Glance at the summary firstThe summary from the end of the lesson, as a road map before you start reading.
A smooth aerial shot comes more from the pilot's fingers than from the hardware: every movement starts and ends with a speed ramp, a reveal slowly shows the landscape behind an obstacle, an orbit keeps a subject in the frame while circling it. The shutter speed is set by the 180-degree rule with an ND filter, and in an orbit the exposure and white balance are locked to keep the skin the same color throughout the shot.
Learning goal
With a drone, you will be able to shoot aerial shots with slow, smooth movement that don't tire the viewer's eye. You will build every movement with a soft start and a soft finish, and use the control sticks not like a switch but like a volume knob. You will recognize and carry out the shot that rises over an obstacle to slowly show the landscape behind it, and the shot that circles a subject keeping it in the frame. You will take into account that flying close to the ground makes movement look fast, and flying high makes it look slow. For video you will set the shutter speed according to the frame rate and fit an ND filter if needed, and by locking the exposure and the white balance you will keep a person's skin from darkening and changing color through the shot.
The question
Your friend is watching the videos they recorded while gliding the drone along the shore at the salt lake. In one shot the drone suddenly speeds up and suddenly stops; in another the image sways as it changes direction; in another, as it circles their cyclist friend, her face is first bright, then pitch dark, then bright again. It looks nothing like the slow, gliding aerial shots they saw in promotional videos. How is cinematic aerial footage, that is, a slow, smooth aerial shot, built?
Context
In the camera movement lesson you met the static shot where the camera doesn't move at all, the pan and the tilt, and the gimbal that balances the camera on three axes (Lesson 24.5). In the video settings you also learned the 180-degree rule, which keeps the shutter speed close to half the frame duration (Lesson 24.2). And in the previous lesson of this track you saw a small sensor's limits in exposure and using an ND filter in the air (Lesson H.5).
A drone already has a gimbal, and it protects the image from shake. But a gimbal can't fix a bad movement: if the stick is pushed suddenly the drone speeds up suddenly, and the gimbal records this acceleration exactly as it is. Smoothness comes more from the pilot's fingers than from the drone's hardware.
Simple explanation
How does a movement soften?
A speed ramp (ease in/out) is a camera movement starting from a still moment by slowly speeding up, and at the end slowly slowing down to a stop. The viewing eye perceives a movement that starts suddenly and ends suddenly as a jolt; a movement that starts slowly and ends slowly, as a glide. For this, the stick isn't pushed suddenly all the way; you start with a small push and reach the wanted speed over a few seconds, and at the finish you let it back in the same way.
Many drones have a slow shooting mode that lowers the top speed and the stick's response; this mode turns the same finger movement into a smaller speed and makes the ramp easier. Staying still for a few seconds at the start and end of each shot also leaves room for editing. Dedicating a movement to a single direction and a single purpose, that is, not moving forward, turning and rising all in the same shot, makes the shot readable.
How does a landscape open up?
A reveal is the drone slowly rising or moving forward from behind or above an obstacle, a hill, a tree or a salt heap, showing the wide landscape behind it step by step. The viewer first sees a close surface, wonders what it is, then the obstacle leaves the frame and the landscape opens up. It is often used at the start of a series introducing a place.
In a reveal, speed is thought about together with the distance to the ground. Flying close to the ground and the obstacle, the surface flows quickly through the frame and even a small movement looks fast; as you rise, the same speed shows more slowly in the frame. That is why a reveal starts especially slowly while close to the obstacle. Slowly raising the gimbal, that is, tilting the gaze from the ground toward the horizon, makes the reveal softer when combined with the rise.
How do you circle a subject?
An orbit is the drone drawing a circle around a subject while keeping its camera turned to it, holding the subject in the same place in the frame. To do it by hand, both sticks are used together: one slides the drone sideways, the other turns it on its own axis toward the subject. Many drones also do this automatically, but learning to do it yourself lets you control the circle's speed and width. Keeping the circle small separates the subject quickly from the background, keeping it wide gives a calm round.
In an orbit the light turns too. Going half a round around the subject, the sun first lights the face from behind the camera, then moves behind the subject and the face falls into shadow. Automatic exposure and automatic white balance try to correct this change within the shot; the image darkens and brightens, the skin shifts from yellow to blue. Dark skin loses its detail first in backlight. Locking the exposure and white balance at the start of the shot, and planning for the orbit to slow down in the arc where the face is best lit, keeps the skin the same color throughout the shot.
Visual evidence
The next day your friend returns to the same place in the late afternoon. They choose the frame rate and set the shutter speed by the 180-degree rule. The shutter speed the camera wants in daylight is around 1/3200; to come down to 1/50 they divide 3200 by 50, get 64, and fit a six-stop ND filter.
