Three establishing shots to do with the DJI Mavic Pro

Establishing shots are important when you are telling a story, they set the scene and often the mood for the viewers. We recently added the Mavic Pro to our arsenal, and the number of story-telling tools you get from just $1,000 (or $899 in current promotion) is staggering.

Here are three establishing shots that you can do with the Mavic Pro and would be very hard to do without a drone.

Spiraling-up Shot

 

A spiraling-up shot is a shot where the drone slowly gets higher as it rotates, it gives the feeling of openness and it looks like the scene is opening up giving a feeling of space. It’s an easy shot to take.

Start by centering your subject under the drone, then push the left stick up and to the right. make sure to go slow if you want a cinematic movement.

The opposite of this shot is a shot that spirals down, and this shot creates just the opposite feeling of space closing down on your subject.

Circling Shot

A circling shot is a shot that rotates the subject while keeping a lot of the surrounding scene in the frame. It’s a great shot if you want your audience to understand where your subject is and what is around them. If you are using the Mavic (or another DJI drone that supports flight modes) this is a very easy shot to take. You can use the Mavic’s built-in tracking mode, select your subject speed and height and simply let the Mavic take over.

Reveal Shot

This is a simple shot where the drone slowly approaches the subject until it gets into the frame. Along with showing the surrounding scene, it creates a feeling of anticipation. To take this shot, I got the Mavic to its starting position and made sure the camera was pointing straight at my subject. Then I adjusted the gimbal and pushed the right stick forward.

Your Turn

These are only three simple shots that a Mavic can take, we would love to hear about more references to aerial establishing shots.