Directing, Building Drone Film Festivals, and Flying Drones …

Randy Scott Slavin is an award-winning director, photographer, and aerial cinematographer. He’s additionally the founding father of the New York City Drone Film Festival (NYC DFF). He’s labored with large manufacturers like American Express and AT&T, and his pictures has appeared in Time Magazine, the Washington Post, and Gizmodo, amongst others.

We’ve been attending the NYC DFF for 3 years now, and this final yr we turned one among their media companions. Given all of the completely different varieties of labor Randy does, we wished to sit down down and choose his mind about flying drones, directing, and what it takes to place collectively an occasion just like the New York City Drone Film Festival.

Randy Scott Slavin, NYC DFF Founder

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BEGIN INTERVIEW

You not too long ago flew a drone on the Tonight Show, when Will Smith was on as a visitor. Was it scary to fly so near folks whereas being filmed reside?

I’d be mendacity if I mentioned I wasn’t nervous about flying in entrance of Jimmy Fallon, Will Smith, and a reside studio viewers.

But I’ve been flying and working professionally with drones for a very long time, and I’ve been in quite a lot of irritating conditions, particularly as a pageant director.

So as nervous as I would get, I simply attempt not to consider all the stressors—the viewers, the reside set, and all that. I attempt to block all of that noise out and simply be actually zen once I’m flying in that sort of situation.

Here is a clip from the Tonight Show—you may see Randy flying at :48

To be sure I felt actually ready I requested them if I might simply do quite a lot of rehearsals. Once we established the route they wished me to fly I flew it about 30 instances, simply going over and over it to get the trail into my muscle reminiscence.

We additionally did a reside rehearsal, and Jimmy and Will have been each very nice, in order that helped calm any extra nerves I may need been feeling.
With all that preparation, when it got here time to really do the reside shoot I wasn’t actually nervous anymore—I used to be excited, truly.

There was even an advert libbed half—the entire thing the place they’re petrified of the drone and defending one another wasn’t initially deliberate in any respect. It simply occurred on the spot.

Tell us about your background. How did you get into directing?

I’ve at all times been into cameras and digital camera gear—even earlier than American Beauty got here out, I used to be that man who was at all times strolling round taking photos of the whole lot.

A surrealist photograph by Randy entitled Sanctuary

And when the mini DV digital camera got here out then I used to be the man with the video digital camera.

All of my buddies have been in bands and I actually wished to be near them and take part in what they have been doing, and filming them gave me that method in. Through that curiosity I ended up doing a little work at MTV, once I was nonetheless ending faculty at NYU.

After that work, I received into modifying actuality TV as a result of it’s among the best methods to make a residing in New York City if you wish to work within the movie business.

While I used to be doing that work, I used to be additionally directing music movies for buddies’ bands and folks within the scene that I knew, actually simply something I might get my arms on.

And then in 2008 I gained the particular jury award for a music video at South by Southwest, and that basically helped me launch my work as a director.

Randy’s award successful video from South by Southwest

When did you begin utilizing drones in your work?

Around the top of 2013 a skateboard movie made by Ty Evans got here out known as Pretty Sweet, and it begins with this single shot that simply blew me away. It simply instructed the story so properly—actually, it made me sort of jealous. And it was shot with a drone.

The shot Randy’s speaking about begins round :22 on this video

That received me so impressed, and made me need to begin working with drones. Since then we’ve had Ty Evans as a visitor on the NYC DFF, and Robert McIntosh—he was truly the pilot who constructed the customized rig they used to make that shot, and who flew FPV to movie it.

Ty is wonderful, and Robert is a real artist, an actual innovator in his area. Robert has been constructing customized drones and doing inventive issues with them for an extended, very long time—he’s gained on the NYC DFF and on the LA Drone Film Festival, which I additionally head up, many instances due to his creativity. And he’s been doing this since method again when he was simply attaching a crappy E-Case digital camera to a sponge on prime of a drone that was made out of a Tupperware container, utilizing open pilot and the primary few sorts of flight controllers that they had. Things like that, simply tremendous progressive.

Robert McIntosh’ award successful movie from NYC DFF 2018

After seeing that shot in Pretty Sweet I began doing analysis, and purchased my first drone. This was across the time that the primary DJI Phantom and the DJI Flame Wheel got here out in addition to the WooKong flight controllers. It was simply the very starting of all these things.

I began watching a ton of drone movies on-line, which have been nonetheless only a few and far between, and I began capturing a ton. When I first began capturing with a drone I needed to laborious mount my GoPro on the underside of my drone. It was a completely completely different expertise simply making an attempt to get via pictures in that sort of method, nevertheless it actually skilled me to be a great pilot, to actually depend on the model of flying and not simply on the gimbal being easy.

A variety of my director buddies noticed the issues that I used to be doing with drones and had me get on to their units and shoot stuff for them. And that’s how Yeah Drones, my manufacturing firm, was born, and it’s additionally how the New York City Drone Film Festival was born.

