Is an expensive drone required to benefit from this course?

Certainly not! We’ll let you in on a little secret: we’re not all that interested in drones! That is correct! For us, the drone provides access to a previously unavailable perspective in the skies. As a result, we are not plagued by gear addiction – we are most emphatically NOT gear freaks! Some of the finest photos we’ve ever recorded were captured with our Phantom 2 + GoPro 4 combo years ago, and many of them are featured in this masterclass. This course is for you if you have any drone that produces a reasonable quality image from a camera, preferably stabilized on a gimbal.

The masterclass is a visual spectacular that includes a massive quantity of our breathtaking drone video from across the world.

Because we were filmmakers long before drones, we know that there is ALWAYS a ‘better’ camera out there. The majority of our commercial and wedding work is shot with cameras that cost approximately $1,500. Oh, if only we had the most recent camera with incredible low-light performance that costs $5,000! Certainly not! Sure, our cameras don’t perform well in low light, so what did we do? So we spent $100 on three lights and learned all we could about lighting. We learned how to use light to construct a picture, create distinction between the topic and the background, tell a story, and so on. We took our video production talents to a whole new level by not purchasing the $5,000 camera, and as a result, we developed one of the most successful wedding film businesses in the UK, White Balloon Films.

Try not to become obsessed with the latest and best drone.

As we developed this course, it became clear to us that the great bulk of aerial cinematography produced in Hollywood is really basic. There is probably some drone motion and possibly gimbal tilt or rotation, but the beauty of the shot comes from the suspense created by not revealing the subject in the first frame, the creative decision to point the camera towards or away from the sun, the depth created by having layers in the composition between the camera and the subject, and so on. We teach you all of this so that you can promote yourself as a drone cinematographer, not just a drone owner.

Images from the masterclass

“Thank you, Stewart and Alina! Anyone who has edited will understand how much time and work went into crafting such a detailed course. It is highly clearly constructed and easy to understand, with many real-world examples. As others have stated, I was particularly impressed with the 5-element rating technique for improving each image. As with photography, the more you practice a method of seeing, the more it becomes second nature.”

– Mr. Mark Kelly

Why do I need to pay for a training if drones can fly themselves?

True, a drone “flies itself” in the broadest sense, but does the drone perform any of these tasks for you?

Analyze the light to determine the optimal flight path or time of day to fly.
Identify any undesired things in the photo and position yourself to keep them out of the frame.
Tell me about the most cinematic composition for the subject you’re attempting to film.
Before you even leave the home, find stunning places for your drone photography.
Create your scene by discovering methods to add depth to your composition.
Choose the perfect camera movement to transform a simple shot into a story-telling masterpiece.
To captivate your audience and wow your clients, use the story-telling method of suspense.

In this masterclass, we will provide you with the building blocks and framework to make all of the above automatic and second nature. Also, if you are involved in any non-drone film production, you will find our course very useful because most of what we address is not drone-specific, but rather an examination of filmmaking principles dating back to the early days of cinema.

“Thank you for offering this course! I’m trying to compose anything concrete since my head is still blown! Simply excellent, and your YouTube videos add so much to the training. I’ve only had my drone for about three weeks, but I’m eager to put my newfound filmmaking attitude to use. What I appreciate about this course is that it is effectively split, so I can come back to particular lessons to help me advance my abilities in bitesize bits. It is not a one-time course, but rather content to which you will refer for the rest of your life.”

Shaun Lewis’s

What Can You Tell Me About The Editing Workshop?

Armed with the ability to create stunning aerial footage following Parts 1 and 2 of this masterclass, we want you to have the ability to present your work in an engaging and creative way in the form of a drone showreel. In Part 3 we give you all the tools you need to edit your footage like a professional filmmaker. We talk you through three editing concepts that we wish we knew when starting out: (1) key-wording, (2) favouriting, and (3) shortcuts. Embrace these concepts and your journey to becoming a great editor will shorten significantly! Following this, we take you through 5 cool editing techniques that are particularly applicable to drone footage:

• Speeding up footage
• Using speed ramps
• Key-framing
• Reversing footage
• Zooming and repositioning

In order to help you along the way, we have provided you with a download pack of our drone clips. You can then work alongside us as we assemble a 60 second drone showreel made up of these clips. By the end of this workshop, you will be able to apply what you have learnt to your own showreel and show the world what you are capable of!

Isn’t all this info available for free on YouTube?

Nope! We are not aware of anything that resembles our masterclass on YouTube. In fact, the closest you will find is our own YouTube channel, Drone Film Guide. The reason for this is that any drone “expert” we see on the internet is generally speaking a drone fanatic first, filmmaker distant second. The internet is saturated with drone reviews, best picture settings videos, drone comparisons videos and all that good stuff, often presented by individuals who are very good on the technical side of drones but fall short when it comes to what you should actually do with your drone once you’ve got it.

For Alina and I, the opposite is true. We love making films and getting the most out of our drone, but we have far less interest in the technical side of droning beyond, (a) how to get the highest quality cinematic picture, and (b) how to control the drone best for cinematic movement. Beyond that, it’s all about the story and we believe it is this fresh approach to the world of drones that explains the success of our YouTube channel. Everything we say is supported by years of experience not only as drone operators but as filmmakers also and this gives us the credibility and confidence to create a course of value that we believe is worth paying for. In this masterclass we hold nothing back. We have put our heart and soul in to this course and we firmly believe the relatively small investment we ask of you will pay for itself many times over as you continue on your journey as a drone cinematographer. But, if for whatever reason you feel our masterclass was not worth the investment then we offer a 30 day money back guarantee as you can see in the FAQs below.

Your instructors…

Filmmakers first, drone cinematographers second, as a husband and wife team, we have spent years refining our approach to filmmaking. Through our experience creating commercial films with Captain Cornelius and award winning wedding films with White Balloon Films, we find ourselves in a position to pass on the lessons we have learnt to you. You might also have seen us on our YouTube channel, Drone Film Guide!

Our advice and instruction is always founded on our personal experiences having flown hundreds of commercial drone flights filming landscapes, buildings, people, cars, rock bands and more! Combined with almost a decade of filmmaking experience, we are ideally positioned to apply filmmaking principles to drone cinematography and the results are clear to see in our work. Offering drone services in-house with our businesses, more often than not you will find that our drone gear is the same as yours. We fly accessible prosumer drones and produce outstanding results. You can too!