Zenith

The Zenith Project was our opportunity to create our best project at Freestyle yet! We had completely free reign to explore whatever topic we wished, as long as we were incorporating the skills we have learned at Freestyle over the past two years. This project has a foundation of exploration and self growth through challenging ourselves.

For my Zenith Project, I explored drones. I researched the militaristic history of drones, the commercial and agricultural use of drones, and most importantly, the cinematic abilities of drones.

Why was it people were so bent out of shape about drones? Where did this movement come from? What even is a drone? Questions like these propelled an interest into a rich research project. I read two extensively detailed books on the movement of drones from military use to commercial, agriculture, and cinematic uses: The Drone Age: A Primer for Individuals and the Enterprise, and Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution. Whether it was a pristine drone shot in one of my favorite movies, or just my neighbor flying his drone around his backyard, I wanted to know what lead us to this point. I began to learn about prospective uses for drones such as the ability of solar-powered drones to fly through the sky in fleets to clean the atmosphere of CO2 emissions, or about how drones could be used in severe situations such as a toxic spill. Drones can eliminate the danger of sending people in HAZMAT suits into an extremely dangerous situation with the ability to fly into very tight areas with full video streaming capabilities. I learned that drones are also gigantic military forces being used heavily throughout Afghanistan war and fight against ISIS.

 

In this project I dove deeper into cinema and also the very new topic of drone use commercially, domestically, and agriculturally. My research paper taught me so much about a cutting edge movement that many haven’t spent much time learning about. I will definitely use my learning experiences of using drone footage in my film work in college, since I’m going to be majoring in Film Production in a BFA program at Southern Methodist University. Drones propel cinema in ways no other device can, and I will consistently facilitate my knowledge throughout my professional and personal journeys. I feel as if I fully accomplished the project objectives of: elevating my skills and igniting my passion.