Talk about an establishing shot! Imagine you’re reporting live from the scene of a breaking news story — a fire, a flood, a crime scene investigation, a protest. The photographer has you centered in the frame for the close up on the ground. But there’s also an unmanned drone the photographer controls circling over the scene. […]
Talk about an establishing shot!
Imagine you’re reporting live from the scene of a breaking news story — a fire, a flood, a crime scene investigation, a protest.
The photographer has you centered in the frame for the close up on the ground.
But there’s also an unmanned drone the photographer controls circling over the scene.
As the control room tosses to you, viewers see the live shot from the drone revealing an aerial view of the entire scene, while they hear you set up the story off camera.
At the right time, the live shot from the drone is switched to you live, ready for your close-up.
When you think about it, the storytelling of almost any breaking news story would be improved with the addition of the perspective an unmanned drone would provide.
And maybe someday, unmanned drones will be part of every videographer’s kit.
WRAL, Capitol Broadcasting’s NBC affiliate in Raleigh, N.C., has taken a step in that direction with the launch of a squadron of drones to add unmanned aerial technology to its local news coverage.
WRAL has three drones ready to launch currently, piloted by two certified pilots with three more pilots in training. The pilots fly a DJI F-550, six-blade drone, a DJI Inspire 1, and a DJI Phantom 4 Pro.
The other day, WRAL used a live drone shot as part of its weather coverage, a first in the market according to Rick Gall, WRAL’s news director.
But flying an unmanned drone as a regular feature of breaking news coverage has its limits, says Gall, the major one being that the drone can’t fly directly over people.
But Gall says that even with that limitation, his newsroom’s daily editorial meetings also always looking for opportunities to feature the drones.
WRAL also has its own helicopter and Gall says the drones are not a replacement, because helicopters have much fewer flying restrictions than drones and provide different vantage points that drones can’t get.
WRAL was one of the first broadcasters in the country to obtain a remote pilot’s certificate from the FAA and has been working on its drone program since 2014.
Since then, the station has been a leader in safely implementing this new technology.
WRAL’s parent company, Capitol Broadcasting, was one of 15 companies in a news media coalition that worked with the FAA and the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership to develop safety standards, design a test program and research how drones can be used by journalists for newsgathering.
“Using new technology to innovate local news coverage is in our DNA,” says Steven D. Hammel, WRAL’s general maanger.
“We’re excited to show our viewers a whole new vantage point from the Drone5 fleet.”
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