As drone pilots and a commercial production company we travel a lot in our line of work. We are centrally located in the greater Los Angeles area, in beautiful sunny Malibu to be exact. Here we have access to such a diversity of landscapes just within a couple hours of us. The metropolitan hustle of Los Angeles, Snowy Mountains of Big Bear, Angeles Crest, the Desert of Dumont Dunes and of course the beautiful beaches from Santa Barbra to San Diego with the iconic Pacific Coast Highway (PCH).
Recently we were tasked to shoot plates and establishing shots of an area that resembled Georgia. Getting anything to look like Georgia in the desert of Los Angeles was not easy. However, we did have the advantage that it was winter time, so we had some green grass and vegetation from the rains. After some brainstorming we decided that a great place to take our drone would be Ojai, California. After we coordinated with production to finalize permitting we set of for Ojai with a set of drones in tow.
The drone that we used was the DJI Inspire 1 Pro. This aircraft gives the drone pilot an easy to use system that is unintimidating to talent and super reliable with proper set up. At the time that we were shooting in Ojai we also had a fleet of DJI Inspire 2 ‘s however budgets were tight, given we had to make Ojai look like Georgia. Although the DJI Inspire 1 Pro was an older aircraft the Camera was very comparable to a Panasonic GH3 but not quite a GH4. The DJI Inspire 1 allows drone pilots to captalize on the M 4/3 camera body and lenses, giving a much more aesthetically pleasing image in comparison to a Phantom 4 or Mavic Pro Platinum. Being able to select real glass, focal length, aperture, ND filter and having a superior low light capability sets the DJI Inspire 1 Pro with the X5 camera head and shoulders above the DJI Phantom or Mavic Pro. The DJI Inspire 1 Pro creates a very nice image, however you should be aware there is an issue with red colors on very bright days, it is not an isolated case, it is well known in the community that a red tint exists on these cameras. Shooting a red car for example in the middle of the day yields disastrous results.
We showed up in Ojai ready to shoot. The rains and gods had smiled upon us, there was rolling hills filled with green grass. A beautiful sight indeed as me and the drone camera op breathed a sigh of relief. We spent three hours in the wee morning light to find the right locations in Ojai that would “pass” for Georgia. When we launched the DJI Inspire 1 Pro drone, it was the perfect morning light and Ojai is known for “Pinktime” since they have the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
We shot Ojai in 4K and hand delivered data to production the next day, again the benefits of living in the Los Angeles area rears its head. We got the thumbs up from production the following week. They were completely thrilled with the results. Since the video was shot in D-Cinelike with a flattened out profile, post production was able to tweak the image and color grade to give it that last bit of authenticity. Flying in Ojai was easy as it is a relatively quiet town. Maybe you should consider Ojai as a place where you can mimic some grassy plains and rolling hills.
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