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Watch: The First DJI Inspire 2 Short Film is Here

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DJI The Circle StillCredit: DJI
By Sponsored Content
November 18, 2016
To promote the top quality cinematic imagery possible with the Inspire 2, DJI worked with celebrated Life of Pi cinematographer Claudio Miranda.

 [Editor's Note: This 4-part series, introducing you to the flexibility and workflow of the Inspire 2, is sponsored by DJI.]

The first project shot entirely on the Inspire 2 has been released, filmed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda. It's a depression-set short about father-son relationships and the balance between art and commerce, with every single shot captured on the new Inspire 2.

DJI has focused on the needs of the independent filmmaker, working to create studio quality footage at low cost by focusing heavily on ease of use and durability. This is evidenced by some of the new features in the Inspire 2: dual batteries double flight time, additional sensors have been added for object avoidance forward, down and up, and the selection of lenses available for the X4 and X5S camera bodies is now up to eight, giving us a wide variety of choices.

DJI also has a new, brighter monitor available for operating use called CrystalSky, which allows for safe operation even in broad daylight. This was clearly beneficial to the production of The Circle, which had numerous scenes shot in direct sun—a notoriously difficult situation for drone operators.

DJI Inspire 2 with X5S
DJI Inspire 2 with X5SCredit: DJI
You can really see the benefits of raw recording with the X5S camera in the short, where it is frequently able to handle a wide range of highlights and deep shadows in sequences shot overlooking dusty fields, or when holding detail outside a window while also showing faces inside a car—a difficult situation considering how limited the options are for controlling light in that type of scene.

If you have attempted similar shots with narrower latitude cameras, you know the frustration of trying to bring up enough light for exposure inside the car to hold detail outside the window, and the twelve stops of latitude offered by the X5S will be very useful in these cases. Director Sheldon Schwartz and cinematographer Claudio Miranda found several ways to show off everything the Inspire 2 is capable of in The Circle, including high control scenes, elaborate moves going inside and outside, and subtle moves in small spaces.

Wide Latitude Imagery with the X5SCredit: DJI

An interesting development is DJI moving the image processing inside the airframe with the new CineCore 2.0 system. Traditionally, drones have kept the camera system outside the airframe, which requires stabilizing not just the lens and sensor, but also the processing hardware and recording material. This has made it easy to interchange systems, but it has also limited the hardware available for image processing, which can sometimes lead to artifacting. By moving image processing inside the airframe, DJI is able to offer both more sophisticated recording formats, and better realtime processing.

This also enables the user to record to CineSSD drives instead of the traditional microSD card. The Inspire 2 natively allows recording in H.264 or H.265, and allows for ProRes or DNxHD recording for a small license fee.

Video is no longer available: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBHuftMcmis

The DJI Inspire 2 is available now on the DJI Site.

DJI Inspire 2
DJI Inspire 2Credit: DJI

Tech Specs:

  • 50mph top speed
  • five second acceleration to 50mph
  • 16,404 feet service ceiling
  • Dual battery system gives 27 minute flight time
  • New forward-facing airframe camera
  • Stereo vision both front facing and facing for impact collision
  • Upward facing infrared camera for indoor flight ceiling avoidance
  • CineCore 2.0 in the airframe records to CineSSD
  • 5.2K max video resolution
  • H.264 and H.265 support native, max 100mbps bitrate
  • Optional upgrade license for RAW Cinema DNG, DNxHD, or ProRes 4444 XQ
  • X5S camera has 12.8 stops of dynamic range, 20.8 megapixel stills, 
  • 8 lenses now available for Zenmuse X5S camera system
  • Optional 5.5" or 7.85" Crystalsky high brightness IPS monitor with ultrabright screen

Check out all the posts in this series:
Watch: The First DJI Inspire 2 Short Film is Here
4 Creative Ways to Use Your Inspire 2 On Set
Introducing the DJI X5S
​
DJI Inspire 2 & Zenmuse X5S Camera are Designed to Ease Post-Production

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Your Comment

8 Comments

So do they just ADR the whole movie? Or are they shooting from a distance.

November 18, 2016 at 10:28AM

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Film GRIT
Host With The Most
364

For sure they ADRed everything where the camera was actually flying (opening scene, fight scene, for example). I think a lot of it was just using the camera, not the actual drone.

November 18, 2016 at 11:16AM

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Thomas R. Wood
Director
245

From all the BTS stuff that they showed in the Inspire 2 promo video it looked like they mounted the entire drone for all the shots. Sort of odd, but I guess saying "shot on inspire 2" is different that saying "shot on zenmuse x5s".

November 18, 2016 at 11:52AM

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Tyler Clements
464

Paying the license fee for the keys to unlock the CinemaDNG and ProRes doesn't make sense now days. DJI shouldn't be gouging on loyal customers just because they can. Most of the other companies in the encoding and hardware offer that for free.
DJI should do that.

November 18, 2016 at 1:24PM

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kevinlee
Student
56

Blackmagic Design, RED, Panasonic, and ARRi don't charge extra for Prores.
My $995 BMD Pocket Cinema camera shots RAW and every flavor of Prores for free.

November 18, 2016 at 6:10PM

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Timothy Cook
Self employed storyteller.
307

I would imagine the license fee is baked into the cost on those devices whereas DJI is trying to keep the price as low as possible to users who don't need the other formats.

January 10, 2017 at 12:21PM

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Steve Yager
Filmmaker
403

nice color. great multi-purpose system! i can see the next version w/ wireless, 1 piece detachable blade deck for the hand held gimbal rig. VR??

November 18, 2016 at 1:54PM

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Adam R. Taylor
Director/DP
195

It's interesting that there is a similar theme in DJI's "The Circle" as in "Henosis" by Luke Neumann just a few posts apart. Both touch on giving away what we work for. Both have an antagonist that simply takes what they want thorough the use of force or by suggesting force and a protagonist who decides on his own when, how much and who he gives to. Both films reveal quite nicely one of the greatest debates in civilization and the pros and cons of different forms of government.

November 21, 2016 at 10:52AM, Edited November 21, 11:01AM

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Benton Collins
Camera aimer
365
How to Make Money as a Cinematographer

How to Make Money as a Cinematographer

Take your career — and your day rate — to the next level. How to Make Money as a Cinematographer is a new in-depth online course from No Film School, available now. Watch the Trailer Here!

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