Over the weekend, I embarked on my own mini project for fun. I was given the chance to practice with the big Sony F5 camera and the DJI Phantom Drone. As I am only 18 years old, the thought of using this equipment that is used in Hollywood feature films was quite scary! Sony has three of these premium priced cameras, including the Sony F5, F55 and F65. Oblivion starring Tom Cruise and After Earth starring Will Smith are just a few examples of films that these cameras have been used in.
Drones are now becoming a serious part of a filmmaker’s kit bag; some of the most recent drones are capable of shooting 4K! BBC news has even started using drones to capture their news stories in a way that wouldn’t have been possible three-five years ago. Shooting on the Sony was a huge change for me, as normally I shoot on my much smaller Canon DSLR.
Because I was shooting handheld the footage would have been very shaky, so the high frames per second of the F5 enabled me to capture super slow motion! When the footage is this slow, it really helps smooth out the shaky handheld footage that I was shooting.
Shooting with the drone not only enabled us to get shots that would normally need a helicopter but it was also great fun! I managed to keep the drone in sight at all times and captured some incredibly dynamic shots. The drone also helped my dad inspect the clogged roof gutter!
Ben Hanratty, Junior Filmmaker at Soup Creative, Summer 2015
Check out Ben’s video.
