How to Plan Drone Footage That Strengthens Your Business Video

Drone footage can make a business video more visually impressive, but that doesn’t mean every production needs it.

The best aerial shots do more than provide a dramatic view. They help the viewer understand something that would be difficult to communicate from the ground: the size of a facility, the location of a property, the scale of an event, the layout of a campus or the relationship between a business and its surroundings.

If you’re considering aerial footage as part of an upcoming production, Video One Productions’ professional drone videography services page explains the production capabilities and types of projects that can incorporate drone footage.

Before scheduling a flight, however, it helps to decide exactly what the aerial footage is supposed to accomplish.

Start With the Story, Not the Drone

One of the easiest mistakes to make is deciding, “We want drone shots,” before deciding what those shots are supposed to communicate.

Instead, ask a more useful question:

What will viewers understand from the air that they cannot understand as well from the ground?

For example, aerial footage may help you:

• Establish where a building or facility is located.
• Show the size of a manufacturing plant, hospital campus or corporate headquarters.
• Demonstrate the scale of an outdoor event.
• Follow vehicles, equipment or activity across a large property.
• Show proximity to highways, neighborhoods or other landmarks.
• Introduce a location before moving inside.
• Give a promotional video a stronger sense of place.

If the aerial shot doesn’t add information, emotion or context, it may simply be decoration. There is nothing wrong with a beautiful establishing shot, but it should still earn its place in the finished video.

Business Videos That Often Benefit From Aerial Footage

Certain projects lend themselves particularly well to an aerial perspective.

Corporate Facilities and Campuses

A ground-level camera may show the entrance of a building beautifully while failing to communicate the size of the overall operation.

For a corporate headquarters, industrial property, medical campus, distribution center or manufacturing facility, an aerial shot can quickly establish scale and location.

You can then move from the exterior aerial footage into interviews, operations, employees at work and other ground-level scenes. This makes the aerial footage part of the story instead of a disconnected visual effect.

Promotional and Marketing Videos

Aerial footage can also be valuable in a larger promotional piece.

For example, a company might open with an exterior aerial shot, transition into its facility, introduce an executive or customer interview and then use ground-level b-roll to demonstrate its products, employees or services.

That combination usually tells a more complete story than aerial shots alone.

Organizations planning this type of project can also review our promotional and marketing video production options for ideas about incorporating interviews, b-roll and other footage into the finished piece.

Events and Outdoor Gatherings

For the right event, an aerial perspective can immediately communicate attendance, atmosphere and scale.

It can be especially effective for outdoor corporate gatherings, festivals, fundraisers, openings, large nonprofit events and similar activities.

But event drone coverage requires more advance planning than simply filming a building. Flying near or over people is subject to specific FAA requirements, and the operator cannot simply fly over a crowd because the shot looks good.

If video will play a larger role in your event, it is worth developing an event video production plan before the day of the event.

Real Estate, Construction and Development

These are some of the most natural uses for aerial video.

An aerial view can show property boundaries, construction progress, access roads, surrounding development and the overall relationship between different portions of a site.

For construction companies, repeated flights from similar positions can also create a useful visual record of progress over time.

Trade Shows and Large Venues

Indoor trade shows obviously are not places where you’re going to fly a drone around exhibitors and attendees. However, exterior aerial footage can sometimes provide an effective establishing shot for a larger recap, corporate or promotional piece.

The rest of the production can then concentrate on booth activity, interviews, demonstrations and presentations from the ground. Video One regularly covers trade shows and business events in Chicago, including productions at McCormick Place.

Healthcare and Nonprofit Organizations

A hospital, research facility, university, nonprofit campus or community organization may also benefit from an aerial establishing shot, particularly if the location itself is important to the story.

Extra care is obviously necessary around people, privacy, property access and sensitive facilities. The goal should be to establish location and scale without allowing an impressive shot to create an unnecessary complication.

Plan the Aerial Shots Before Production Day

“Get some drone footage while you’re there” isn’t much of a shot list.

Before production, identify the shots you actually need. They might include:

• A wide establishing shot of the entire property.
• A slow approach toward the main building.
• A lateral movement showing the length of the facility.
• A higher view showing the property in relation to its surroundings.
• A reveal shot beginning behind a nearby feature and exposing the location.
• A shot following activity taking place outdoors.
• A matching exterior that will transition naturally into a ground-level shot.

This doesn’t mean every flight has to be rigidly scripted. A good operator may see opportunities at the location that weren’t apparent beforehand.

But having priorities prevents you from returning with 30 minutes of beautiful aerial footage and discovering that none of it performs the specific job the editor needs.

Chicago Drone Shoots Require Some Advance Homework

Aerial production is different from putting a conventional camera on a tripod.

Commercial drone operators generally work under the FAA’s Part 107 rules. The FAA requires an appropriate Remote Pilot Certificate for Part 107 operations, and controlled airspace can require authorization through systems such as LAANC or FAA DroneZone.

You can review the FAA’s current Part 107 guidance when planning a commercial project.

Chicago adds another layer of location planning. Property permission, airspace, airports, people, events and the particular location can all affect what is practical. Chicago’s municipal code also contains provisions governing small unmanned aircraft, including an exception for appropriately authorized FAA operations subject to applicable requirements.

