Drool…

First of all, congratulations. You have a drone. You have the capability to easily shoot scenes that were once reserved for only the biggest budget productions. The technology is amazing and it’s only getting better. Those little plastic gizmos are powerful tools for a filmmaker. But as we all know; with great power comes great responsibility.

When flying a drone – in less sexy jargon called an Unmanned Aircraft System or UAS – you are entering airspace, and as such, you are entering the jurisdiction of the FAA. If you want to stay on good terms with those guys – which we recommend – there are a few things you should consider and Know Before You Fly:

Are you a recreational user or a commercial user?

In the simplest of terms, are you making money on this or not? As long as you register your drone and follow certain safety guidelines, you are free to use your drone for hobby use. Take pictures, film video, play around for your own, personal enjoyment. Go nuts – within the guidelines. For amateur filmmakers this might become a grey area though, when you start filming with the intent to use the footage in a film that you will eventually distribute, even if chances of ever making any money off it are slim to none. Language in the guidelines suggest that if you are using the UAS to take photographs or video for compensation or sale to another individual, then that would be considered a commercial operation. So do different rules apply if you – as filmmaker and operator – own your drone and will only be using the footage in your own projects, as opposed to if you – a cinematographer and operator – are providing the aerial videography as a service to a production? Possibly and probably. But give the FAA a call, if you’re in doubt.

Do you need to register your drone before flying?

Chances are the answer is yes. As of Dec 21st 2015, the FAA requires all owners of model aircraft, small unmanned aircraft or drones weighing between 0.55 and 55 pounds to register online before taking to the skies. Good news is that the process is simple, quick and cheap. In fact, if you register your drone before Jan 20th 2016, it’s free. After that you’ll have to fork over a whopping $5. Recreational users can register online, but if you plan on using your UAS commercially, you will have to register by snail mail. And here you thought we’d finally arrived in the 21st century…

Are there rules for flying once you have the paperwork in order?

Yes. Lots. Thankfully, most of the rules are fairly common-sense, especially if you have ever operated any kind of machinery and been around other people. Still, make a list and reference it whenever flying, until you know it in your sleep:

• Fly below 400 feet and remain clear of surrounding obstacles
• Keep the aircraft within visual line of sight at all times
• Remain well clear of and do not interfere with manned aircraft operations
• Don’t fly within 5 miles of an airport unless you contact the airport and control tower before flying
• Don’t fly near people or stadiums
• Don’t fly an aircraft that weighs more than 55 lbs
• Don’t be careless or reckless with your unmanned aircraft – you could be fined for endangering people or other aircraft

These are the guidelines for recreational use. If you are shooting for commercial use, more restrictions – and a few allowances – apply. Read up on the specifics here. The FAA has partnered with the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) on an educational campaign – aptly named Know Before You Fly – to ensure that you know everything you need to know and that you have tools to help you register your drone, or file for exemptions if you are a commercial user.

Finally; is it worth the trouble?

Granted, after a few years of glorious, no-rules, Wild West flying, there are certain annoying hoops to jump through before take-off. But still. This:

The best thing about GoPro – from an indie filmmakers perspective – is that these tiny cameras can be mounted/submerged/thrown/abused in ways you would never dare with a, say, RED or ARRI camera, for incredible action shots that low budget filmmakers previously were only allowed to dream of. The not so great thing is that more often than not the GoPro footage looks, well, like GoPro footage. That’s fine if you’re an extreme athlete documenting your downhill snowboarding skills, but if you’re a visual storyteller you might be looking for a bit more finesse. Which is why you want to use your GoPro sparingly and integrate the footage with your more standard, cinematic shots.

With the (even more) lightweight Hero4 Session, I suspect a lot of indie filmmakers will start saving up to add a drone to their gadget arsenal. I know I am. And I wanted to find out how to make the GoPro drone footage look like it wasn’t shot on a GoPro. This is what I found, as told by people much smarter than myself (specifically Robbi Serrini and Johnathan Paul, with help from Shane Hurlbut and Toby Oliver)

#1 Be picky about your GoPro camera settings

Turn off your wireless – you don’t need it and it drains the battery. Use the ProTune setting where the flatpass color space will make your highlights and shadows much better and easier to work with when color grading. Next – and this is something you need to play around with – shoot in 1080p at 60fps, then over crank (slow-mo) to 23.976fps in post, for that smooth, gliding GoPro drone footage. Never use the ‘automatic’ settings – set your own white balance, use the flat setting instead of GoPro Color, limit your ISO to 400 (in daylight) and set sharpness to low, so you avoid that home-video look. And most importantly, chose the right lens option: stay away from SuperView and UltraWide settings. Opt for the more modest Medium or Narrow settings, so you have more options for framing it in post. If you’re feeling it, go for the Wide – you’ll still be able to mix it with your cinematic footage via some magic in post.

#2 Upgrade

Since you’re already pouring money into GoPros and drone and what-not, do yourself a favor and get your hands on a high quality ND Filter or Polarizer.

#3 Know your drone

Having all the right settings won’t save you, if you don’t know how to fly the little gizmo. Be sure you know the angle of the sun where you’ll be shooting, so you don’t capture any drone shadows (shot = ruined), and factor in things like wind as well. Is the wind in your back? Great, you can get more speed. Will you be flying from a no-wind zone to a windy one, such as when passing a moving car or flying through a window? You have to compensate for that to avoid a shaky shot.

