The rapidly growing popularity of UAS is taking the world by
storm. Although UAS are not yet ubiquitous, it is beginning to change the way
how movies and TV shows are produced today. The technology of UAS is forging a
new frontier in cinematography. The only reason why UAS are not widely used in
this industry is not because film makers are not aware of it, but that the
aviation authorities have not fully liberalized the use of UAS yet (Burgess,
2015). For many years, the making of movies is done with aerial shots from
manned aircraft or from cranes. These methods are both expensive and risky. According
to Verrier (2015), an UAS with a camera and crew costs as little as $5,000 a
day, compared with at least $25,000 for a manned helicopter shoot. The logistic
process involved in a manned flight to take aerial footage can be a laborious. In
addition, accident fatalities are not unknown on movie sets, and the use of UAS
can take away some of this risks. Verrier reported that in 2013, people were
killed when the helicopters crashed during filming of several shows (Verrier,
2015).
Several movie and TV film companies have already gotten
approval from FAA to use UAS for filming in the US through section 333
exemptions (FAA, 2014). In fact, movies have already been made using UAS in the
past, but mostly outside of US where there are less stringent regulations of such
usage. Many scenes in numerous movies such as “The Wolf of Wall Street”,
Mission Impossible”, etc. have been produced by UAS (Gamerman, 2015). In
Singapore, local film maker Jack Neo has used UAS for several of his movies as
well (Lee, 2015).
There are also limitations with using UAS for cinematography.
Image quality and stabilization is still not as good as ground setups, and UAS
flight endurance using vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft still
remain challenging for any requirement for long aerial shoots. Nevertheless, as
UAS assume a growing role in cinematography, movies will continue to be made to
provide new perspectives at a low cost.
Reference
Burgess, J. (2015). The five best movie scenes shot using
drones. Retrieved from http://www.techradar.com/sg/news/photography-video-capture/the-best-5-movie-scenes-shot-using-drones-1302565
FAA (2014). Six companies can now fly small UAS following
FAA approved safety procedures. Retrieved from http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?cid=TW251&newsId=17194
Gamerman, E. (2015, March 25). Drones invade Hollywood. The
Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/drones-invade-hollywood-1427410534
Lee, M.K. (2015, May 14). Singapore to introduce drone law:
5 things about these flying machines. Straits
Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-to-introduce-drone-law-5-things-about-these-flying-machines
Verrier, R. (2015). Drones are providing film and TV viewers
a new perspective on the action. Los
Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-drones-hollywood-20151008-story.html
Watercutter, A. (2015). Drones are about to change how
directors make movies. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2015/03/drone-filmmaking/
