The Calm of the Air: A Highland Journey 4k

April 13, 2020 Submission

Written and Filmed by Jonathan Constantinou

Artist

I am a documentary filmmaker & photographer fascinated by the remote places and peoples of the world. This article looks at the first in a series of aerial films "The Calm of the Air: A Highland Journey"

To see more of my work, you can follow my Instagram, visit my Website, or subscribe to my shiny new YouTube channel!

Gear

The equipment list used to make "A Highland Journey" is fairly simple! I used the DJI Mavic 2 Pro with the Fly More expansion package, in combination with a set of PolarPro Vivid Cinema series polarised ND filters.

Throughout the shoot I kept the Mavic 2 Pro in D-Log, 4K 10-bit h.265, shooting in 25p. The majority of locations I film are either in daylight or sunrise/sunset, and so with that I am able to keep the ISO down at 100 for all my shots.

The set of ND's combined with the adjustable aperture of the Mavic 2 Pro camera means that I am able to have full control over my exposure, and puts this drone up into professional territory (for certain situations) with other much more expensive systems.

Contrary to popular opinion, the 180-degree shutter rule is not a rule...it's a guideline which may not apply to all situations. Drone flying is one of those exceptions. I tend to vary my shutter speed between 1/50 and 1/25 depending on what is happening in the frame, my speed, panning/tilting rate, and whether I plan on speed ramping in post. The last thing you want is a sharp shutter effect where a noticeable stutter ruins an otherwise good shot, and so opening up your shutter allows more motion blur on those fast-moving objects as well as more potential to increase playback speed in post. Of course, the best solution would be to shoot and deliver in 4K50p, but that's a conversation for another day!

Another essential piece of kit I used is a Bestek 200W Power Inverter. This traveled with me in the car the entire journey and meant that not only could I charge one battery via the Fly-More package's car charger, but I could also charge the remaining batteries on the multi-charge station without worrying about switching them over. The time and distances in Scotland can be vast when driving between locations, and so this feature is invaluable as a fire-and-forget charging solution to have all your batteries charged when you arrive at your next location. It fits into a cupholder as well, which is another nice touch!

Locations & Schedule

The locations filmed in "A Highland Journey" were spread across the West Highlands and the Isle of Skye.

There are too many individual spots to name them all, but the key is having a planned itinerary which is realistic, as well as flexible enough to not only add on more as-you-go but also deliver a usable edit should you have to drop shots due to poor weather.

The film was made in a schedule of 9 days in April 2019, using my own funding to travel and stay in Scotland. As an insight into the weather of Scotland in April, only 3 of the 9 days had overcast or sunny weather, the remainder was a mixture of drizzle or heavy rain. As a result, most of the film was shot during those 3 days, and opportunistic pauses in the rain otherwise.

As an aside, I am more confident with the M2P than I have been with any other DJI drone when flying in light rain. It was caught in sudden patches of rain and mist and didn't skip a beat.

Editing Process and Inspiration

The majority of the footage was sitting on a hard drive for the best part of a year before I made "A Highland Journey". The UK entered lockdown in March 2020 which made me long to be back out in nature. This provided me with the inspiration for the series, using music and sound design to create a peaceful, immersive experience that allowed people to switch off from the constant pandemic news.

For me, I tend to see images in my mind when I listen to music, and if I can't see anything then I won't like the music. This extends to the editing process - contrary to everything I was taught in film school, I edit according to the music from the very outset, and not the other way round. This is very time consuming and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone!

I edited on a max-spec 2019 iMac using Premiere Pro. Despite the added horsepower of the newer computer, h.265 files are still slow to edit and will drop frames in playback from time to time.

Despite the high CPU demands of the files, I am amazed by the quality of the images delivered by the Mavic 2 Pro. To my eye, they are within one stop of dynamic range of the much more expensive X5S system. However, even at 100 ISO, the files can start to break up if the shadows are lifted too far, and so I wouldn't be too afraid of exposing higher even if it means clipping a few highlights a bit.

Jonathan Constantinou GTC, IAWF | Director of Photography

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