Flying maneuvers with drones - Film industry

Drones are used for a wide variety of purposes. There are different flight maneuvers for the respective task of the drone. Drones are also increasingly being used for advertising purposes with cameras. The following 10 maneuvers are among the most commonly used for this purpose.

Simple flight maneuvers for all kinds of shots

For linear shots, which are typically used for transitions in videos, the operator steers the drone forwards or backwards at a constant speed. He usually uses the right stick to keep a constant view of the subject with the camera.

To illustrate the depth of a landscape, for example, you mainly use diagonal maneuvers. These are created by combining both sticks. The left stick is responsible for the flight altitude and the right stick for the horizontal direction. This results in a diagonal flight path. The drone can also be panned slightly with the left stick. This makes it possible to combine several motifs.

A dynamic one can be filmed with drones flying sideways, among other things. To do this, move the right stick to the left or right. It is important to note that the movement should be smooth and the subject should remain in the camera's field of vision during this flight maneuver. This maneuver is challenging.

It is particularly easy to orbit a subject smoothly with drones. To do this, move both sticks in the desired direction and create circular paths in an anti-clockwise or clockwise direction. This maneuver can also be performed in a spiral by using the left stick to move the drone up or down. The movement of the right stick should be slower in order to focus on the subject.

In a drone shot, the drone flies backwards and rises in the process. This increases the angle of view of the subject. To do this, press the left stick upwards and the right stick downwards. To do this, however, the camera's swivel arm must be at the same angle as the flight maneuver. For a certain dramatic effect in landscape shots, the drone flies vertically upwards. To do this, press the left stick upwards and point the camera downwards. This maneuver is called Rocket.

The pilot first flies the drone forwards and zooms out with the camera. If he then flies backwards and zooms in with the camera, a so-called vertigo effect is created, which is generated by the dollie zoom recording maneuver. Last but not least, there are overview shots in which the pilot moves the right stick up or down. At the same time, the camera is slowly tilted downwards.

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