Given that I only got into the drone scene at the end of October, I’m pretty pleased to have been able to get a reasonable amount of filming together and put together a ‘2024 compilation’ - I hope that the 2025 clip will be much better! I got a Mini 4 Pro, and then ‘accidentally’ purchased a Neo about a month later. Only one clip from this showreel was film with the Neo, for reasons that will become clear (if you work out which one it is!). I’ve tended to stick with the Mini 4 Pro, simply because of the better camera and stability, but next year I want to be a bit more creative with the Neo, especially in tight spaces!
Most of the clips were filmed with default colour profile with some colour correction in Adobe Premiere, but I’ve now switched to D-LOG M, applying the DJI LUT and then tweaking it myself. I think I’ve still got a lot to learn about colour correction, but in fairness almost all of my clips have been filmed on very grey days!
There’s also three ‘dolly’ zoom’ clips (also referred to as the Vertigo effect, after the film of the same name) in there. The goal post one was done all on the Mini 4 Pro, but the gravestones and path ones were done by recording clips flying backwards and then zooming in with Adobe Premiere. Both look equally effective, I think. If you’re recording in 4K and aiming for 1080p output then you can do this without any real loss of quality.
If anyone is interested I will follow up with a list of where any or all clips were taken.
Feedback welcome! Not bad for 2 months… Enjoy!
(I had hoped to get some Christmas light videos in - there’s a road near me where it seems to be an annual competition, but when I went to film most of the lights were off )
Enjoyed the showreel pal! You’ve done alot in little time. Turned the volume off and watched it withought. Not sure if thats constructive criticism or not. Look forward to seeing more! Happy new year
Nicely done, new sub… My own showreel is ready to release, but I have promised friends on the Drone Seekers International Show that they can premiere it on the 5th of January, so it will be delayed until then…
If you watched it without the music there might be an argument for smoother transitions, as the cuts were specifically in time to the music, but I guess it works either way. I had hoped to fill the second half (with the drum and bass track) with ‘higher octane’ clips, but it didn’t work out that way in the end. or was the ‘constructive criticism’ about the choice in track? .
Its hard to judge other peoples work sometimes becuase im soo new to flying/editing myself. Also i know how much work goes into a reel. Mine isnt ready yet but im already thinkkng of the next one and how i can make it shorter. At the same time its easier to spot other peoples mistakes. Ived watched a hell of alot of showreels in the past. Vfx, motiongraphics, film reels drone reels that kind if thing. And most of the time i turn the audio off and if i like the visuals i tend to rewatch it with the sound. Where did you get the music from? It seems familiar and might of herd it on other showreels. I love dnb and jungle by the way, its my thing!
So yes to answer your question. Its to do eith the choice of music. Also you mention mixing it up some dnb for the second half? Unless its actually mixed well thrn i wouldn’t use two different sound tracks. The reel is probably a little too long aswel. But again im in no great position to judge myself. Ill be posting mine soon and look for some opinions too
I had planned to do more hyperlapses and ‘trickier’ shots using the Neo, but never got the time or locations, but at that point had made the choice of the second track, and I wanted it to be vastly different than the first.
I agree that length-wise it could probably have dropped a minute, but it’s serving other purposes as well. Also, on this reel I used multiple clips from the same location (such as Leyton Orient football stadium), which I could have got away with using just one. Next year’s will be a much tighter edit, with only the best clips making the cut.
I have a subscription with Envato Elements (https://elements.envato.com/), which not only gives me access to royalty free music, but many other assets as well. I can highly recommend it.
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