Tell us extra in regards to the creation of the New York City Drone Film Festival. Where did the concept come from?

had an aerial video that went viral known as Aerial NYC—it was featured on Fox News and Time Magazine, and received numerous consideration. It was loopy.

And I used to be pondering it might be nice to ship that video, or different drone footage, to a movie pageant that highlighted drone work. But there weren’t any festivals round that had that sort of class.

So I figured I’d begin my very own.

Randy’s Video Aerial NYC

What goes into organizing the pageant?

It takes a ton of labor. For essentially the most half we’re a really small staff—for a lot of the work it’s me, my occasion producer, my technical director, and my spouse.

I feel folks may need a view of the pageant that it’s large and tremendous profitable, however the actuality is that it’s a really small staff of people that actually care making it occur yearly.

But for me the toughest half is ensuring we’re simply doing one thing that’s attention-grabbing, that the movies we choose are one of the best movies on the planet, and that we’re selecting issues which might be going to be extraordinarily entertaining for the viewers once they’re screened.

But yeah, we’re not the Tribecca Film Festival, the place you might have a staff of 1000’s of individuals. I work straight with all of the filmmakers, all of the submissions, all of the press, all of the social media, all the sponsorships, and I’m continuously toeing a line having sufficient sponsorship cash to pay for issues.

And there’s at all times a pressure between work on the pageant, my work as a director, and my obligations to my household. I’ve a 4 yr outdated, and I need to be sure I’m taking good care of her, and additionally nonetheless pursuing the work that basically conjures up me, which is directing. So it’s undoubtedly a balancing act, and generally it may possibly really feel like simply method an excessive amount of, however we at all times handle to tug it off.

This yr plenty of the successful movies, together with the Best in Show winner, have been paid for by large firms with giant budgets. Do you contemplate finances or manufacturing high quality while you’re judging movies for the pageant?

No, we don’t actually contemplate both of these issues in our judging.

I don’t care about who made a video, or how a lot cash they’ve, or the manufacturing high quality when it comes to how the video seems.

My judging—and that is additionally steering I give to our visitor judges—is actually simply primarily based on the inventive benefit of the piece.

Quattro 2, the Best in Show Winner at NYC DFF 2018

So simply because a video was made with an enormous finances, if it was boring, it’s not going to make it within the pageant. This yr Quattro 2 gained Best in Show, and that they had a ridiculous finances that permit them go to all these wonderful areas, use nice gear, and all that. But final yr the Best in Show winner was the Mixed Motion Project which was shot by two Bulgarian guys flying a Phantom 3. And that video is actually unimaginable. So yeah, it simply comes right down to creativity.

Mixed Motion Project, the Best in Show Winner at NYC DFF 2017

Even if it’s a great idea that’s terribly executed, there’s a great probability it’ll nonetheless get into the movie pageant. To me, the winners are those which have nice ideas which might be additionally properly executed.

But I might by no means take a look at somebody’s video and be like, “Oh, that has a great concept but they shot it with a Phantom so I don’t want it at the festival.”

Robert McIntosh is one other instance. He’s gained a number of instances, and he’s by no means shot with something higher high quality than a GoPro. He places a ton of time, thought, and effort into his idea, and he actually is aware of his digital camera gear and easy methods to shoot, in addition to the publish course of to make his footage look nice.

It’s actually a mixture of creativity and style that we’re searching for after we choose. Everything else—finances, manufacturing high quality, total look—all of that’s secondary.

We heard you’re getting an enormous rig drone for the primary time. What led to that call?

Yes, I’m actually excited. I’ve a Freefly Alta eight coming my method.

I’ve by no means gotten into the heavy lifters earlier than as a result of I’ve simply been so loopy about having the ability to have quite a lot of gear. But I’m excited as a result of the standard of the drone and the standard of the flight controller could be very excessive. Through my work with the New York City Drone Film Festival I get to speak to among the finest drone pilots on the planet, and all of them say that the Alta is likely one of the finest drones on the market for top finish work—it flies amazingly, it’s waterproof, it’s extraordinarily dependable, and it’s outfitted to hold world class cameras just like the RED and the ALEXA.

Also, while you present up on a industrial shoot it’s good to have an enormous, serious-looking drone, as a substitute of a drone that appears like a toy—like a Mavic and even an Inspire. There is one thing actual in regards to the impression you make on the opposite crew members with the gear you convey, and an enormous rig drone can assist create the impression that you just’re working with skilled gear.

I’m additionally simply bored with all of the firmware updates required on DJI drones. As an expert who makes use of drones in his work, it’s annoying to need to reply a dozen questions each different time I activate my drone, and I do know quite a lot of different professionals on the market really feel the identical method. Of course, I perceive that as the largest industrial drone producer on the planet DJI wants to supply this sort of accountability, however at a sure level you simply need to go together with one thing extra skilled. And I must also say that I like DJI’s gear and I don’t plan to cease utilizing it—however yeah, I’m actually excited to get the Alta.