so ive been flying for about 8 months now mostly just recreational stuff but lately ive been trying to actually make my footage look cinematic instead of just... random clips stitched together. the problem is i get to a location and kind of just start flying and doing whatever looks cool in the moment and then when i sit down to edit i have like 40 minutes of footage and maybe 3 usable clips.

i know some people do like a shot list before they go out but i honestly dont even know where to start with that. like do you plan specific camera angles and movements beforehand or do you just get a feel for the location first and then plan? also does anyone scout on google earth or whatever before going to new spots? feel like that could save a lot of time but ive never actually done it systematically

any tips from people who actually get consistent results would be appreciated, getting kind of frustrated with the waste of battery and time tbh

google earth is honestly one of the most underrated tools for this, i use it every single time before i go somewhere new. you can see elevation changes, potential obstacles, where the sun is gonna be (there are apps for that too, sun surveyor is good). i spend maybe 20-30 min just looking around the location virtually before i ever leave the house.

for shot planning i keep it pretty loose, i usually have like 4-5 shot types i want to get ? an establishing wide, a reveal of some kind, maybe a tracking shot if there's a subject, and then i leave room to just explore. the problem with being too rigid with a shot list is you miss stuff you couldnt have known about from google earth. some of my best clips have been total accidents because something looked interesting and i just went for it.

also if you're getting 40 min of footage and only 3 usable clips that's not necessarily a problem with planning, might be a flying smoothness thing or expo settings? what are you flying

im pretty new too so take this for what its worth but what helped me a lot was watching the videos i wanted to make before going out. like find a video with the vibe you're going for and literally pause it and write down what shots they used. orbit here, pull back reveal there, low altitude tracking shot. then try to replicate those. its not copying its just learning the vocabulary i think