Video consumption rates are steadily increasing, and as a result, the need for video content is greater than ever. According to eMarketer report, US adults will spare 108 minutes each day watching the digital video in 2020, an 8-minute increase over last year. Creatives are under immense pressure to film, produce, and edit more and more content, and that isn’t slowing down- even in the face of a pandemic. In fact, according to Nielson, staying put on our houses can lead to nearly a 60% rise in the amount of content we see.
Drone technology is not new, but it has quickly become a filmmaker favorite for being able to capture amazing scenes cheaply and promptly to meet deadlines and demand. Videographers, producers, and other creatives are rapidly embracing drones as a tool to succeed in today’s content-driven world.
Drone operators can capitalize on the increasing demand by capturing much-needed content. Not only is a large volume of content needed, but it also has to be high-quality, unique, and authentic to stand out in a crowded visual landscape and genuinely resonate with the end-user, the consumer.
Using Drones to Capture Stunning Content
Drones can film from perspectives that were previously impossible to capture without specialized equipment, like helicopters and cranes. While operating in the air, they can rotate and move in all directions using just their controls, allowing the pilot to achieve the perfect shot. Drones are even able to maneuver in and out of tight areas that helicopters and steady cams could never before reach.
Also, drones have become much more user-friendly, helping to eliminate a roadblock for videographers to record stunning footage. While a learning curve still exists, especially for those looking to have a solid understanding and mastery of operating a drone in any scenario, and many working professionals yet opt to receive proper certification from the FAA, it has become much easier for a first-timer to watch a few how-to videos online and start filming their drone content.
Overcome Tighter Resources
Today’s digital storytellers are faced with the bitter realities of growing expectations and shrinking resources. Besides the cost of drones themselves coming down, drones can capture aerial footage at a fraction of the cost of renting a helicopter, which allows videographers to have much more breathing room in their budgets for other things in the production. The latest drones can even carry cinema-grade cameras, making them a versatile addition in any videographers’ tool kit.
Earn Extra Income With Your Drone Content
As a drone operator, if you are looking to experiment with taking aerial footage, one of the best ways to monetize your hobby is by making that content available for others to license through a footage library. If you’ve already captured hours of stunning aerial footage and incorporated it into your projects, there are bound to be several clips that didn’t make the final cut that can be licensed as stock footage. Even the final cut can be sold, too!
There are a million and one use cases for stock footage, as it helps fill the diverse needs of filmmakers and marketers all over the world. You can find stock content in advertisements, social media, major motion pictures, runway shows, billboards, packaging, and many more places.
Every time your work gets licensed, you will collect earnings. It is an excellent way for videographers to make extra income on the side with content that they already had sitting around. Some contributors make this their full-time gig, but it can also be an excellent part-time side hustle as well.
Stock footage is often used for commercial purposes, so resolution, color space, composition, camera movement, and camera dynamics are essential aspects that contribute to the overall quality of the content and can be easily met with drone technology.
Drones will only continue to improve in speed and agility, and their cost will also continue to decrease. New features like faster compression and upload/download speeds will also become much more common on drones, making them an even more attractive option in the years to come for filmmakers looking to create videos with the tool.
However, drones can’t make up for lack of creative vision, yet paired with a videographer’s knowledge and skill set, they can make for cinema-quality visuals that can earn you money each time it’s licensed and help storytellers around the world form their unique narratives.
Learn more about the ways to leverage drone technology to earn money in this interview we did with Shutterstock’s Director of Creative Video Content, Kyle Trotter.
This article was written by Joanna Goldman, She is a Creative Producer, Content Strategist at Shutterstock based out of Montreal, Canada. With a passion for motion design, compositing, and illustration, Joanna has followed her dream which has led her to work on feature films, TV shows, commercials, and AAA video games.
In her current role, Joanna oversees video content creation for marketing and sales materials for the brand. Previously, Joanna was a Senior Motion Designer for Ubisoft where she specialized in motion design, graphic design, and compositing used for marketing materials and in-game videos on several popular games including the Assassins Creed and Watch Dogs franchises.
Before that, Joanna worked on feature films including GOON and Fubar 2, and countless corporate videos. She has several years of post-secondary Fine Arts and Hand-Drawn Animation Schooling including a post-graduate certificate in Visual Effects and Motion Design from Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology.