As a stills photographer, I've always appreciated the importance of being prepared with regards to scouting wild landscape locations - including whether they will be best at sunrise or sunset. This transferred over to film making.
For the past two months, we've been preparing for filming a grant total of 1 minute and 20 seconds of a woman dancing in the wilderness. We initially thought we'd narrowed down several best locations. That was, until we got the drone up to check them from the air well in advance of actual filming. We were surprised that most of the locations chosen looked great from human height but not so good from up above. So it was back to the drawing board. We've since worked on a final list of eight different locations.
This morning was another very early start, driving off in the dark, then walking to a spectacular mountainside cliff edge well before sunrise. We did a "no dress" rehearsal, moving rapidly on to the second location before the best light had gone. We'll be going back to the same location again tomorrow for sunrise to get even better angles. And that's just for two shots of 4 seconds each.
When the dancer arrives in country eight days from now, we'll have just six days to film. Weather will likely be mixed, not least because we're up in the mountains, even thought it's late summer. We're realistically planning on two or three early mornings of the six to be sunny with light/gentle winds so therefore good for flying/filming. We ideally need at least three early mornings and one pre-sunset to be suitable, preferably more. We'll only film in the first 45 minutes of "golden hour" immediately after sunrise, plus the last 30 minutes before sunset.
We're finalising heights, angles, and cinematography techniques. Notes are being written out on single sheets of A4 paper for each location, held on a clipboard, so we'll remember/know what to do and in what order.
The choreography has all been worked out, to music chosen at the beginning of the project (broken down into 4 second sections for editing purposes), two dresses purchased, bra straps replaced with invisible ones, etc etc. This was done two months ago, although dance practices have and are continuing.
I'm experienced in many ways, but this is the first time I will have filmed a dancer from the air. We've been surprised at the amount of work involved up to this point. Thankfully, we never underestimate the importance of "be prepared".
Perhaps most crucial of all is the work done by DJI to manufacture the drone. Although it had nothing to do with us, we're immensely grateful for such amazing and reliable technology. A great tool.
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." Seneca
For the past two months, we've been preparing for filming a grant total of 1 minute and 20 seconds of a woman dancing in the wilderness. We initially thought we'd narrowed down several best locations. That was, until we got the drone up to check them from the air well in advance of actual filming. We were surprised that most of the locations chosen looked great from human height but not so good from up above. So it was back to the drawing board. We've since worked on a final list of eight different locations.
This morning was another very early start, driving off in the dark, then walking to a spectacular mountainside cliff edge well before sunrise. We did a "no dress" rehearsal, moving rapidly on to the second location before the best light had gone. We'll be going back to the same location again tomorrow for sunrise to get even better angles. And that's just for two shots of 4 seconds each.
When the dancer arrives in country eight days from now, we'll have just six days to film. Weather will likely be mixed, not least because we're up in the mountains, even thought it's late summer. We're realistically planning on two or three early mornings of the six to be sunny with light/gentle winds so therefore good for flying/filming. We ideally need at least three early mornings and one pre-sunset to be suitable, preferably more. We'll only film in the first 45 minutes of "golden hour" immediately after sunrise, plus the last 30 minutes before sunset.
We're finalising heights, angles, and cinematography techniques. Notes are being written out on single sheets of A4 paper for each location, held on a clipboard, so we'll remember/know what to do and in what order.
The choreography has all been worked out, to music chosen at the beginning of the project (broken down into 4 second sections for editing purposes), two dresses purchased, bra straps replaced with invisible ones, etc etc. This was done two months ago, although dance practices have and are continuing.
I'm experienced in many ways, but this is the first time I will have filmed a dancer from the air. We've been surprised at the amount of work involved up to this point. Thankfully, we never underestimate the importance of "be prepared".
Perhaps most crucial of all is the work done by DJI to manufacture the drone. Although it had nothing to do with us, we're immensely grateful for such amazing and reliable technology. A great tool.
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." Seneca