Back in August, MultiDrone accompanied a camera team of Deutsche Welle’s ‘Euromaxx – Lifestyle in Europe’ program to Greece – to the wonderful and somewhat magical mountains of Meteora to be exact. The excursion took place as part of the MultiDrone Summer School on Deep Learning and Computer Vision at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

The idea behind this excursion was to explore the possibilities and limitations of drone cinematography using one or several drones in a real life shooting for television. The team of MultiDrone and Euromaxx followed a group of climbers into the heart of the Meteora region, dominated by fascinating rock formations – a paradise for rock climbers – and isolated monasteries on top of some of the peaks. Using two drone models (a Mavic Air and an Inspire 2), the team experimented with different shot perspectives, movements and angles.

The outcome can be seen in the following video or on DW’s website:

It becomes clear, that some of these shots would not have been possible without the drones, adding both some more dramatic impression, but also some otherwise impossible perspectives on the rock formations. Viewers get a better, almost 3-dimensional, insight into the landscape, transmitting the real fascination of this area. However during the shooting it also became clear, that using drones for these kind of recordings needs very meticulous planning and preparation. Especially since the cameras are now moving along three axes through the air, keeping a close eye on them is very important, not only for cinematographic reasons, but also for safety.