Hastings seafront at dawn - My first ever drone video - or any sort of video!

Videos by Drone
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I’d had my first real drone - a Mavic Pro Platinum - for all of just over a week with a handful of practice flights when I saw what looked like it would be a good sunrise brewing. I headed down to the seafront to see what I could come up with.

It has its faults - I can see a few things I’ve done wrong or that I’d change looking at it now!

Any constructive criticism will be appreciated!

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Welcome to Grey Arrows @nick.emmons :+1:t2:

I’m sure someone will offer some critique soon.

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Some thoughts, I don’t know if these are what you’re looking for:

  • look for a strong first shot and a strong final shot, ones that act as an introduction (e.g. a reveal) and an exit (e.g. moving away)
  • avoid mixing many moving shots with a few still shots e.g. at around 0:36
  • if cutting between similar shots (e.g. the first 20 seconds), there need to be common and clearly visible features in view that allow the viewer to quickly relate each shot together - that’s not an issue if cutting to very different shots
  • consider timing the cuts to the rhythm of the music; make a rough cut first to get an idea of durations and which shots work well, then re-edit everything from scratch against the music
  • generally, there were lots of shots of “stuff” viewed fairly directly, consider adding a few more where things are gradually revealed, so the viewer is waiting to discover something rather than just staring at it, e.g. rise up from behind a boat to reveal more boats, or fly backwards to reveal an interesting feature
  • don’t be afraid to use a pencil and paper to list out your footage, categorise it, and storyboard it
  • edit ruthlessly - ditch anything that feels out-of-place, don’t include just because you like it, only include it because it works effectively with the other shots

Having said all that, I enjoyed watching it, well done!

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I think that would help a lot. What an excellent place to film though - there’s lots of interesting things to look at in every shot and you’ve found ways of travelling around the area to look at everything. It’s one I’ll watch again, definitely.

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Very enjoyable - well done!

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Excellent and some good feedback given to yo well done :+1:

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Very nice,to be perfectly honest,there’s very little to criticise,bravo…:+1::+1:

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Thank you for the feedback and input! All good tips and I agree with all of it. I’ll have to try to keep these pointers in mind next time - I’m sure the results will be better! I was a bit rushed - only had enough time for one battery before work and the best views were quite far from me. I was a little worried about signal strength if getting too low for some low shots with lots of trees between me and the drone. Probably unfounded fears - I just have to pluck up the courage to trust it more!

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Thank you all for the feedback. I’m learning that half the task of getting a good video is in the editing. I’ll have to pay more attention to this next time :slight_smile:

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Great video, my hometown! I used to work at the sea life centre when I was a kid near there. Very enjoyable edit :slightly_smiling_face: