I came across a nice 3-part series of videos by Sebastian Wöber that provide some tips about getting better aerial footage with drones and working with drone footage during editing. Wöber made these videos because he said that although there were a lot of technical, how-to tutorials out there, none showed how to get really cinematic-quality footage with a drone.

If you are thinking about buying a drone for filmmaking or you already have one and wish to improve the quality of your footage, these videos may help.

Wöber used a DJI Inspire 1 to make his points. Some of the topics covered in part 1 include safety considerations, details about the Inspire 1, setting up a shot (perspectives), and lighting considerations. In parts 2 and 3, he goes into more detail about the limitations of the camera in the Inspire 1 and using After Effects to make corrections during editing (these tips are a bit more technical and require more experience with professional filmmaking and editing techniques).

Overall, though, his suggestions are good for those videographers interested in getting more cinematic aerial footage of landscapes. If you are an amateur videographer, you will find part 1 the most useful, which I’ve embedded below. You can find all three videos and more information on the Cinema5D website.