#4 Use your GoPro for coverage

Don’t rely on your GoPro for the bulk of the footage, unless that’s the look you’re going for (see the amazing Leviathan trailer below). Instead, get your important shots on your regular rig, then get plenty of daring coverage with your GoPro – either with the drone or simply mounted in the most exciting places you can think of. Cutting to these exciting angles and non-traditional shots will add flavor to your scenes and can be a very powerful storytelling tool.

#5 Be patient in post

The GoPro footage might look great as-is, but it won’t mesh with your cinematic footage without a lot of work in post. First, transcode your footage to ProRes 422 and make sure it plays in 23.976fps. It’ll be a lot easier to work with than the H264 that comes out of the GoPro. Next, compensate for any fisheye effect in the image. This is crucial. Skip this step and your GoPro footage will look like, well, GoPro footage. Optic Compensation in After Effects is a good place to start. Once you’ve come as far as you can with Optic Compensation, frame and letterbox your image to fit the rest of your footage. Next, color grade until your eyes bleed. The Film Convert plugin will make it less painful. And finally, clean up the footage with noise and film grain reduction/addition, as needed. This where you’ll truly be able to match your GoPro footage with the more filmic look of the rest of your footage. Dark Energy (plugin for AE on Windows) or RE:Vision Effect’s DE:Noise seem to be popular choices.

Check out how Wolf Creek 2 cinematographer Toby Oliver used GoPro cameras for some intense coverage shots:

See how shooting a flat GoPro image, and then color grading the footage, can be beautifully integrated with cinematic shots in this short video:

Notice how the aerial shots have that dreamy, gliding feel – accomplished by shooting at 60fps and then over cranking it to 23.976fps in post:

And finally, see how interesting a GoPro-heavy film can look in this Leviathan trailer:

h/t to Cineclast and PremiumBeat

No Film School has done an absolutely amazing job of reporting from the trenches and they’ve been kind enough to collect all their coverage in a round-up you can – and should – study in detail at your convenience. For those looking for simply a quick primer on what happened at NAB 2015, here’s a list of what we’re most excited about.

Adobe Introduces Character Animator

If you’re anything like me, motion capture and character animation sounds like both a major headache and thousands of dollars all in one unapproachable package. Well, Adobe thinks that this feeling of dread should be a thing of the past, even for relatively inexperienced filmmakers who wants to add character animation to their projects. From the looks of this video it’s not only relatively easy to animate in real-time, it’s also easy to get your hands on the software – for free – as long as you own Adobe After Effects and are subscribing to their Creative Cloud.

Cue the James Bond music. This tiny transmitter from Lectrosonics takes concealable audio units to a new level. It’s pricey, yes, but with this on the market, other and cheaper options are sure to follow soon. For me, these micro-transmitters are interesting products because they make a new kind of professional filmmaking possible. One where you don’t have to worry about blocking in fear of flashing your mic pack to the camera. One where you can be more spontaneous. This little guy is even controlled remotely from your iPhone or Android device. The 007-factor is important too, obviously.

#TryCion Program Let’s You Borrow Their Camera For Free

Along with a bunch of new features revealed with their latest firmware update, AJA has introduced the #TryCION program, which puts their CION Cinema camera in the hands of indie filmmakers – free of charge. Pretty cool. So if you’re gearing up for a production and would like to take advantage of the CION’s 4K/120fps shooting capabilities, head on over and sign up. Check out the gorgeous footage that awaits you:

3DR Announced New Drone At $999 Price Tag

I want one. Edit: I want several and I want them now. This little smart quadcopter from 3D Robotics may not do anything it’s competitors don’t, but what it does it does beautifully and at a price tag that allows even broke indie filmmakers to dream. Or even to pre-order from B&H. This thing will add unbelievable production value to any shoot. And even more importantly, it will allow indie filmmakers on a budget to dream of shots that were previously reserved for the big boys. See all the specs here – and check out the epic launch video:

Redrock Micro Is Changing The Way We Pull Focus

Pulling focus can be a tedious task. Depending on camera movement, blocking and the space you’re in, it might even be a time-consuming headache to get that pull-focus just right. No more, says Redrock Micro, as they usher in a new age of focus pulling with their HĀLO system. HĀLO will allow you to use a combination of manual and automatic focus via a touch pad and a nifty little device called HĀLO Explorer. In so many words; it looks awesome. In many more words, check out Redrock’s own explanation in No Film School’s video interview. It’s really quite spectacular:

Portable PRO Power LED from Lowel At Accessible Price

Lighting can be the bane of any low-budget shoot, especially if you’re working with a lot of locations and very little time. Here’s finally a – from the looks of it – professional grade light source that is portable enough to throw in the back of an Uber and flexible enough to be all you need to make your shots look like a million bucks, without spending a lot of precious time on setup and breakdown. Lowel’s portable PRO Power LED is available for $625, comes with a variety of light controls, runs on either AC or battery and has a number of different color options. Looks slick too.

Be sure to check out all the excellent articles from No Film School right here.