CASE STUDIES
Drone + ALT Football Tournament
Summary:
We shot 3 hours of raw footage and produced a simple promotional marketing video for a regional soccer tournament. The drone used was a DJI Mavic Pro, using 2.7k quality video settings.
About:
The tournament organizer was looking for a reliable way to capture all of the soccer matches from a birds-eye view over a 2-day weekend in Sugadaira, Japan. The primary goal was to use the raw footage later for analysis of their gameplay. Secondly, we created a promotional marketing video to share across soccer leagues, both internally as well as to attract new players.
Challenges:
Safety is always of utmost importance especially when taking shots around groups of people, in this case the soccer players. Before tournament day we surveyed the area using google earth and the DJI fly zone map to make sure there were no legal/flying restrictions or obstructions in the area, along with gaining permission from the organizer. Fortunately the location in sugadaira was very rural and relatively flat so we foresaw no issues with filming. Also we were fortunate enough for good weather.
On the day of the game, we physically surveyed the area of filming to determine the optimal flying range for capturing the full soccer field, without interfering with the game play. Because of the proximity to the players, there was a small risk that the soccer ball could hit our drone. We found the best range was on one long side of the field, where we could track the ball up and down the field approximately 50 meters high.
How we helped:
Filming went smoothly and we were able to capture all of the soccer footage. Post production of the soccer video took approximately one week and was shared across the organizers social media channels.
Results/ Key Takeaways:
Considering the filming time we came prepared with 3 batteries, which allowed for about 1 hour of filming. However the plan was to fly for approximately 3 hours to capture all the games. Fortunately there was an indoor area nearby where we could charge the batteries in between games. In the future we will confirm beforehand to make sure there is space to charge, if not, then we need to come prepared with more batteries.
We also believe we choose the right drone for the occasion, the Mavic, but could have equally went with the Phantom. An Inspire series would be overkill for the situation considering the we didn’t need ultra high-def and would have furthermore been too bulky to maneuver in the small soccer field space.
In sum the project was executed smoothly, and the coach is using the footage to observe and improve team performance as well as a promo video for new recruits for next season.
