Drone Cinematography for Acapulco by Jason Derulo
A Case Study capturing dynamic dancers, scening shots and every element of dance choreography.
Working as the drone pilot on Acapulco wasn’t about getting aerial coverage—it was about delivering cinematic drone cinematography that could keep up with the energy, precision, and physicality of one of the strongest performers in pop music.
Acapulco is a strong example of how drone cinematography becomes more powerful when driven by a DP and director’s mindset. Technical flight skill matters, but what elevates the work is understanding performance, composition, and narrative.
The core goal being simple but demanding: capture Jason and his dancers at full scale, without losing rhythm, choreography, or presence inside wide, dynamic environments. My background as a director of photography and director played a major role in how I approached every drone shot on this project.
The Approach:
From a technical standpoint, this shoot required precise drone operation in challenging conditions.
That included:
Flying and hovering over water, dealing with reflections, wind, and splash interaction
Maintaining stability while dancers moved beneath the drone
Executing wide shots that kept formations readable and balanced
Tracking a foot-chase sequence, anticipating movement rather than reacting to it
Managing altitude, speed, and camera tilt to preserve scale without flattening the image
Instead of treating the drone as a reactive tool, I approached it the same way I would any camera on set—every move was planned, rehearsed, and executed with intention.
Plan. Practice. Perform.
Each aerial move was treated like a designed camera move, not a freestyle pass. The drone became an extension of the overall visual language of the video—supporting performance, scale, and storytelling at the same time.
Capturing the Best Shot
My experience as a DP and director directly shaped how the drone work was executed.
I wasn’t just thinking about flight paths—I was thinking about:
Blocking and choreography
How shots would cut together in the edit
Where performance needed space to breathe
How camera movement could enhance rhythm instead of distracting from it
The Result
The final video uses drone cinematography to create scale and momentum without overpowering the performance. The aerial shots move with purpose—supporting the music and choreography rather than competing with them.
The result is:
Strong overhead drone shots across sand and water
Wide cinematic frames that preserve choreography and spacing
Aerial movement that matches musical timing
Clean transitions between environment and performance
Every shot was designed to keep Jason Derulo and his dancers as the visual anchor, even when the camera pulls back to reveal the full landscape.
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