Featuring drones in a digital Christmas greeting

Drones have made it possible for almost anyone (with a thousand bucks or so) to shoot astonishing aerial footage. It’s not surprising that we’re seeing a proliferation of festivals showcasing bird’s-eye videos of everything from cityscapes to weddings and even music videos. But now we’re seeing that filmmakers are featuring drones in front of the camera. This development revives the awe of flight that occurred when the Wright brothers were experimenting. Case in point: a commercial produced for Telia, a communications company serving the Nordic and Baltic regions. For starters, here’s the behind-the-scenes blooper reel—”Merry Crashmas”— that demonstrates the challenges of asking drones to decorate a Christmas tree and accomplish other amazing feats.

Thanks to the ingenuity and persistence of the filmmakers, the finished video delivered the goods—literally, as you’ll see. The video went on to win the top prize in the Featuring Drones category at the New York City Drone Film Festival and at the Los Angeles Drone Film Festival.

Some facts about the production from the producers, who commented: “Mobile technology can do amazing things, but we recommend that people decorate the Christmas tree by hand. However, the experiment was worth it and we thought it was pretty nice.”