The best drone video of 2024 (according to SkyPixel)

SkyPixel has named the winners of its 8th Annual Photo & Video Contest. You saw the best drone photos of 2024 shared here earlier this week. And sure the photos were stunning, but something about video is next-level. Among the 130,000 submissions into this year’s contest (which, by the way, is an 100% increase over last year), this year’s judging panel narrowed the video submissions to one grand prize winner.

That top winner is a video called “Haines Alaska Through the Eyes of Luke Bredar.” The short film depicting a skier racing down a snowy mountaintop landscapes with breathtaking shots of Alaska’s mountainous, winter terrain was filmed by Luke Bredar.

Watch the full film here.

“The motivation behind creating this video was to evoke themes of otherworldliness, objective risk, the interplay between risk and the essence of human spirit, solitude, impermanence, self-sufficiency, and the journey of incomplete wandering intertwined with heartbreak,” Bredar said.

That video was selected by a judging panel of seasoned experts including:

• Michael Fitzmaurice, best known as the Aerial Director of Photography of “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”
• Xiaoshi Zhao, best known for his award-winning work on “Forever Enthralled”
• Bing Xi, a prominent figure in the Chinese TVC industry
• Filmmaker Brandon Li

Beyond honor and glory, Bredar walks away with a prize pack worth more than $14,000, including an Inspire 3 drone. Bredar also earns the title of ‘official SkyPixel Creator.’

What is SkyPixel?

SkyPixel is an online community of aerial photographers and videographers. At its core, artists post their work to the site (and that in turn makes them eligible to win the title). According to SkyPixel, there are now more than 42 million registered users.

The 9th Annual SkyPixel Photo & Video Contest winners were selected through a submission period which opened on Nov. 7 2023 and ran through Feb. 2, 2024. While all video entries had to have been primarily shot on a drone, they didn’t necessarily have to be a DJI drone).

The winning video this year took us to Alaska, but what about last year’s SkyPixel video winner? Check out the best drone video of 2023. And in case you missed it, you have to scroll through the list of the best aerial photos of 2023, also based on SkyPixel winners.

Other mesmerizing drone videos to watch in 2024

And of course, while Bredar certainly deserves the title of SkyPixel Drone Videographer of the Year, that’s hardly to say that’s the only award-winning drone video you’ll see this year. In fact, earlier this month, another video-sharing site, AirVuz, announced its own drone video contest winners.

As part of the AirVuz 2023 drone video contest, aerial videography company AeroCircus walked away with the award of Drone Video of the Year for their Showreel 2023. In addition, Skynamic Drone, another drone filming company, won FPV Video of the Year with their reel, FPV Demoreel. You can watch those award-winning videos (and learn more about Airvuz’s contest) here.

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