Aerial Unit Crew Size - FD abides by FAA regulations for saftey and therefore requires a crew of three to four professionals to arrive on any given closed set: a pilot, a camera operator, a visual observer, and, if necessary, a focus puller.
Pulling Focus - For compositions that start wide and matriculate to narrow frames, a third FD professional must remotely pull focus, same is generally recommended for chasing automobiles or trucks.
Minimizing Drone Shadow - The position of the sun can be extremely difficult to judge when planning aerial compositions especially for cinematic low altitude establishing shots.
Monitoring Prop Wash - Casted shadows of each individual propeller casting split second shadows which are very difficult to detect with live feeds, hd or not.
Considering Drone Wind - Due to weight of the copter, significant wind wind from the propellers often creates dust from the asphault, dirt or any surface, further setting frames with talent often leads to some very potentially awkward considerations that must be foreseen. If the talent is female and wearing a short dress double sided tape must be used to ensure the shot isn't ruined because of an unintential exposed body part.
Minimizing Radio Frequencies - FD Professionals are concerned with the potential of radio interference so for the safety of all cast and crew we mandate sound productions cease and temporarily turn off equipment, and any and all non aerial drone walkie talkies to be turned off.
Disclosing Potential Downtime - The larger drones fly for very short periods of time and time must be alloted for the aircrafts motors to cool (safety concern), wind concerns, or time-of-day flight concerns for optimal aerial coverage.
