Drones, as mobile media of the present day, increase the operational and narrative capabilities of television and accelerate the logistics of shooting. Unmanned aerial vehicles with a camera properly steered by a pilot are able, to some extent, to replace a jimmy jib/crane and a dolly; basic technical devices, used in the studios, enabling the creation of narrative systems of pictures in film and television. Television is more and more often using drone footage to report events, broadcast live, as well as create coverage and television documentaries. In many productions, the pilot of the drone simultaneously acts as the drone camera operator, which can improve the effectiveness of shooting, but also carries some risks related to flight safety. The article describes and presents in the form of processed footage the real conditional ties of a Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) flight faced by pilots filming with a drone. VLOS is a type of air operation, which requires maintaining eye contact with the drone. In many countries, a drone visibility flight is legally sanctioned as VLOS Operation. An experiment was conducted to investigate the interactions between a human and a machine in airspace steered using a controller with a touchscreen. The drone pilot was considered an integral part of the drone’s flight system control Experimental data was collected with the use of a mobile eye-tracker, video cameras, surveys, and pilot declarations. During the experiment, eight television drone pilot operators recaptured a model shot under the regime of VLOS flight at low altitudes. They all show that both advanced and beginner pilots did not look at the UAV for over half the time of shot execution. The experiment allowed establishing two coefficients related to the effectiveness of a VLOS flight aiming at filming from the drone. The results point to clear differences in screen perception styles used by drone television pilots. The coefficients were described in the form of mathematical formulas and their limit values were determined. The research also determines the limits of pilots’ perception, within which they can film with a drone. The outcomes may help to optimize the process of aerial filming with the use of a drone, carried out for television, film, and other media, as well as in a simulation of such a flight for research and training. From the perspective of media science and social communication, the presented study included a technological component that can be accessed through information science, using statistical models and variable distributions. Media scholars can study the impact of the media without having to look into the metaphorical black box. Computer science opens up this possibility.

Obraz rejestrowany przez drony telewizyjne, włączany do materiałów reporterskich i relacji live, rozszerza możliwości informacyjne współczesnych telewizji. Ponieważ technologia ta wykorzystywana jest w przemyśle telewizyjnym od niedawna, badania dotyczące pilotów telewizyjnych dronów są jeszcze stosunkowo skromne. Kwerenda literatury wskazuje, że naukowcy stale poszukują najbardziej efektywnych metod badań pracy pilotów dronów telewizyjnych, m.in. w celu poprawy parametrów używanych przez tych pilotów kontrolerów lotu dronów. Cel: stworzenie i przetestowanie eksperymentalnej metody badawczej wykorzystującej techniki realizacji obrazu wideo, która, w zestawieniu z innymi metodami stosowanymi w badaniach medioznawczych (eyetracking i badania deklaratywne), pozwoli na uzyskanie komplementarnych danych dotyczących ruchów głowy i oka pilota drona umożliwiających obserwację drona i ekranu kontrolera drona. Metody badań: pomiary biometryczne: eyetracking, eksperymentalna metoda technik realizacji i analizy obrazu wideo, metoda sędziów kompetentnych, badanie ankietowe. Wyniki i wnioski: potwierdzono przydatność przyjętych metod w prowadzeniu badań dotyczących obserwacji drona i jego kontrolera w czasie lotu z widocznością drona. Wartość poznawcza: zastosowanie przyjętej metody eksperymentalnej pozwoliło na wyodrębnienie współczynnika lotu VLOS (lot z widocznością drona), którego wartość może wskazywać na poziom bezpieczeństwa i efektywności filmowania dronem. W wymiarze praktycznym współczynnik ten może być przydatny m.in. przy projektowaniu szkoleń dla pilotów dronów telewizyjnych oraz w ocenie ryzyka lotu w danej przestrzeni powietrznej.

Drones, as mobile media of the present day, increase the operational and narrative capabilities of television and accelerate the logistics of shooting. Unmanned aerial vehicles with a camera properly steered by a pilot are able, to some extent, to replace a jimmy jib/crane and a dolly; basic technical devices, used in the studios, enabling the creation of narrative systems of pictures in film and television. Television is more and more often using drone footage to report events, broadcast live, as well as create coverage and television documentaries. In many productions the pilot of the drone simultaneously acts as the drone camera operator, which can improve the effectiveness of shooting, but also carries some risk related to flight safety. The article describes and presents in the form of processed footage the real conditional ties of a Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) flight faced by pilots filming with a drone. VLOS is a type of air operation, which requires maintaining eye contact with the drone. In many countries a drone visibility flight is legally sanctioned as VLOS Operation. An experiment was conducted to investigate the interactions between a human and a machine in airspace steered using a controller with a touchscreen. The drone pilot was considered an integral part of the drone’s flight system control Experimental data was collected with the use of a mobile eye-tracker, video cameras, surveys and pilot declarations. During the experiment, eight television drone pilot operators recaptured a model shot under the regime of VLOS flight at low altitude. They all show that both advanced and beginner pilots did not look at the UAV for over half the time of shot execution. The experiment allowed establishing two coefficients related to the effectiveness of a VLOS flight aiming at filming from the drone. The results point to clear differences in screen perception styles used by drone television pilots.. The coefficients were described in the form of mathematical formulas and their limit values were determined. The research also determines the limits of pilots’ perception, within which they are able to film with a drone. The outcomes may help to optimize the process of aerial filming with the use of a drone, carried out for television, film and other media, as well as in a simulation of such a flight for research and training. From the perspective of media science and social communication, the presented study included a technological component that can be accessed through information science, using statistical models and variable distributions. Media scholars can study the impact of the media without having to look into the metaphorical black box. Computer science opens up this possibility.