Aerial films for hotels and homestays: showing a place from the air.

Photographs show a room. A film from the air shows where the room is: the slope it sits on, the road that leads to it and the view from the door. For a hotel or a homestay in a remote setting, that sense of place is often the most persuasive thing the property has.

Start with the guest's question

Before we plan a flight, we ask what a guest needs to know. Is it easy to find? What is around it? What will the morning look like? The answers decide the structure of the film. A mountain property usually needs the setting first. A property in a town may need the approach and the neighbourhood first.

A shot order that works

• A wide opening that places the property in the landscape.
• A smooth move toward it, so the viewer travels the way a guest would.
• A pass along the building, showing the rooms, terraces and outdoor spaces.
• A reveal of the view the guest will wake up to.
• A quiet closing shot with room for a title or a contact line.

Light, season and timing

The same property can look very different at noon and at the end of the day. We usually shoot in the warm hours at the edges of the day, when the light has shape and the colours are rich, and we check the season: a green valley, a snowy ridge and a monsoon haze each tell a different story, so we make sure the film shows the one the property wants to be known for.

Show the place as a guest will find it. A film that promises more than the property delivers costs more than it earns.

Permissions and people

Rules for flying differ by country and by site, and a property sits among neighbours. We check what is permitted before we plan, ask the owner and nearby residents, and keep clear of people, roads and neighbouring buildings. Guests and neighbours should never feel they are being filmed without being asked.

Using the film

We deliver a full film for the website and a set of shorter cuts for booking pages and social channels, in 4K and 1080p. Planning those cuts at the start of the shoot means every shot has a place to go.