Hello, my name is Russell Preston Brown from Adobe Systems and in this tutorial I'm going
to talk about aerial flight maneuvers.
It takes lots of time and practice to achieve success with aerial photography.
In this project, I hope to review some of my favorite aerial maneuvers with the help
of Aaron Grimes.
Aaron has taken all of the aerial footage that you'll see in this tutorial.
Let's get started.
Let's go right here to using motion to tell a story.
Let's take a look at my first example.
In this case, we have a simple project.
We have a car that's moving.
We're panning with that car and then continuing on to show the surrounding area.
It can tell a nice story of your current location.
Here's another example.
This is really great.
Notice that we have a close-up item here on the left.
This is a nice way to come in on your shot.
You're moving in and you also have a person in your shot and the person has moved as you
get closer to them.
Another great shot.
Here's another one to consider.
Notice the car here in the lower right hand corner as it moves into the shot.
It's not only your camera moving, but it's also an element within your shot that's moving.
Many times people will take aerial photography and only the camera is moving.
I find it really helpful to have a combination of the camera moving and a subject matter
in your shot moving as well.
Here's another example.
Notice how the sun is aligning with the lighthouse in this case to start the shot.
Then as you slowly move in on the shot, it moves off of the lighthouse and extends out
here over the ocean.
A really nice way to tell a story about a location and an added bonus of placing the
sun right in the middle of this lighthouse.
In this next shot, we're going to talk about dolly, crane, and jib shots.
In this case, we can do much more than a dolly, crane, and jib because we have more of a three
dimensional movement.
Here we can move up and forward and then start to rotate as we're moving forward.
It's a complex move that involves several different motions at the same time.
Once again, notice that we have our actor or character in this shot which adds another
element of intrigue.
Let's try another one.
In this case, notice how the camera holds still moving backward as our subject matter
moves forward.
This is a really nice combination.
The reverse motion with the forward motion again adds a lot of intrigue.
Not to mention the fact that there's a dog in the shot and it's so important to have
a really interesting subject matter like that.
Check out this shot.
In this shot, the camera is moving back and the truck is moving toward the camera.
Then the camera starts to lift, revealing the surrounding area.
I really love the way the truck moves out of the scene and we're now casting our interest
more for the surrounding area than we are for the truck.
The truck was a vehicle to bring us into the shot and then the surrounding area is revealed.
A really great technique.
Now let's talk about the establishing shot.
In this case, we're going to point the camera in a direction that really is indescript.
We don't know where we are, but we slowly turn the camera rising into the sky to reveal
our location.
Twisting around, we also see the small human figures in the distance which gives us a sense
of scale.
Not to mention the fact that the time of day that this was shot is casting these beautiful
shadows.
Keep that in mind when you go out and photograph.
The time of the day is so important because the shadows define the shapes within your
imagery.
Here's another great reveal.
Again, starting pointing in one direction, turning in this case and we know instantly
where we are and again the time of day.
Next, the God's eye shot.
This is a great shot.
I love the ability to get these types of photographs with these small aerial vehicles.
As we start this shot, we see the scale figures in our shot, we move up, we move forward and
the camera starts to point down, then the camera slowly points up to reveal the sun.
A really nice combination of storytelling and this God's eye view, combining them all
together.
It's a three-dimensional motion through this scene.
Here's another God's eye view that's classic, just pointing the camera straight down on
your scene.
In this shot, I wish there were some really nice shadows to define the height and shape
of these barns.
But in this case, it worked out well because there's a beautiful pattern on the ground.
You'll be surprised and amazed what an image will look like from the sky as you directly
point your camera down.
Here's another shot.
In this case, we're going to have a reveal combined with a God's eye view.
We're revealing this formation to the right and the camera is now going to start to slowly
rotate down and point directly down on our shot.
This is a great combination of moves, moving up and then looking down.
Keep that in mind.
The reveal, now this is really striking.
The reveal is a slow process of lifting, in this case, moving forward or pulling back
to reveal your surroundings.
It's a simple move with, in many cases, one direction.
There's a slight tilt down of the camera in this shot, which adds to it.
And the lens flare coming into this image is a really nice plus.
Let's take a look at this one.
This is a classic shot.
It appears to be just a simple panorama, but the camera is pulling back and this shot was
actually photographed with the camera moving in reverse.
The copter is flying backwards.
The advantage to this is that the blades are tilted up and away from the view of the camera.
So they're tilted up enough so the camera does not see the blades, and it's a great
way to photograph a scene like this with a pull back instead of a push forward.
If I were to push forward and fly into this shot, I might see my blades.
But again, a fantastic example of a reveal.
And a very easy shot to achieve, the chase.
In this case, the camera is following our subject, as you see here, through the woods.
Now it gets a little bit difficult and the flying can be very, very difficult because
of the trees and the fact that you could almost hit the truck in this case.
But again, a great technique to chase your subject matter through a scene like this.
Now, the closer your subjects are to the camera, it really makes it much more interesting,
I find.
The look down.
Now the look down, similar to God's eye, but there's a motion involved.
And this is a classic example.
Here on the salt flats, the motorcycle is coming towards us and then it leaves the scene.
It comes in, it stays into the scene and then leaves and then here we have this beautiful
image of the salt flats looking straight down as we close the scene.
Here's another one.
In this case, it's indescript.
We don't know where we are until the camera starts to move back.
We're going from this flat two-dimensional image to a more three-dimensional view of
this scene, pulling back even farther, reveals even more detail, and we get the grand feeling
of the height and dynamics of this scene.
Incredible.
Next, check this out.
In this case, the camera is moving up, over, and then pointing down into that God's eye
view.
Notice the second helicopter in this shot.
Of course, that's me flying there and this is Aaron getting the really great shot as
I learn to fly down below, again, ending with this God's eye view, starting with the pan
up your subject.
Keep all of these in mind as you go out and photograph as well.
Next, let's talk about the circular shot.
As you can see in this shot, the camera is moving forward.
We're pushing on the joystick with the forward motion.
We're also rotating the camera with the yaw and the left-hand controls to your radio.
Multiple joysticks controlling an image like this at the same time can get very, very complex.
Let's take a look at another one here, again, moving forward, rotating the camera to fly
around a subject.
Notice this on something smaller than a huge massive rock and learn the process of flying
around something and maintaining the subject matter in the center.
It's not as easy as you would think.
It takes a lot of skill to pull this off and only someone like Aaron Grimes could do this
as accurately as this.
He's done a superb job.
He's not always keeping it in the dead center, but I think there's some interest in seeing
our subject matter move throughout the scene.
Here, the reverse shot.
There are actually occasions when you have to photograph something in reverse to make
it look good in the forward motion as you see in this project.
What we're looking at appears to be a flight through this opening, when, in fact, it's
a flight in reverse.
The reverse flight was much easier because we first went through the small opening, we
knew our path, and then simply pulled back on the joystick to achieve a perfect flight
through it.
But, in fact, in this case, we needed the flight to be in its reverse mode.
We wanted to fly through it, so it worked out well.
Keep that in mind when you're working on projects.
Moving the video can often help. A point of view shot will end with this shot.
It's a really nice way of moving the camera in the point of view of your viewer, and here,
at the height of an average human, it looks as if you're moving through the forest or
someone is walking through the forest.
Okay, there you have it.
That was a review of some of my favorite aerial maneuvers.
Notice some of those maneuvers, and use these techniques in your next video production.
Special thanks to Aaron Grimes for these incredible aerial maneuver shots that are used in this
tutorial.
