Pre-Production: Testing Drone Footage

After using a drone for The Firm Awards, I found it really brought a professional look and cinematic quality to it. It is something I would definitely like to incorporate into our documentary in establishing locations whilst making some great GV's. For example, it would be great to film the court, which we have seeked permission to do. I would like to film the top of the prison Eddie was in, but due to drone laws and restrictions, it is something beyond our means. The following is some test shoot footage which I have tested different color grades on. I wanted to test out the cold blue vs warm orange look.




For a cold, dramatic image I will:

Create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. Drag the Saturation slide far left to around -40, nearly halfway to black and white. The de-saturation will add drama to the image.
Create a Curves Adjustment Layer. With this adjustment, it's all about the subtle color. Pull down the mid-tones in the Red, Green and Blue channels to achieve a moody blue/green tinted image.
Create a Levels Adjustment Layer. Drop down to the blue channel and drag the bottom black slider to the right to bring blue into the shadows. Then, drag the white slider just slightly left to bring back warmth in the highlights.



For a natural earthy, warm image:

Create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. Drag the Saturation slider left to around -15, for some slight drama.
Create a Curves Adjustment Layer. Pull up the highlights on the Red channel. Then, drop down to the Green channel, pull up the highlights and pull down the shadows to create contrast. Drop down to the Blue channel, again create a small "S-Curve," pull up the highlights and pull down the shadows.
Create a Levels Adjustment Layer. Drop down to the blue channel and drag the bottom black slider to the right to bring blue into the shadows. Then, drag the white slider left quite a bit to bring back a lot of warmth in the highlights.


Testing these various color grades has made me understand just how much of a difference color grading makes it can create a completely different feeling of tone and even time of day. The variations of the 'warm' colors were the difference between looking like it was shot in the morning and an evening sunrise. The cold looks showed a different atmosphere and the variations of this were the difference between a cold, sad tone and it being shot in the evening. I was fascinated with how much different simple drone shots looked with the colour grading and this is a stage of the editing process I will not neglect, especially when it makes such a difference to the cinematic aesthetic I want to go for.

I also wanted to try out some preset packages with drone footage and it did look very effective and I believe it could aid my storytelling, especially if getting drone footage of relevant buildings.



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