Aerial Footage

Aerial content is becoming more and more in demand.

Thanks to UAVs, the relatively low cost entry point into aerial cinematography has meant that production companies who where originally priced out of aerial capabilities, have now begun to explore the use and effectiveness such technology offers. In turn, this has driven up demand for aerial content in a way that was unimaginable a few years ago. Shutterstock for example, one of the agencies we regularly work with, has seen a massive spike in demand for aerial content of all kinds of subject matter and it shows no signs of slowing down. 

Shifting resolution

The stock footage industry is currently experiencing a shift from HD content to 4K. The demand for 4K aerials is big and the subject matter being requested varies largely. This also means that the online agencies are now faced with the challenging task of changing over their HD and SD libraries to 4K. It's a great time to get into 4K.

Leisure

Tourism, holidays, landmarks, cities. These are all in high demand, with insufficient supply. A great case example we like to bring up from time to time is golf. Back in 2014 drones were still new at this point and aerials of golf courses were none existent but we knew that golf was in high demand. After a shoot was done the content was left on a hard drive collecting dust. We were able to take that content and in time quadruple the revenue from that day. 

Industrial and Cityscape 

Documentary and commercial production houses often search for aerial content of agriculture, construction work, cityscapes, factories and transport infrastructure. These all sell very well. Next time you binge on your favourite box-set make sure to keep an eye out for these kinds of shots. Chances are you'll be able to find them on the stock footage agencies. We often get a message saying something along the lines of:
"...I need to find an aerial establishing shot of an apartment, something which can be used to set the scene before cutting to the actors inside a studio..." 

Landmark, Urban and Country

Live near a famous landmark, city or monument? Shoot it. I've personally made some good money shooting aerials of various major landmarks or places of interest. For example, I was able to shoot Old Town and other major points of interest in Stockholm one morning, during Golden Hour when the streets were deserted (before UAV's were banned in Sweden). 

If you have 4K aerial content that's well exposed and contains interesting subject matter then feel free to email us and let's have a chat about how we can best monetise your content.