Thank you for subscribing!
Got it! Thank you!

The World's First Drone Film Festival is Actually a Travel Film Festival

Everyone talks about drones—those small unmanned flying robot cameras—as if they're predominately a technology story. But when you look at the sort of footage that comes out of them, it's very apparent that drone filming is actually a travel trend. Most people who own drones use them as surrogates for human exploration or as extensions of the self that can fly to where human bodies cannot reach. They explore. They travel.

That's why the world's very first drone film festival, which will be held in New York City on March 7, is not so much about drones as it is about new ways to see the planet. Drones may be the tool, but new perspectives on our planet are the product.

Much like the tiny GoPro camera and its imitators, drone technology is all about inspiring us to go to new places and experience new things, and travelers were among the first to seize and test the technology. Even the recent season of CBS's The Amazing Race, a show that's all about travel, quietly began using drones to capture shots of its racers in other countries that would have been impossible to attain using cameramen or helicopters. 

The first New York City Drone Film Festival will be held March 7 at The Directors Guild Theatre in Manhattan (click www.nycdronefilmfestival.com for details). 

Here's a preview. You can't tell us that watching this doesn't make you want to pack your bags and travel somewhere:

advertisement