by Vadim Sherbakov / @madebyvadim

With the increasing popularity of capable, easy to operate and not so expensive drones, with the awesome capability to capture amazing footage with a prosumer level, there are a lot of good videos around, but still, they are looks like a drone video, not an aerial films.

So why is that? Why we have all the means of creating amazing drone movies, yet fell short and just produce mediocre videos.

In this article, I am trying to show some (not all) points, that for me distinguish video from the film.

First, let me tell you my position on video vs film. So for me when I call something a video, that basically means nice or good footage that been put together, but still looks like million others. Both in terms of execution and content. It feels like you saw it already and/or something is lacking or missing or not good enough. 

The film, on the other hand, is a finished, well executed and created peace. You might like it or not, but you definitely won’t deny that its a very well crafted professional creation.

[embed]https://vimeo.com/177240898[/embed]

So let us start with my points/thoughts

(Those are just my individual points coming from experience you might agree with them or not and it’s up to you)

Boring content

Ok. We all been there. We shoot in one location on a nice sunny day, flying 3–5 battery packs and immediately wanted to share this with the rest of the world. We get home and try to put that into some sort of video, ending up with repeatable shots, same locations just different angles and on top of that a long shots duration. 

Of course, if your film suppose to be about single location and you have amazing footage that will not bore to death the viewers, go for it. But mostly my advice is to collect more footage of the same type of locations and make a better, well thought out film, even if it means postponing sharing that you shoot in one day :)

No theme or story

Another problem with drone videos is no visible theme in a film. For example, your video starts with fog sequences and viewers expects to see a theme revolving around this, but instead, you add some sunny day city shots or other footage that is totally out of the contest. That’s breaking the thin storyline, making less of a film and more like just collection of drone videos without an unify theme or story.

Length way too long

I hypothesize that aerial films however beautiful there are should be no more than 3–5 minutes long. For them to be 5+ minutes there should be an exceptional story or some out of this world footages, so viewers (and especially young viewers, who lose attention as quickly as I can say “attention”) will still maintain interest through the whole film. So when you see that someone shares a 10–15 minutes drone video, I can guarantee you will watch only first 1 minute or so, because it will begeneraly full of way too long shoots, taking offs and landing or flying in one direction for way too long :) 

So stay short and cut the shots quite quickly, so the user will be hooked on watching till the end.

Wrong shutter speed and frame rates

Many videos I saw (especially recent) from a first few seconds looks exactly like a video just because of high shutter speed and therefore luck of that distinctive cinematic motion blur. Even if you didn’t do the proper job on the location of shooting at a double shutter speed of your frame rate and missed the motion blur, you can try to fix that in post. Don’t just leave it as it is, because to the trained eye it’s screams amateur videos.

Also, I have nothing against 30/60 fps though, in my experience, a 24 fps (23.976 to be exact) is the best and closest to a film you can get. Pair it with correct shutter speed and you will see that it’s already improving :)

Bad editing

Editing or montage is a crucial part of post-processing and here where many fail shortly, unfortunately. 

- not the best angles, 

- way too long shots, 

- zoom in and out too much, 

- unnecessary non-liner retimes, that used way too often,

- overused and generic transition, 

- way too many 3rd party transition presets

- cuts that are not working together

these are among the most common mistakes I saw. Those editing decisions immediately divert you to more of a vlogging/travel video then a true movie experience.

Yes, there is a certain trend with a destination/travel/vlogging style videos, but they still videos and rarely or never a “true” film experience.

Poor choice of music

Edits and film itself are very depended on music choice. Even the best cuts and footages can be ruined by bad music accompaniment. Again with a rise of a vlogging, destination videos, there is certain trend with a poor choice of music. 

I don’t suggest to go and use classical or cinematic music all the way, but leave those “happy clapping” for the Casey Neistat :)

Your score should very much portray the location of film’s mood and should be creative and unique. Don’t want to use the cinematic? Ok, don’t — go and seek some unusual sounds, vocals, or don’t use music at all and create a sfx score, but don’t, for crying out loud. just use “those trendy vlogging songs” because everybody does so :)

Visible imperfections

Nothing ruins architectural photographs more than a non straight lines. Same goes for the drones — nothing ruins the watching experience then imperfections:

- crooked horizon,

- overexposed or underexposed shoots,

- rough camera movements,

- shaking or jelly effects,

- no motion blur at the close flyby,

- poor framing,

these are the thing that could certainly be improved both on location or at post-production and never should end up in the final film.

Bad grading or no grading at all

Many videos I saw shot in awesome locations with great camera movements and compositions, nicely edited, but then just ruined by bad grading or no grading at all. 

You can’t just shoot on auto and non-log space and expect to pull the good color grading afterward. The log is here for a reason, that can ease your post-production life and help you achieve consistent color through the whole film. Don’t ignore it. Learn the color science, watch references for grading and then shape it to your own film style. It’s not an easy process, but certainly very rewarding result when done correctly :)

No SFX

I believe that additional sound effects not only help you to bring your video to a new level but also can immerse viewers into the scenes even more. Therefore I am an advocating for using it, rather than just rely on a music score alone. For me, the lack of any tiny sound details makes a bit difference.

Poor titles

Titles of the film are equally as important as sound, edit or grading. Some creator just dismisses them or use very boring and traditional fonts and typography. Some, on the other hand, overdo it, with many different fonts in tiles or over the top animations of elements.

Both extremes do nothing good for your film. See examples of great film titles, see references and, if needed, hire a professional designer to do your film titles, instead of using the first font in your collection.

I am a sucker for short and catchy film names, it doesn’t have to be the same. But think hard about your film name not just go with “my adventure on a beach” type of name :)

And for love of God leave the logo animations for Youtube tutorials :)

If you want to ruine your film with you “fancy” flying quadcopter stoke illustration, do it at the very end, or best not at all. If you need a company/individual or production acknowledgment in the titles, do it with a tasteful font.

No proper supporting imagery

Your film poster is your best cover. The first thing that people will see, on social media or video sharing platforms, before they press play. So think carefully and create the best possible cover for your film. 

Of course, it’s the last step and may be dismissed, but I believe that if you producing the short aerial film, everything must be on par, to the last detail. Only this can set you apart and make your video - the film.

I hope you enjoy these tips and can apply some of them next time you will create your masterpiece.

Good luck and fly safe.