How I Self Shot this "Stairway to Heaven" Inspired Video

Hey all! Some folks on instagram and facebook are questioning how I self shot this video, so I am going to tell you EXACTLY how I did it!

Firstly, I was driving and listening to Led Zeppelin at some point during the summer (as one does). Often when I am driving alone and blasting my favorite tunes, I come up with my most creative ideas.

The "And as we wind on down the road" and "Our shadows taller than our souls" lines were easy visuals to envision in my mind. And I knew that my creative heaven in Utah would be the perfect place to make a multi-part creative video!

Not for money, just for the sake of creativity (and to pay respects to one my my all time favorite bands!)

Before setting out to film, I had to brainstorm what shots I wanted to achieve that would appear to be going along with each line of the song. I brainstormed and wrote down notes that became a shot list, and while I was in Utah this fall, I scheduled myself in between the days I had bookings with other photographers to capture these shots.

I had to change plans a few times due to the weather, and a few of these shots (like the burning red sunset, and the last shot of me climbing the rock with the moon in the purple clouds) were completely impromptu.

So a few people are asking, "Who is operating the drone"?

In ALL of the drone shots, I am using my Mavic 3 Pro. This model of drone has features such as "follow" and "point of interest" that I set up using the remote. In the two drone shots where I am curled up in a ball, the remote is hiding under my body.

In the running shot and in the driving shot, I set up "follow" and on the drone remote, selected the subject to follow, then just got moving! (in the running shot, the unedited video shows me setting down the remote and running as fast as I can until I collapse, then walking slowly back to the remote. The drone even crashed itself into the sand LOL> I can post that if you're interested... too much nudity to be able to post it for free though.)

In the "And if you listen very hard" shot, that background was pretty high contrast, so I shot it in S-Log (which is a picture profile that allows much more information in highlights and shadows, so it's much better for color grading in post). Fun Fact: there was a group of about 15 Chinese tourists flying their drones and I think they were kindof following me on foot. I parked near where they happened to be parked, and when they saw me put my backpack on and start walking down into the rocks, they also followed! I had to find a spot between some rocks to change into that mesh poncho so I didn't cause a scene!

The non-drone shots were all done on my Sony A7r iv with my tripod :)

I love envisioning something creative, making a plan, and executing the plan! It's so much more rewarding than just winging it all the time. Winging it has its place in my life in so many areas, but I do really enjoy holding the secret while I am in the brainstorming and filming phase, then sharing what I created when it's finally ready!!!

I hope you enjoyed this short little video :) Let me know if you have any questions!

*Kristy

XoXo

stairway (SproutVideo)