The Hollywood film industry is one of the most competitive and expensive entertainment industries. Studios spend millions of dollars trying to create the next big hit. From equipment to settings, directors, actors, writers, and the countless other factors that go into a film production the costs can be immense. That is why drones are now coming to the aid of filmmakers in many ways. Their innovation and cost efficiency are just what film studios need to set them ahead.

Because of the strict regulations imposed by the FAA on drones, they haven’t been able to be as widely used as filmmakers would have hoped. But with adjustments made to these regulations things are changing. As of now, there are only handful of video and photo production companies that have full FAA clearance to use drones on film and television sets. These companies are in high demand. They allow for filming in ways that were previously unavailable.

The traditional way of filming sweeping landscapes was through the use of a plane or helicopter. The plane or chopper would have to be equipped with extremely expensive stabilizing cameras. If the shots weren’t captured to the directors liking the first time, a re-shoot would be necessary. This whole process could eat up millions of dollars from a production’s budget. But with the use of drones, this cost is virtually eliminated. At a fraction of the price, an easily portable drone with a motion stabilizing built in camera can quickly and easily capture any type of location or landscape needed.

Some examples of how drones have been used to film scenery in movies and television can be seen in movies like Van Helsing, Wolf Of Wall Street, Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, and Game Of Thrones. Drones aren’t only being used to film sweeping landscapes though. In the 2015 film Jurassic Park the audience was shown the point of view of a flying dinosaur, a pterosaur. The way this was achieved was by using a drone to simulate what that point of view would look like.

In the 2012 James Bond film, Skyfall, drones were used in a way they have never been used on set before. The opening scene of the movie features an intense motorcycle chase. In the past, to be able to get some of the amazing up close shots would have required a lot of stop and go repeat filming. Instead, the director was able to film the scene more continuously by having a drone race along with the actors capturing the needed footage. Aerobo drone company used a drone called the Flying Cam, and it set a precedent for how drones could be used outside the realm of landscape filming in a major Hollywood production.

The ways in which drones can assist in the production of film and television are seemingly endless. It is with their help that Hollywood studious are now finding that edge to keep their audience entertained. Who knows, maybe sometime soon there will be a new award category for films captured via drones when the award season rolls around.