Claudio Miranda ASC launches short film in collaboration with DJI

The Academy Award-winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda ASC has helped DJI mark the launch of their new cine drone, the Inspire 3, with a rip-roaring short film, Inspired Pursuit.

Set in Ancient Rome, the short follows a thief as he embarks on a danger-tinged escape act through a bustling marketplace. Following his every move is the Inspire 3, used by Miranda for the entire film.

“It was a one-day shoot and we had a massive schedule to perform, and we had a really short amount of day time to get it – we only had eight hours of daylight,” he says. “And what we accomplished in that time was incredible.”

What started as a simple push-in approach developed into a more complex shoot thanks to the Inspire 3’s flexibility. “We found ourselves adding more and more waypoints, and we ended up with 12,” he remembers. “We ended up adding a push-in, then it did a wraparound, then it chased the actor, then it did a full 360 push-in… We just kept on adding waypoints and the shot was amazing in the end.”

The Chilean cinematographer is no stranger to the Inspire range. “I remember going from the Inspire 1 to the Inspire 2, and there was a giant leap in that performance level,” he recalls, speaking after the Inspired Pursuit shoot. “You then couldn’t imagine what would be the next performance level.”

Some of his favourite aspects of the Inspire 3 include the “far superior” focus and iris controls offered by the new model’s control unit, and the all-new Waypoint Pro function. What’s more, the improved image quality is a huge plus. “This is what’s different for me from Inspire 2 to 3: the image quality is so massively improved,” he remarks. “Now I can look at the image in a more confident way than I ever have before. There’s much more definition and there’s a lot less latency.”

The DP also highlights the Inspire’s integrated high-precision RTK positioning technology, which is already used in industries such as architecture and surveying for centimetre-level accuracy. “We were able to fly through passages that were so narrow,” he says. “We were able to go through these tight spaces and get shots that were just impossible to get before, I think. It gives the pilot much more confidence than ever before.”

The DJI Inspire 3 is priced from £13,419 and will be available to purchase by the end of June.

To whet your appetite, you can watch Claudio’s high-flying work below…