Proudly boasting the first ever “drone catch” in a major motion picture, Michael Gracey’s The Greatest Showman (2017) stunned box offices and tech lovers alike. According to Derek Kuhn, vice president of sales and marketing at QNX Software Systems, “For motion pictures, there is no greater honor than the Academy Awards, and we are thrilled that the Flying-Cam SARAH system, which features QNX technology, has received a 2014 Scientific and Technical Award in recognition of its significant contribution to the movie industry.”
This particular scene was shot by Flying-Cam, a drone company that has been used in movies such as “Oblivion,” “Prisoners,” the “Harry Potter” movies, “Mission Impossible,” and “Transformers.” Flying-Cam was awarded the Scientific and Technical Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. While some of the shots are clean and steady, reinforcing the drone’s impressive shooting abilities, there are also moments of strategically used shaky-cam, making the viewer feels as if they, too, are on the roofs of Istanbul. And it’s not just the variety of twists and turns that the drone captures that is impressive it’s the speed of the bikes and the drone’s ability to keep up, that makes this opening scene so exciting to watch.
The two zoom around, take tight turns, make dangerous jumps––all of which are captured by the drone. This scene focuses predominantly on capturing aerial footage. But what is so compelling is just how impossible it would have been to shoot in a pre-drone era. The opening scene pulls the audience in through a rough and tumble motorbike chase scene, with Bond heroically chasing after the baddie across the rooftop of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. However, Mendes’ work on Skyfall stands out amongst the franchise for a myriad of reasons––but his strategic and skillful use of drones makes this film truly special. A collection of films such as the James Bond flicks have survived through the decades, each director taking a stab at their own rendition. Sam Mendes’ 2015 take on the classic 007 franchise was done with respect, love, and innovation.
We’ve curated the four most memorable and innovative movie scenes featuring drones that have really blown audiences away. But just within the past five to ten years, that drone technology has made its way into the world of cinema, subsequently transforming the way in which we experience films––in short, drones have allowed filmmakers to manipulate the camera in ways that simply were not possible previously. Over the past decade, drones have existed as a revolutionary technological innovation that have redefined our space as voyeurs.
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