Park locations deserve particular attention. The Chicago Park District lists drones among activities requiring a special-event permit in applicable situations.

In other words, don’t promise your marketing director a sweeping drone shot of a particular Chicago location before somebody has determined whether the shot can actually be done legally and safely.

Weather Should Be Part of the Schedule

With conventional indoor filming, bad weather may be inconvenient. With aerial filming, it can change the production plan.

Wind, rain, visibility and other conditions can make a planned flight impractical or undesirable even when the rest of the shoot can continue.

A sensible production schedule therefore has some flexibility built into it.

If the video includes interviews and indoor b-roll as well as aerial footage, for example, the production team may be able to rearrange the order of filming around the weather.

For an important exterior shoot, discussing a backup plan before production day is much easier than trying to invent one while everyone is standing at the location.

Don’t Let the Drone Footage Take Over the Video

Aerial footage tends to draw attention to itself. That’s one reason clients like it.

But more is not always better.

In many corporate videos, a few well-chosen aerial shots are more effective than a long sequence of them. Once viewers understand the location, repeating variations of the same high, wide shot adds relatively little.

Think of aerial footage as one tool in the production.

The finished video might combine:

Drone footage to establish location and scale.

Ground-level b-roll to bring viewers closer to the people, products and activity.

Interviews or testimonials to provide credibility and explain the story.

Gimbal footage to create smooth movement at human level.

Graphics and editing to organize the information and reinforce the message.

Video One’s current drone portfolio demonstrates this approach by combining aerial and ground-level gimbal footage rather than treating the drone as an isolated production method.

That’s generally where aerial video delivers its greatest value: as part of a well-planned production rather than as a gimmick.

Think About the Edit Before You Fly

The editor should not be an afterthought.

Consider where the aerial shots are likely to appear before filming them.

A slow opening approach toward a building may be perfect under the title sequence.

A wide overhead shot might help transition between two parts of the story.

A moving aerial shot could work under an executive’s explanation of the company’s expansion.

A construction project may require similar shots on several different dates so viewers can compare progress.

Knowing the likely purpose gives the pilot and camera crew something much more useful than “get us some cool shots.”

It also allows your Chicago video production company to coordinate aerial footage with interviews, ground-level photography and the rest of the production.

Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Drone Operator

A business client doesn’t need to become an aviation expert, but it is reasonable to ask a few questions before the production.

Ask whether the operator holds the appropriate FAA credentials for commercial work.

Ask whether the proposed location has been reviewed before production day.

Ask who is responsible for determining whether airspace authorization or location permission is needed.

Ask how weather problems will be handled.

Ask whether the aerial footage will be delivered by itself or incorporated into the complete edit.

And ask whether the drone footage will visually match the cameras being used for the rest of your production.

The last question is easy to overlook. A beautiful aerial shot isn’t much help if it feels as though it belongs in an entirely different video.

Experience and Reputation Matter

Operating a drone is one skill. Knowing how aerial footage fits into a professional business video is another.

Ideally, the people planning the drone coverage should understand the larger production: the message, interviews, b-roll, camera movement, editing and eventual use of the finished material.

Video One Productions has been producing business video since 1987, and our Chicago operation includes drone footage along with corporate, event, marketing, interview, training and other video services.

Before choosing any production company, it’s also reasonable to see what previous clients say about working with them. You can read our Google reviews to get a better feel for clients’ experiences with Video One Productions.

A Few Questions We Hear About Aerial Footage

Does every corporate video need drone footage?

No. If the location, property or scale isn’t important to the story, aerial footage may add little. Spend the production budget where it makes the biggest difference.

Can a drone simply be flown anywhere in Chicago?

No. Commercial drone operations are subject to FAA rules, airspace restrictions and potentially location-specific requirements. The operator should review the proposed location beforehand rather than assume a flight is permitted.

Can drones be used at corporate events?

Sometimes, but event flights require careful planning because people, property, airspace and the nature of the location all matter. FAA rules governing operations over people are particularly relevant.

Should we get raw drone footage too?

That depends on how your organization plans to use the material. If you anticipate creating future videos from the same footage, having well-organized raw clips may be useful. If you’re hiring one company to handle the complete production, edited aerial footage may be all you need.

How early should we discuss drone coverage?

As early as you reasonably can. This is especially important when a specific location, event date, permit or airspace authorization may affect the production plan.

Use Aerial Footage When It Tells the Viewer Something

The question isn’t whether drone footage looks impressive. It often does.

The better question is whether it makes your story clearer, more interesting or easier to understand.

When an aerial perspective helps demonstrate scale, location, activity or environment, it can make a substantial difference. When it doesn’t, your production may be better served by putting the time and budget into interviews, lighting, sound, ground-level b-roll or editing.

If you’re considering aerial footage for an upcoming project, take a look at our drone videography capabilities, learn more about our full range of Chicago video production services, or contact Video One Productions to talk through what you’re planning.

Sometimes the best decision is to use a drone.

Sometimes it isn’t.

A good production company should be willing to tell you the difference.