WHY YOU NEED A DRONE RONE ( AND WHEN YOU DON’T)T)

Occupation: Daredevil Youtuber Number of subscribers: 4,6 million IN 2009, I DROPPED OUT OF MY LAST YEAR OF FILM SCHOOL to pursue the whole Youtube thing. Back then, drones weren’t a thing. It just wasn’t an option. But around 2012, a friend I met through social media was hooking up his Canon cameras and even his RED cameras to drones, shooting high-quality video. Building your own gigantic rig like that came at a price, but for me, the result was worth it. We were creating shots that no one had seen before. Now, that thing is accessible. So accessible. I don’t travel anywhere without one.

But I’ve found that drones can be a crutch. Even a couple of years ago, I was still so excited by the technology that I was falling away from the actual narrative. I was relying too much on that type of footage and it wasn’t connecting with the audience. That started hurting our videos. I was jumping in too fast and forgetting to capture the story we were trying to tell. So I took time to learn how to use the footage, how to balance it with our other footage. Because, in all our videos, I want to show as many perspectives as possible. Drones give us that. They’re part of our storytelling. OPENING THOUGHT

YOU: Have at least 1 000 subscribers to your Youtube channel. Or want to get there. Six-kilometre range, 27 minutes of flight time, three-axis stabilisation, and, most important for anyone serious about video, a 4K camera. All in a drone that folds down to 20 centimetres long by 7,5 wide, so you’ll actually take it with you. From R20 000, wefix.co.za YOU: Have your union card, or otherwise shoot movies involving actors, directors and craft services. When you hear about a Bond movie being filmed on a drone, it’s probably with one of these. The Inspire 2 shoots in cinema-grade 5.2K resolution, and can go from zero to 80 km/h in five seconds. Plan on having at least two operators – one to fly it, one to aim the camera at the talent. From R60 100, YOU: Live the #vanlife and want to show off some outdoor majesty. Simple to fly and doesn’t require a smartphone to operate. Bonus for adventure types: The included Gopro HERO5 camera and handheld gimbal are detachable. R22 000, ormsdirect.co.za

Parrot Mambo

The Mambo handles like a full-size drone, so you can learn flight controls, but it’s tough and cheap enough that you won’t care if you crash it. Which you will. R2 000, Should I get accessories? Which ones? Do pro moviemakers really use drones? Yes. If your drone doesn’t have them, start with propeller guards. They can be the difference between gently bumping into a tree or a catastrophic (and expensive) c crash. If you’re going to remote locations, extra batteries mean more flight time and footage per outing. You probably don’t need extra micro SD cards for storage. A 16-gigabyte card will hold about 45 minutes of 4K footage, which will outlast two full batteries on most drones.

Yes, usually high-end models like the DJI Inspire 2. The Wolf of Wall Street, Jurassic World and Captain America: Civil War all have scenes shot on drones. It’s much cheaper than renting a helicopter.

Folding propellers mean that instead of carrying a backpack the size of an oil drum, you stash your drone in a jacket pocket or camera bag. You’re watching your drone’s feed on your phone. See that rock ridge across the valley in front of you? Tap on it. The drone flies there, no joystick use required. Wave your hands to tell it to focus on you as you climb.

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