The first shot is a reveal. The drone is low, right behind the salt heap; on the screen only white crystals. Pushing the stick slowly, your friend rises and slowly raises the gimbal to the horizon; the heap slides down out of the frame and the pink pans open up behind it. The shot starts with a still moment and ends with a still moment.
Then their cyclist friend stands beside her bicycle and your friend draws an orbit around her. They lock the exposure and white balance at the point where the sun lights her face. As the drone moves into backlight, the image's overall brightness doesn't waver, only the sky stays a little brighter; when the drone turns to the sunlit arc it slows down, and her dark skin looks warm and detailed in the longest moment of the round.
In the backlit arc her face darkens a little; because the settings are locked, this is a natural change showing that the light really turns, not a correction the camera makes in the middle of the shot. Your friend shoots the same orbit once more with unlocked settings and puts the two shots side by side: in the unlocked shot the sky flares and fades at every turn, and the skin takes on another color in every quarter of the round.
Common mistakes
Common mistakePushing the stick suddenly and letting go suddenly.
The drone jumps and the shot looks jerky. The fix: start and finish every movement with a soft speed ramp.
Common mistakeMoving forward, turning and rising all in the same shot.
The viewer can't understand what is being shown. The fix: give each shot a single movement and a single purpose.
Common mistakeCircling a person with automatic exposure and automatic white balance.
The face darkens and brightens through the shot, the skin changes color. The fix: lock both at the start of the shot.
Summary
A smooth aerial shot comes more from the pilot's fingers than from the hardware: every movement starts and ends with a speed ramp, a reveal slowly shows the landscape behind an obstacle, an orbit keeps a subject in the frame while circling it. The shutter speed is set by the 180-degree rule with an ND filter, and in an orbit the exposure and white balance are locked to keep the skin the same color throughout the shot.
Mini assignment
The drone and aerial track closes with this assignment: you will prepare a short aerial sequence of no more than a minute that introduces a place, and three photos to go with it.
- Write a flight plan showing the flying spot, the current rules, permits, the observer and the battery reserve; get the agreement of everyone who will appear in the frame.
- Choose the frame rate, set the shutter speed by the 180-degree rule and calculate the ND filter if needed; lock the exposure and white balance.
- Shoot a reveal, an orbit and a straight forward shot, each with a speed ramp; from the same flight choose an overhead composition, a bracketed landscape and a frame with a person, and bring them all together in a single series.
Check yourself
- Does every shot start with a still moment, speed up softly and stop softly?
- Does every shot have a single movement and a single purpose?
- Does the skin of the person in the frame stay the same brightness and the same color throughout the shot?
Glossary
| Term | Short definition |
|---|---|
| Speed ramp (ease in/out) | A camera movement starting from a still moment by slowly speeding up and ending by slowly slowing down. |
| Reveal | The drone rising or moving forward from behind or above an obstacle and showing the landscape behind it step by step. |
| Orbit | The drone drawing a circle around a subject while turning its camera to it, keeping the subject in the frame. |
Mini quiz
1. Why does a drone shot look jerky?
- A) Because the gimbal is off
- B) Because the stick is pushed suddenly and let go suddenly
- C) Because the frame rate is high
- D) Because the drone flies high
2. Why does a reveal start especially slowly while close to the obstacle?
- A) Because the battery is weak at that moment
- B) Because the gimbal can't look up
- C) Because the wind is stronger down low
- D) Because the nearby surface flows quickly through the frame, so even a small movement looks fast
3. If the shutter speed the camera wants in daylight is 1/3200 and the target is 1/50, how many stops of ND are needed?
- A) Six
- B) Two
- C) Ten
- D) None
4. How is a person's skin kept the same color while drawing an orbit around them?
- A) By leaving automatic white balance on
- B) By drawing the circle as fast as possible
- C) By locking the exposure and white balance at the start of the shot
- D) By turning the frame black and white
Answers
- B — The gimbal takes out shake but records the pilot's sudden acceleration exactly as it is.
- D — Close to the ground and the obstacle the apparent speed is large; as you rise the same speed looks slow.
- A — The ratio of 3200 to 50 is 64, which equals doubling six times, that is, six stops.
- C — Locked settings don't shift brightness and color within the shot, even when the light's direction changes.
Summary card
- Smoothness comes from the pilot's fingers; the gimbal doesn't fix sudden acceleration.
- Speed ramp: start slow, finish slow; hold still for a few seconds at the start and end.
- Reveal: show the landscape behind the obstacle step by step.
- Orbit: circle the subject, and don't forget the light turns too.
- Video shutter speed by the 180-degree rule; exposure and white balance locked.
Bridge to the next lesson
A designer who watches the salt lake video asks your friend whether they could shoot their new jacket collection. Your friend thinks of shooting the jackets on a hanger, in flat light; the designer, though, wants a series telling a morning when someone wearing the jacket sets out. Clothes or story? The fashion and editorial track begins with fashion photography, which carries a product, a feeling and a brand in the same frame.