Local videographer uses drone for ‘visual love letter’ to Calgary
Drone footage of eerily quiet Calgary streets and landmarks, narrated by local videographer Eric Gonzalez, has garnered a lot of positive feedback since it was posted to social media late last week.
The video, which Gonzalez calls a “visual love letter to Calgary,” has been viewed and shared hundreds of times, and he said the reaction has been “surreal.”
“It’s reassuring that I was able to perhaps share a sentiment that all of us are feeling right now,” Gonzalez said.
The audio in the video plays like a voice-mail Gonzalez is leaving to a friend he hasn’t seen in a while, as the footage, filmed in the last few days of April, takes viewers soaring over Calgary.
“I just wanted to say that I miss you very much,” he said in the video. “I know it hasn’t been that long since we last saw each other, it just feels like forever since we last spoke.”
Gonzalez said the inspiration for the film came from a desire to say thank you.
“I wanted to try to make something that could remind Calgarians
that the things that make us proud to be who we are will still be there when things are over,” he said. “And, in a way, thanking people across society, from our health-care professionals to those who are delivering food.”
In the video, Gonzalez expressed missing his city, where he’s lived since 2014, and provided a hopeful look toward the future.
“I know how resilient you are and how you’ve always had that can-do attitude, but I can imagine things being a bit tough,” he said in the video. “But if there’s anyone who can go through something like this challenge, it’s you.”
Using his DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone,
Gonzalez worked with the Calgary Stampede, Mcmahon Stadium, the West Campus Development Trust and other organizations, as well as Transport Canada and NAV Canada, to get the proper permissions and licensing to complete the flight safely and legally.
“There’s no other place I would want to be right now, during this time, than at home … I have an immense gratitude for everyone that’s been there for each other.”
Earlier this year, Gonzalez returned home from a month-long trip to India and Sri Lanka. Travel, he said, makes him grateful to be Canadian.
“I’ve just been very grateful to be part of a country and a province and a city that’s there for each other, I can’t emphasize that enough,” he said.
“Having recently travelled and seeing the safety nets and everything that’s not quite there in perhaps other countries of the world, and coming back to a place you can really be proud to call home is awesome.”
“Anyways, wish you all the best over the next little bit,” he said as the video ends. “Can’t wait to see you again. Love you.”
It’s reassuring that I was able to perhaps share a sentiment that all of us are feeling right now.