so ive been flying for about a year now and i feel like my footage is decent technically but when i sit down to edit it i realize i dont have enough variety to actually tell a story or make anything feel cinematic. like i get to the spot, fly around, get some nice stuff but it all ends up feeling like the same shot repeated 10 times with slightly different angles.

been watching a lot of breakdown videos from guys like Tomas Senior and stuff and they always seem to have like this clear vision of what theyre going for before they even unpack the case. do you actually script this stuff out or is it more just experience where you start seeing shots automatically? genuinely curious how people approach this because right now i feel like im just winging it every time

yeah this was me for a long time honestly. what actually helped was forcing myself to think in terms of three shot types before i go anywhere - an establishing wide, something that shows scale or movement, and then a closer more intimate shot that gives context. once i started framing it that way my edits stopped feeling like a slideshow and started feeling like something.

i also started using google earth and just spinning around the location the night before, looking for natural leading lines, interesting textures, where the light is gonna be at the time i'm flying. sounds like a lot of prep but it takes maybe 20 minutes and it makes such a difference. you show up with actual intentions instead of just hoping something looks cool

honestly i just try to think about what the edit needs rather than what looks cool in the air. like if i know the song has a big drop at around 45 seconds i want a reveal shot or something with momentum ready for that moment. so i kinda reverse engineer from the edit. doesnt always work out but its given me more of a framework than just flying around hoping for the best lol