Annual Reels: Best of 2018

Finding commercial success as a filmmaker and drone pilot, MediaproductionBK had plenty of outstanding footage from which to select when creating this demo reel.  The compiled clips - which run the gamut from human athletics to magnificent geography - create an evocative display of the power of drone footage, especially in such panoramic locations.  The final product was a remarkable reel of their commercial work and clearly worthy of its Drone Video of the Week nomination here on AirVuz. 

Contributor Alex Greenberg's drone reel of 2018 is full of aerial shots from places near and far.  However, there is a certain continuity that runs throughout every shot that he features.  The composition of each shot contains a uniformity in shapes and forms, even though each landscape and cityscape is quite different.  This highlights perhaps that no matter where you are in the world, it's all a part of a bigger picture.

Nominated for Drone Video of the Week, Drone Reel 2018 features aerial views from around the world. Starting with the towering skyscrapers of Shanghai, China, he does an excellent job capturing the speed and sights life in this enormous city of well over 20 million. Next, you'll see the red rooftops of a beautiful Bulgarian town on the Black Sea in Southeastern Europe.  It wraps up with relaxing views of beautiful, a beautiful region of northwestern France.  

Australia-based RavenAir is one of the top professional aerial filming companies in the world.  Hailing from Melbourne, their work has included TV shows, commercials, documentaries, and other high profile assignments filmed in a wide variety of environments.  With aerial views of massive shipyards, a cattle heard, glaciers, mountains, and skyscrapers, their 2018 demo reel was nominated for the Drone Video of the Week and was picked as a Finalist in the Reels category for the second annual Drone Video Awards.  

Sitting on the edge of the majestic Dolomites, Lago di Garda is both a popular tourism destination in Italy as well as the backdrop for drone pilot Marco Centieni's 2018 showreel.  The lake's stunning shoreline offers mountainous Alpine views, charming villages, and plenty of opportunity for outdoor recreaction like hiking, skiing, and water sports. This breathtaking footage, combined with impressive editing, earned Marco a Drone Video of the Week nomination in October 2018.

With magnificent top-down aerial shots of the Carribean Sea, you can see why "Dronecorleone - Caribe" was nominated for Drone Video of the Week and was a Drone Video of the Month Staff Pick for October 2018. The shots of wild horses contrast perfectly with glittering views of the cities which line the great sea. The video includes epic aerial views of Curacao, the Mexican resort town of Cancun, the Dominican Republic, the Colombian port city of Cartagena, the Venezuelan Caribbean islands, and more.

Top contributor Inigui, who has garnered multiple Drone Video of the Week nominations for his work, put together this masterpiece for his 2018 reel.  Opening with an epic shot of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, it will take you around other spots in California, the Dominican Republic, the towering skyscrapers of Mexico City, and some of the most charming towns of rural Mexico.  This video was picked as a finalist in the Reels category for the second annual Drone Video Awards.  

Lights. Camera. ACTION! That's what you're getting when you watch this Drone Video Awards nominated piece by aeroCircus, a professional aerial videography firm based in Munich, Germany.  Their clients include some of the world's biggest brands and most well known film studios.  This reel is all about action, ranging from epic car races to thrilling chase scenes that resemble something from a James Bond Movie.  This video was voted as the winner in the Reels category at the second annual Drone Video Awards.

Bachir_Photo_Phactory has given us some of the best aerial views of Dubai we have ever seen. It should come as no surprise that his 2018 showreel contains some epic aerial views of this Middle Eastern city. Filled with shots of the Dubai skyline, endless sandy deserts surrounding the city, motocross and car chases, the reel culminates with a stunning shot of fireworks erupting from the Burj Khalifa tower - since its opening in 2010, the tallest building in the world. This video was a Drone Video of the Week Nominee in January of 2019.

Content creator daehwa put together a truly inspired piece of drone work that's all about her travels in Europe.  Through 53 days of travel, she discovered places far and wide that brought a smile to her face — that can be seen in her dronies scattered throughout this aerial reel! At the youthful age of 22, she lived it up and documented the unforgettable experience from her DJI Spark drone.

Cutting, jagged rocks and deep cliffs that dive into the sea are no match for AirVuz contributor Ramboaripratama in this best of 2018 cinematic first person view (FPV) demo reel. Mixing in dynamic shots first trailing a dirtbiker, then circling around a motorcycle stuntman with powerloops through bandos, and rolling glides alongside trains with long range shots over the fields, it looks like it has been one heck of a year for this FPV pilot.  This reel earned him a spot on the FPV Pilots to Watch list in January, 2019. 

Ride along with HD Pros for this amazing highlight reel showing their work across North America in 2018.  The video includes beautiful aerial footage from the following locations: Tampa, FL; St. Lucia; Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI; , Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN; Downtown Milwaukee, WI; the pier in Sarasota, FL; Tuna Harbor in San Diego, CA; Downtown San Francisco, CA; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; and Mud Island River Park in Memphis, TN.