Students went to the river bank of Sava in the heart of Zagreb to practice drone flying for the first time. Drone journalism is evolving, it is no longer a gimmick, but used as a way to provide context for stories that need a different visual perspective.For this exercise, participants in the “Disrupt the News” workshop at Zagreb University went to the bank of the river Sava to experience flying a drone. Each student had an opportunity to practice flying and capturing photographs and videos. See examples of the videos and read about student experiences below.
My biggest fear was that the drone would end up in the river. Luckily, I didn’t touch the joystick so it remained safe in the air.
Being near the river and the beautiful bridge was the perfect environment for our first drone flying lesson.
The experience was fun and memorable even though at one point I almost crashed it into the bridge.
The cool fact is that you connect your phone to the drone remote so you can see what your drone sees, which was my favourite thing.
Looking at the footage while you are filming it is surreal and it leaves you wanting more.
At the same time, it felt like playing a video game but also like “driving” NLO. It’s impressive but scary how powerful can such a small device be.
Amazing, breathtaking footage of good quality can be recorded, something I reckon will remain important in journalism.
The distance between you and the drone can be very confusing. But I believe practice makes perfect.
Today I was flying like a hawk!
It was great and fun experience and I’m grateful I had a chance to try new technology, but most important, new storytelling tool in a journalism world.