A common cliche in the drone industry is the ‘birds-eye view’, those all-encompassing visuals from above that offers a useful perspective – whether you’re creating a model of a construction site or searching for survivors in the wake of a natural disaster.
In the case of movie director Nicolas Vanier and his muse, ornithologist Christian Moullec, the term can be taken a little more literally.
Varnier used a range of DJI equipment to make ‘Spread Your Wings’, a movie out this month inspired by the work of Moullec. The French ornithologist spent years training to fly a microlight, before using it to train endangered geese to take safer migration routes between the Arctic circle and Europe.
The film is fictional but based on Moullec’s story, in which the microlight is accepted by migrating birds as the ‘parent’ and leader of the V formation.
DJI Inspire tells an inspirational story
Rather than use CGI, Vanier used a DJI Inspire 2 drone with the Zenmuse X7 camera and a Ronin 2 to film the birds flying and the actors in their microlight plane.
“Nature has a lot to offer society and needs to be protected,” said Nicolas Vanier. “Drone technology enabled us to get closer than ever before and capture the true beauty of the birds for people to appreciate. Without the drone, we’d never have been able to achieve the shots we did. It really helped in making a fantastic story even more magical.”
Eric Guichard, Director of Photography for the film, said, “Due to the Ronin 2 being much lighter than other professional camera stabilisers we were able to take it up on the microlights with us. I don’t know of any other equipment that would stabilise a camera with the image quality that is required for a professional production to the same level.”
Keen to see the end result? Spread Your Wings will be released on the 9th October 2019 in France (‘Donne moi des Ailes’), and later in other European countries, Canada and Japan.
Malek Murison is a freelance writer and editor with a passion for tech trends and innovation. He handles product reviews, major releases and keeps an eye on the enthusiast market for DroneLife.
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