How a drone show is made: from script to premiere

Whoever commissions a drone show usually arrives with a picture in mind: the logo in the sky, a countdown, a heart beating above the square. What they rarely have is the map of everything that happens between that picture and opening night, and that is a pity, because along the way there are half a dozen decisions only the client can make.

This article answers how a drone show is made from that side of the table. It is not about how the drones fly but about the creative and production work: the brief, the script, the design of the figures, the music, the sign-off, the rehearsal and the premiere. For each stage, what you need to bring and which call is yours, because every decision that arrives late is paid for in rework.

The whole process at a glance

At UMILES we sum it up in five steps: idea, planning, design, demonstration and flight. Seen from the client’s side, those five open up into seven stages, because music and rehearsal deserve a chapter of their own:

1. Brief
2. Script and storyboard
3. Design and animation of the figures
4. Music and synchronisation
5. Simulation and sign-off
6. Rehearsal
7. Premiere

Running in parallel is the part you do not see: the site study and the paperwork. We take care of that, and it is explained in drone show permits. Here we stay with the creative side.

1. The brief: what to bring to the first conversation

The brief does not have to be a document. It has to answer five questions well:

• What the audience should remember on the way home. One thing. An anniversary, a name, a feeling. Everything else is arranged around it.
• Where and when. The exact spot, not the city, and the date even if it is approximate. The site sets the size of the figures and, with it, the fleet; that is covered in how many drones a show takes.
• Where it sits in the programme. Opening a gala is not closing a festival. The moment sets the tone.
• What is mandatory and what is off limits. The logo or a tagline, and also what must not appear: a competitor’s colour, a line that legal has not seen.
• Who signs off. By name. It is the least asked question and the one that saves the most delays.

Your call at this stage: the single message. Bring five messages and the show will try to say five things, and nobody will remember any of them.

2. Script and storyboard: from an idea to a sequence of scenes

With the brief in hand, the creative team writes the script: which scenes, in what order and how one turns into the next. A drone show is told like a short story, with an opening that catches the eye, a middle that builds and a finale, which is the bit everyone films on their phone.

The storyboard is that script drawn out, one frame per scene. It is the first thing you approve and the cheapest to change, because nothing has been animated yet. Look closely at three things:

• The transitions. This is where craft shows. A figure that morphs into the next tells a story; one that switches off so another can switch on leaves a gap.
• The words. Short. In the air people read single words, not sentences.
• The finale. The last figure is the photo of the night. If it has to be the logo, make it the logo.

Your call at this stage: the order of the scenes and which one closes. This is the time to change your mind: later on, every change drags animation and sync with it.

3. Designing and animating the figures

Once the storyboard is approved, the whole show is designed and animated in 3D. Each figure goes from drawing to a formation of points of light, and each transition becomes movement. This is where the concept meets physics: what works on paper with a thin line needs an outline in the sky.

What you will be asked for:

• The logo as a vector file. Not a screenshot of the website. The adaptation is made from it, simplifying the interior and keeping the recognisable silhouette. Whoever looks after the brand identity has to approve it, and it is better they join now than the night before.
• Reference colours. A brand colour made of light does not always look the same as in print. It is adjusted in the animation and approved there, on screen, not in the brand manual.
• Where it will be seen from. A figure has a front. If the audience will be in two areas, say which one leads or ask for formations that work from both.

Your call at this stage: the graphic approval of every brand figure. And how many rounds of revisions are included, which is best agreed in the contract; we go through it in hiring a drone show.

4. Music and synchronisation

The choreography is designed in sync with the music, and that has a practical consequence many clients do not expect: the music gets chosen early. Figures change when the track changes, transitions land on its accents and the finale meets its ending. Swapping the song once the animation is done is not swapping the audio: it means re-timing the whole show.

What you bring:

• The track and the exact version. Not «a Queen song»: that recording, at that length, or the specific edit that has been agreed.
• The final file, the same one that will play on the night. If someone edits it afterwards, the sync is lost.
• The sound. The music usually plays through the event’s own system, and its engineer joins the rehearsal.

We fly with the industry’s reference software, compatible with other systems, which makes coordination simpler when the show shares a production with third parties: sound, lighting or broadcast.

Music rights: who takes care of them

Hardly anyone asks, and it is worth putting in writing. There are two different uses and each needs its own permission:

• The music playing in public that night. That is a public performance of the work, licensed through the relevant collecting societies. Sometimes the organiser or the venue already has it covered for the rest of the programme, but it cannot be taken for granted.
• The music in the video published afterwards. That is a different use and needs a different licence. A song being allowed in the square does not mean it can go on the brand’s social channels.

There are three routes: music whose rights the organiser already manages, library music licensed for both uses, or a piece commissioned for the occasion. Which one is chosen and who pays for each licence has to be written into the proposal.

Your call at this stage: the track, and who answers for its rights. Both before synchronisation starts.

5. Simulation and sign-off

Before flying, the whole show is simulated: the complete animation, with the music, seen from where the audience will stand. For the client it is the milestone that matters most, because what gets approved here is what will be seen in the sky.

What to check before signing off:

• That every figure reads from the real distance, not just in close-up.
• That the words are spelt right. It sounds obvious. A typo in the sky is seen by thousands of people.
• That the rhythm follows the music and the ending lands where it should.
• That the right person has approved it: brand, management, the council. Not whoever happened to be in the meeting.

Your call at this stage: final approval of the content, in writing. From here the design is frozen and the work moves into production.

6. Rehearsal: the demonstration and the coordination

At UMILES, the rehearsal the client sees is the demonstration at our facilities, near Madrid: a private presentation where you watch the complete show before the event. If you have to sell it internally, it beats any slide deck.

The other rehearsal is about coordination, with your production team, and it covers everything around the flight:

• The cue. What happens just before and who gives the go.
• The blackout. Spotlights, screens and beams pointing at the sky compete with the figures. Agree what goes off and when.
• The sound. The engineer checks the file, the level and the start.
• The plan if it cannot fly. The decision is technical and the operator makes it; what needs rehearsing is how it is announced to the audience.

Your call at this stage: who the production contact with authority is on the night. One person, reachable, able to say «go».

7. Premiere: what happens on the night

Set-up starts hours before and is visible: the fleet is laid out on the ground in the fenced take-off area. The crew that flies it is ours: we do not subcontract the flight.

Meanwhile, you handle what only the organiser can: the audience in place, the perimeter clear, the lights down at the agreed moment and the music ready. If the show is part of a festival or a concert, how it fits the running order and the venue is covered in drones at concerts and festivals and on our page for drone shows at festivals.

One last warning: plan the filming in advance. It is shot in low light and from specific positions, and if nobody has planned it you lose the material that lasts longest. It is a separate service, and we explain the difference in a show or filming.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a finished idea before getting in touch?

No. It is enough to know what you want people to remember. Turning that into scenes is our job; deciding what matters is yours.

What if I want to change the song once it is animated?

It can be done, but the choreography has to be re-synced. The later it happens, the more rework.

Can the design be reused at another event?

Designs are exclusive and reusable. What cannot be reused is the paperwork, which is tied to each site and each date.

Where to start

Three things on the table are enough to get going: what you want remembered, where and when. If you also know who signs off and what music you have in mind, even better. Tell us your idea and we will come back with a creative proposal and what we need from you at each stage.