Sometimes the drone is not the camera. It is the lamp you could not otherwise get into position.
Night exteriors in the Quarter have to preserve a look that is largely about existing practical light. Aerial lighting here is used sparingly and precisely — a motivated source added above, rather than a wash that flattens what the location already gives you.
Airborne lighting units standing in for a helicopter searchlight, moonlight over a wide exterior, a police spot, or a source that has to move with the shot. On night exteriors where a condor cannot reach or cannot get there in time, an aerial unit puts the light exactly where the DP wants it and moves it between setups in seconds.
Summer humidity and near-daily afternoon storms compress the usable window badly from June to September. Autumn through spring is the working season, and Mardi Gras reshapes the entire city's logistics for weeks.
Louisiana's incentive program built a real crew base here, and Second Line Stages anchors it. Productions come for a look that cannot be faked anywhere else, which puts a premium on aerial work that actually uses the geography.
We shoot the French Quarter, the river, the bayou, and the Garden District — and we travel. CineDrones works nationwide, so if your production is basing in New Orleans and shooting somewhere else entirely, that is a normal week for us.
AERIAL LIGHTING — OTHER MARKETS: Albuquerque Atlanta Austin Chicago Las Vegas Los Angeles Miami New York Salt Lake City