Drone filming for corporate and brand films, where the shot earns its place
Drone shots are on almost every brief we see, often before anyone has said what the film is for. Used well, an aerial shot does something nothing else can: it shows the scale of a site, the setting of a building, or how one place connects to the next. Used as decoration, it's three seconds of rooftops that tell the viewer nothing. So we plan drone filming the same way as everything else, from the job the film has to do.
A thirty minute conversation with the team. No obligation.
When a drone shot is worth it
Aerial footage earns its place when the size or setting of something is part of the story. That could be a campus and its grounds for a school's open day film, or a construction site, a utilities project or a factory, where the work is too big to see from the ground. Hotels and venues use it to show where they sit in the landscape, and property and investment films use it to show what's being built and what surrounds it.
It's also useful at the start of a film, to set the scene before the people and the detail take over. One well chosen aerial shot usually does more than five.
Flown legally and safely
We fly our own drone. It weighs under 250 grams, which puts it in the lightest category of the UK's drone rules, and we hold the CAA Operator ID and Flyer ID that category asks for, with insurance for commercial filming. A small drone is also quieter and less intrusive on a site where people are working.
Every flight is planned before the shoot day. We check the airspace and any restrictions, get the landowner's permission, and agree a safe area away from people who aren't part of the shoot. Flying in or near London and other built-up areas needs more planning and sometimes permissions that take time, so tell us early if the location is in a city.
Weather decides the day. Drones don't fly in strong wind or rain, so we keep a back-up plan for the aerial shots and schedule them where there's room to move.
How it fits the film
Drone footage is graded with the rest of the film so the aerial shots match the ground footage rather than looking like stock. It's planned into the storyboard, so each shot has a reason to be there and a place in the edit.
On a typical shoot the drone is one part of the day, alongside the interviews and the footage on the ground. For a brief built mainly around a site, such as a construction or infrastructure film, it can be a bigger share of the shoot.
Based in Suffolk, filming across the UK
We're based near Woodbridge in Suffolk and film in London all the time, as well as across the UK. Suffolk and East Anglia have a lot of open land, estates and coastline that suit aerial work, and travel to anywhere else is shown as its own line on the quote.
Drone filming is usually part of corporate video production, a brand film or a promotional video. For events, the event filming page covers what's possible when there are crowds.
FAQ
Do you need a licence to film with a drone?
For a drone under 250 grams, the UK rules ask for a CAA Operator ID and Flyer ID rather than a separate operating licence. We hold both, and our drone work is insured.
Can you fly a drone over people?
Not over crowds or uninvolved people. We plan a safe area for every flight and film people on the ground with ordinary cameras.
Can you film with a drone in London?
Often, but it takes more planning and sometimes permissions that take time to arrange, so tell us the location early.
What happens if the weather's bad?
We don't fly in strong wind or rain. Aerial shots are scheduled with room to move, and we agree a back-up plan before the day.
Does drone filming cost extra?
It's part of the fixed price we agree before filming, so there's no surprise on the invoice.
Start with a conversation
Tell us what the film has to show and where. It's thirty minutes, and we'll tell you straight whether a drone shot would help.
Three things people ask
- What does it cost?
- Most production companies won't tell you until you've had a call. What things cost
- How long does it take?
- Four to six weeks from brief to delivery, for most projects. How we work
This is one of the ways we work, and the whole range is on the video production services page. People reading about drone filming often go on to corporate video and brand films. You can see the approach at work in the Culford School case study, and for a sector where a campus and its grounds are part of the story, read video production for education. Guides that go with it: types of corporate video and how to brief a video production company.
Tell us the problem.
We'll tell you honestly which kind of film would solve it, or whether a film is the answer at all. Thirty minutes with one of our team.
A thirty minute conversation with the team. No obligation.