How We Film Hotels & Resorts: Ritz-Carlton Orlando

‍Embracing FPV Drone Technology

We love meeting clients who believe in the creative potential of FPV drones as much as we do. The ability to capture the fluidity of a space and how one area seamlessly connects to the next provides viewers with a unique, immersive experience. This is particularly beneficial for hotels and resorts, offering potential customers a virtual walk-through of the property. Whether it’s a company scouting for their next conference location or a guest planning their next getaway, our FPV drone footage vividly showcases all that the property has to offer.

Day 1: JW Marriott Orlando

Our filming adventure began with a day at the JW Marriott. We had a packed schedule, moving from space to space, meticulously coordinating each shot with our client, Kayla. Despite having a structured plan, flexibility was key, as schedule adjustments were inevitable.

For FPV shots, timing was crucial to avoid foot traffic. Our pilot, Mo, expertly concealed himself to remain out of sight, while our directors, Rio and Zack, ensured the safety and integrity of each flight. The biggest challenge was preventing guests from looking at the drone, which often required rescheduling shots for quieter times.

By the end of Day 1, we were exhausted but satisfied with our progress, and we recharged with a good night’s sleep.

Day 2: Ritz-Carlton Orlando

Day 2 was equally productive, as we continued filming FPV drone tours and lifestyle reels using our standard "normal" cameras. Our strategy was to fly the drones first, followed by capturing the same spaces with our Sony A7s3 cameras. These are specifically designed to get detail footage that the drones can't capture as well. Rio and Mo seamlessly transitioned between drone flights and cinematic shots, sometimes incorporating models into the scenes.

Here's an example of an FPV drone tour with models of a restaurant on the property:

‍

Here's an example of a one-take drone tour that does not include models (other than the bellman):

These are examples of our drone tours. Here's an example of a video that we create with our "normal" cameras that I mentioned previously, where we focus on capturing lifestyle and detail that we can't capture on the drone:

In addition to interior shots, we captured exterior footage of the entire resort, individual buildings, and activity spaces like the Kayak river at Grande Lakes using our “Maverick” drone, specialized for cinematic aerial shots outside.

Day 3: Final Touches and Relaxation

After two intensive days, we reviewed our footage and identified a few remaining locations to film on the third day. This took just a few hours, allowing us to enjoy the amenities of the Ritz-Carlton before heading home.

Here's a Vlog we created to show the process and how much fun we have and the hard work that goes into creating the media for our clients:

‍

Delivering the Final Product

At the end of it all, we delivered 20 social media reels, 15 specific FPV drone tours, and 2 edited pieces of the entire resort as a whole. We were able to do this by being efficient with the way we filmed the spaces (doing both drone and non-drone back-to-back), and having specific systems with the way we film that allow us to maximize creativity in a short amount of time, which we've perfected over our last several years of working with hotels.

The main value that the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott will get from our work is the ability to share the fluidity of their spaces seamlessly (for group sales specifically), as well as immersive assets to share across social media throughout the year. The engaging aspect of our work allows hotels to increase engagement and interest from potential guests on social media, different from standard hotel social media content that looks stale, outdated, and the same as everybody else.

Our time in Orlando with Kayla and the Ritz/JW team was a rewarding experience. We look forward to future collaborations with hotels and resort properties, continuing to push the boundaries of visual storytelling with our FPV drones.

‍

-The Epic Drone Tours Team

‍