Impossible to achieve photographic shots are now made possible by drones. Spectacular fly through shots aren’t an entirely new concept as there a couple of memorable occasions in the past where drones have left people amazed with unbelievable footage. A recent case in point is Vimeo’s Robert McIntosh who was able to obtain extraordinary images thanks to a drone and some excellent piloting skills.

Robert achieved his impressive aerial views using a miniature, 120-gram drone equipped with a GoPro HERO4 camera, a foam roll cage, and a LiPo flight battery. The battery only provided a few minutes of operation but it was time very well spent. The tight fly through shots were breathtaking and of good quality after post-production editing via ReelSteady. This drone’s amazing feats prove that these machines can play an important role in film making because of their agility and tiny stature which allows them to maneuver through tight spaces. However, small drones are not without their flaws because they are especially susceptible to wind changes in the outdoors.

Japanese filmmaker, Katsuhiko Masuda, is also using small yet powerful drones. There is little difference between Katsuhiko’s drone and Robert’s GoPro variation, albeit for the camera size differences. Katsuhiko uses a larger 1080p FPV camera and, just like his counterpart, he runs raw footage through stabilizing software to alleviate camera shakes so the finished video is slightly below full HD quality.

Short flight times remain a common problem across the board however. With Katsuhiko’s drone, for instance, packing enough power for only about 2 minutes of operation. This issue boils down to the small battery used in the design as a large alternative remains unfeasible on account of maintaining agility and compactness. As a result, such drones require the utmost expertise and a specialized workflow to ensure that every second is put to good use. On the bright side, these micro drones offer extremely tight and close-up shots without endangering actors due to protection guards that provide safe housing for the propellers.

As of now the future of the filming industry is set for a lot of changes and these very tiny drones are spearheading this new era of technological advancement. They are expected to get smaller and better and we should soon see reduced cameras in 4k resolution.

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