Drone Video Tutorial: 8 Beginner Hollywood Style Drone Shots

It is unbelievable how advanced drones have become, allowing anyone with a couple hundred bucks access to a stable camera platform to shoot cinematic video. Whether if you own a drone or looking to buy one, here’s my step-by-step instructions for how to get the 8 most cinematic drone shots. There’s no better way to add that WOW factor to a destination video than with a drone. The drone shots I’ve included in this video tutorial are shots you’ve seen in Hollywood movies, but I’ve make it simple enough for any beginner to do. Also, you can do these drone techniques with any drone.

Copy the tips below so you have the tips with you when you shoot your next film, wedding, or travel destination! Remember to watch the video so you can see how to actually perform these drone techniques.

FULL TUTORIAL VIDEO

1. Tilt Up Shot

This drone shot is one of the most popular “opening scene” shots that you see in movies. You’ve seen in it movies such as the Fast and Furious series, but it was made ironic in the opening scene of the original Jurassic Park where you first see the ocean waves and slowly “look up” to see the island.
HOW TO:

• Point camera down at an angle, only showing the scene below such as waves, beach, or road.
• Start flying forwards or backwards at a constant speed while slowly tilting the camera up to show the full scene.

[Watch this tutorial]

2. Tilt Down Shot

The tilt down drone shot is the reverse of the tilt up shot. This technique gives viewers the feeling that they are arriving at a location as the camera tilts down to focus on a specific subject or location.
HOW TO:

• Point camera straight ahead, showing the full scene.
• While flying forwards or backwards, slowly tilt the camera down towards a specific subject.

[Watch this tutorial]

3. Forward, Up, and Over

This drone maneuver is my absolute favorite. When done properly, you feel as though you are taking off from runway and have your breath taken away as the whole environment reveals itself to you. To start, the viewers only see the subject such as a building or mountain. Then, you slowly fly over the building or mountain to show the location behind it.
HOW TO:

• Start with drone low and close to the subject so the subject completely blocks the background.
• Point camera straight ahead.
• Fly forward and up at a consistent speed over the subject.

[Watch this tutorial]

4. Top Down (Overhead)

The top down shot is the most basic drone shot anyone can do. All you do is point the camera down. Here’a few ways to make this shot more interesting. You can pick an interesting scene where there is something moving. You can also fly the drone up to reveal more of what is below the drone. Finally, you can fly the drone forward, back, left, or right to follow a feature below the drone such as a road or coastline.
HOW TO:

• Point camera down

[Watch this tutorial]

5. Sideways

This technique is even easier than the top down shot. Simply fly the drone left or right. Most people only fly the drone forward, which is boring and a dead giveaway that you are an inexperienced drone pilot. By flying sideways left or right, you reveal more of the scene that the audience didn’t see before.
HOW TO:

• Point camera straight ahead
• Fly drone sideways.

[Watch this tutorial]

6. Slider (Sideways Reveal)

Similar to the “Forward, Up, and Over” shot, this drone technique starts close to a subject, then slowly reveals the background.
HOW TO:

• Start by positioning the drone behind the subject such as a building or tree. Make sure the subject completely hides the background.
• Fly the drone left or right away from the subject to reveal the background

[Watch this tutorial]

7. Crane/Jib

Crane and jibs are used in Hollywood movies to start the camera very low, focused on a subject such as a person or car, then quickly lift the camera to show the whole scene. We can copy this camera movement easily with a drone by flying the drone vertically up or down.
HOW TO:

• Start with the drone very low.
• Point camera straight ahead at a subject such as a person, car, door, house, tree, etc.
• Fly drone up or down vertically

[Watch this tutorial]

8. Orbit/Revolve

One of the most popular drone shots is to fly in a circle around a subject such as a building, mountain, statue, or person. While most drones come with it’s own app that can perform “special” shots such as the orbiting shot, you can also achieve the orbiting shot manually.
HOW TO:

• Point the drone camera forward at the subject
• Push the yaw control stick (rotating stick) and the direction control stick in opposite directions. For example, push the yaw stick left and push the direction stick right. Or, push the yaw stick right and the direction stick left.

[Watch this tutorial]

 

 

Can’t wait to see you use these drone moves in your next video! Show us your drone videos by commenting below or on our social media channels:
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