Drone Aerial Photography Course: Cinematic Aerial Photography Production Course

Why isn’t aerial photography just about practicing flying?

The aim of this workshop is to teach students how to operate a professional drone like a DJI Mavic or Inspire to create cinematic aerial photography. Students will learn about site scouting and script planning, and how to properly fly around a target. Finally, they will use Davinci Resolve to perform basic video editing and export their work. This will be very useful for students to create a promotional video of their campus that the Info Day guests can enjoy.

Course Content

01/Filming and Production Concept

• Discuss what is filming production? Sharing industry examples (aerial advertising, film, event photography)

• Introduce the objectives and shooting tasks of this course

• Explain filming equipment (types of drones, professional cameras and gimbal functions)

• Learn why you should work with other filming equipment

02/Basic shooting techniques

• Understand the basic knowledge of photography (such as pixels, principles of digital cameras, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, focal length, etc.)

• Learn composition techniques (such as Rule of Third, Golden Triangle, Golden Ratio, Leading Lines, etc.)

• Understand the essential elements of a video (pictures, sounds, atmosphere, effects, etc.)

03/Drone shooting operation and camera movement techniques

• Introducing common aerial photography techniques and precautions

• Comprehensive techniques for highlighting cinematic aerial photography and related visual effects

• Conduct advanced flight training and real-life filming

04/Professional camera and gimbal control skills (moisturizing part)

• Experience the functions and controls of professional cameras (mirrorless)

• Understand and try out the functions, installation and settings of gimbals (stabilizers)

• Equipment Overview and Introduction

05/Theme Photography Production

• With aerial photography as the main theme, first conceive the theme and material of the shooting

• Learn how to use storyboards to plan indoor and outdoor shooting plans, including plot lines, materials, etc.

• Go to the planned shooting environment for aerial and ground shooting

06/Basic post-editing

• Integrate and sort materials according to the storyboard design

• Learn how to use a free video editing tool (Adobe Rush or DaVinci Resolve)

• Edit the footage into highlights, add appropriate music, special effects, color grading, etc.

• During the editing period, students are specially taught how to enhance the cinematic feel of the picture.

Student Works

Assessment

Written test (50 MCs)

• The course will require participants to take a test on their knowledge of aerial photography safety, the content of which is based on the guidelines of the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department.

​

Drone flight test

In addition to the written test, the course will also conduct a flight test for each student (refer to the UK PfCO content) to assess the students' safety awareness when flying a drone, and to assess their familiarity with the necessary operating skills and their ability to respond to emergencies in a timely manner, so that students can meet safety standards in operation.

Classroom Equipment

Filming equipment (rental/purchase)

• Various training drones (Tello Talent)

• Various professional drones (Mavic Mini / Air 2S / 3Pro)

• Camera (Sony 4K-Filming Camera)

• Gimbal (ZhiYun Crane 2 / Ronin S)

• Others (Tripod, slider)