5 Best Simple & Easy Cinematic Drone Shots

Getting beautiful and cinematic drone footage can sometimes be challenging to capture. Check out our video below where we cover 5 simple and easy cinematic drones shots and how to execute them! These shots look great and are absolutely worth trying.

 

 

1. The Pull-Away Shot

This shot is one of my favorites. It always looks great and it’s one of the easiest to capture. Simply hover your drone in front of your subject, and then gradually push up on the left stick and pull back on the right stick. The drone will move back and up, and as simple as this shot is, the footage looks great! Practicing slower control stick movements will result in smoother, more cinematic footage, however you can also go full throttle in both directions for a faster shot. Additionally, you can also try putting the drone in Tripod Mode for guaranteed smooth and slow footage.

 

2. The POI Shot

Point of Interest is an intelligent flight mode on DJI drones, and while it may sound like cheating, using this automatic flight mode results in excellent drone footage. When in the POI mode, the drone slowly circles a subject while simultaneously adjusting the camera angle to keep the subject in frame. This is super simple to do and the footage looks amazing. Watch the video for a full rundown of how the POI mode works!

 

3. The Fly-Up-Tilt-Down Shot

Flying up while tilting down is another simple shot which looks great. This shot does take some practice to execute, however you can make it easier by adjusting what’s called the “gimbal pitch speed.” The gimbal pitch speed is how fast your camera tilts up and down. Changing the pitch speed to around 10 or so will result in a smoother and slower camera tilt, which is perfect for executing this shot. Again, all you’re doing for this shot is positioning your drone in front of your subject, slowly flying up, and as you’re reaching the top of your subject pulling on the gimbal pitch dial to tilt the camera downwards.

 

4. The Flyover-Tilt-Down Shot

This shot looks awesome, and it is great for showing off a property or location. The trick to filming this shot is to actually record it in reverse. By starting above your subject and then flying backwards and tilting up, you’re guaranteeing the shot will end perfectly above your subject and you will not accidentally miss your mark. So again, what you want to do is start directly above your subject with the camera facing downwards (you could even start a little bit past your subject if you’d like). Begin flying backwards and slowly tilt your camera up to keep the subject in frame. Continue this move before gradually tilting up to the skyline. Like the Fly-Up-Tilt-Down shot, it’s a good idea to adjust the gimbal pitch speed to around 10 or so for a nice, smooth camera tilt.

 

5. The Low-to-Ground-Tilt-Up Shot

This shot is nothing short of epic. It looks incredible, has a lot of energy, and is a great way to reveal your subject. So how do you pull this shot off? First, hover your drone as close as you feel comfortable to the ground, keeping in mind the closer you are to the ground the faster your drone will appear to be flying. (I had my drone just 1 foot above the ground for this shot). Keep your camera facing downwards, and begin to fly forwards. As you’re flying forwards, gradually to tilt the camera up to reveal your subject. Like in previous shots, a slower gimbal pitch speed of around 10 or so is ideal for pulling off this shot. It may take practice getting the timing down, but I think the end effect looks stunning and I highly recommend giving this shot a try.

 

So that’s it! Those are 5 simple and easy cinematic drone shots. Check out the video for a full guide on how to pull all of these shots off, as well as example footage. Let us know which shots you try, and which you like best!




Additional Resources

Want to get paid to your drone? Apply to be a drone pilot today! Fly using these techniques to capture amazing drone videos of residential or commercial real estate properties, construction projects, solar installations, or whatever other projects become available in your area. We’d love to have you as part of our pilot network.

Also check out our other drone tutorials! We have detailed guides on capturing great photos, the best Mavic Pro Camera settings, a guide to flying indoors, and so much more. Here are three of our favorites:

Want to see these tips in action? Consider checking out our completed projects over on our videos page. These videos are great examples of how using different techniques to get a variety of shots helps make the video engaging and compelling to viewers.

 

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