidly now, and my stomach rumbled quietly.
Forge Building Company wanted short, 30 sec videos along with photos of each of five local storage centers. The idea was to use this material at trade shows and on their website, as well as give prints of the properties to their respective property owners. I agreed to do this enthusiastically, giving them a discount due to the relative simplicity of what they needed.
This was the last place I was shooting before going home, but time and tide wait for no man, and I would need to return to finish if I wasn’t careful. The drone darted from place to place as I took the photos I needed in quick succession. The video took longer, but this was expected: the angles were usually more complicated and sometimes several takes were required to get things just right.
Plus, I wanted each video I made for this project to be unique and interesting in it’s own right, so I needed to find captivating features and unusual angles for each place. Fortunately, some of the shots were similar everywhere (orbits, fly ins, fly outs, etc.), and this sped things up considerably.
I finished before the sun slipped behind the tall stand of evergreens across the street. I smiled to myself as I packed up; the shoot was wrapped, and a little editing work in Premiere was all that stood between me and three more finished videos.
Below is the result of my efforts on that bright, cloudless August day.
Not impressive. VERY jerky in transition.
Back to the drawing board.