I've purchased my Spark in December 2017. It's been a year flying it, until December 2018, when i crashed it
The video contains footage taken with the Spark during these 12 months, covering 4 countries: Romania, Greece, Denmark and The Netherlands.
There were a lot of mistakes done and a lot of crap footage before getting to it. If i'd share from my experience, these would be the most important tips:
- scout the location where you want to film. see different angles. record something and then analyze and see if you can capture differently - try to emphasize the dept of field by having something in the foreground of your subject: trees, buildings, etc - ALWAYS choose the right White Balance. when it's sunny choose sunny and so on - use the Hystogram to always check the exposure - try to add a ND filter to keep the shutter speed at the right value (also know as 180 degree rule). Spark records movies in 30fps so the shutter speed should be 1/60 as this will show the most natural motion blur- pay attention to the weather: high winds may result in a shaky video as Spark has a 2 axis gimbal - always keep the drone in line of sight- shooting in Tripod mode will reduce hard moves - don't be afraid to use the Intelligent Flight Modes: circle, helix, dronie but do check the surroundings before starting
- set your gimbal speed at a lower number. mine is set at 9. - music used in the video will enhance the whole production. try to cut the scenes to the music beat. try using music that will create the right feeling in viewer's mind but matching it to the video- always check to have >12 satellites before taking off- do a couple of maneuvers before flying for your subject: go up/down/left/right - see how the drone responds to the commands