FPV Drone Filming for Sports, Automotive & Live Events

High-speed, close-proximity FPV drone filming for sports, automotive, motorsport, live events and performance. From chasing drift cars and superbikes to tracking athletes and flying through live broadcast environments, Whyldthings creates dynamic FPV shots built around speed, movement and timing.

London-based and filming across the UK and worldwide, Emmy-winning FPV pilot and drone cinematographer Lewis Whyld combines precision flying, bespoke drone technology and broadcast experience for productions where conventional aerial filming cannot get close enough, move fast enough or follow the action.

Prefer email? hello@whyldthings.com

High-speed FPV drone cinematography by Lewis Whyld, including automotive pursuit, motorsport, sport, live performance and close-proximity tracking for commercial and broadcast productions.

Action FPV for Sports, Automotive & Live Productions

Action FPV puts the camera into the movement rather than observing it from a distance.

The aircraft can accelerate with vehicles, follow athletes, change height rapidly, pass through structures and move from wide establishing perspectives into close-proximity tracking within the same sequence.

Whyldthings provides Action FPV for:

• Automotive commercials & branded content

• Motorsport & circuit filming

• Sports venues & athletes

• Live events & performances

• Concerts & music productions

• Television & live broadcast

• High-speed vehicle tracking

• Commercial campaigns

• Moving talent & choreographed sequences

• Specialist one-shot and continuous tracking sequences

For slower, highly controlled flights through offices, hotels, museums, venues and other interior spaces, see [Indoor FPV Fly-Throughs].

High-Speed Automotive & Motorsport FPV

FPV creates automotive shots that are difficult to reproduce with cranes, tracking vehicles or conventional aerial drones.

Rather than simply following a vehicle from above, the drone can work with its speed and direction — dropping towards the racing line, accelerating through corners, changing position around the vehicle and staying close to the action.

Each sequence is developed around the vehicle, location, speed and creative brief. Different FPV platforms can be selected or developed depending on whether the priority is outright speed, agility, endurance, image quality, proximity or a combination of all of them.

This approach has been used for professional drifting, superbikes and automotive environments including McLaren.

Sports & Athlete FPV Filming

FPV can move with sport in a way that conventional cameras cannot — following athletes, crossing playing spaces, transitioning between perspectives and revealing the wider venue without breaking the movement of the shot.

Lewis has used FPV across premium sports productions and venues, including work on CNN Originals’ Kobe: The Making of a Legend, nominated for Outstanding Sports Journalism at the Sports Emmy Awards.

From padel courts and sporting venues to motorsport and documentary production, the objective is not simply to fly quickly: the movement of the drone is choreographed around the action, athlete and story.

Live Events & Performance

Live FPV adds movement and energy to performances and events while integrating into the wider production.

Flights can be choreographed around performers, stage timing, lighting, entrances and other moving elements, with live video monitoring and broadcast integration available where required.

Lewis’s live-production experience includes FPV filming with Craig David at Twickenham Studios for CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast, combining close-proximity flying with the timing and discipline of a live television environment.

For live events, every flight is planned around the location, audience, performers and production requirements rather than treating the drone as a standalone camera department.

Built Around the Shot

There is no single FPV drone that is best for every production.

Whyldthings works with a range of FPV platforms and develops specialist aircraft where an existing system cannot deliver the required shot.

Depending on the brief, priorities may include:

• High-speed pursuit

• Rapid acceleration and direction changes

• Longer flight endurance

• Close-proximity operation

• Protected propellers

• Small size for gaps and confined routes

• Higher image quality and larger camera payloads

• Stable, repeatable tracking

• Live broadcast integration

The aircraft is selected around the shot — not the other way around.

Moonshot: Bespoke Long-Endurance FPV

Lewis developed Moonshot, a proprietary FPV platform created to combine capabilities that would normally require several different drones.

Compact enough for highly constrained flight paths, available in sub-250g configurations and capable of carrying high-quality one-inch-sensor cameras, Moonshot also delivers unusually long endurance and the performance required for fast vehicle tracking.

Development and production flights have included approximately 20-minute continuous high-speed drift-car pursuit and a 35-minute continuous trainyard flight.

Moonshot has since been used across commercial and broadcast productions, including Emmy-recognised work, and continues to be developed for shots that are difficult or impossible with conventional cinewhoops and standard FPV platforms.

[Explore the Moonshot case study →]

What You’ll Get

• Shot-led FPV planning based on the creative brief rather than a fixed drone package

• Location and route assessment before filming

• Vehicle, athlete and performer choreography where required

• Multiple takes and flight variations for editorial flexibility

• Specialist FPV platforms selected for speed, endurance, proximity and image quality

• Bespoke drone development where the shot requires it

• Live production and broadcast integration where required

• Risk assessments / RAMS where required by the production or location

• Production-ready footage and in-house post-production support

• Conventional aerial cinematography alongside FPV where the project requires both

Action & Live Events FPV Case Studies

Automotive & Motorsport

[King’s Lynn Drifting]
High-speed FPV pursuit of professional drift cars, flying close to the racing line through rapid direction changes, acceleration and tyre smoke to create an immersive automotive perspective.

[MPS Motorsport — Castle Combe]
Dynamic FPV cinematography following superbikes at speed around Castle Combe Circuit, combining high-speed tracking with the precision required around professional riders and an operational motorsport environment.

[McLaren Technology Centre]
FPV cinematography inside one of the world’s most recognisable automotive and engineering environments, combining precision flight with premium automotive production values.

Sport

[Kobe: The Making of a Legend]
FPV cinematography across sporting environments for CNN Originals’ three-part documentary series, nominated for Outstanding Sports Journalism at the Sports Emmy Awards.

[Pure Padel — Lightwater]
FPV filmmaking through a modern sports facility, using dynamic movement to reveal courts, players and the wider venue experience.

Live Events & Performance

[Craig David — CNN New Year’s Eve, Twickenham Studios]
Indoor FPV filming through a live studio performance environment, combining close-proximity flying, choreographed movement and broadcast production timing.

[Hawarden Estate]
Dynamic drone and FPV filmmaking across a large estate and live event environment, capturing movement, atmosphere and the wider visitor experience.

[Warwick Castle]
Cinematic FPV filming around one of the UK’s best-known visitor attractions, using complex flight paths to connect architecture, performance and event spaces.

FPV Innovation

[Moonshot]
Lewis Whyld’s proprietary long-endurance FPV platform, developed for high-speed tracking and technically demanding sequences that push beyond the limitations of conventional cinewhoops and standard FPV systems.

Why Whyldthings?

Lewis Whyld has worked professionally with drones since 2011 and combines FPV flying with a background in cinematography, photojournalism, live television and technical development.

A six-time Emmy nominee and Emmy winner, his work ranges from global broadcast and documentary production to commercial campaigns, automotive filming, sporting venues, live performances and technically complex locations.

That experience means Action FPV is approached as cinematography first: understanding where the shot fits within the wider production, how it interacts with performers or vehicles, and how to deliver repeatable footage safely under real production pressure.

FAQs

Can FPV drones follow cars and motorcycles at speed?

Yes, where the location, vehicle, aircraft and operating conditions allow it. High-speed FPV sequences are planned around the vehicle route, speed, environment and required camera movement, with the appropriate drone selected for the shot.

Can you film motorsport with FPV drones?

Yes. Whyldthings provides specialist FPV filming for motorsport and automotive productions, including professional drifting and superbike filming. Circuit and event operations are planned in coordination with the production and relevant site teams.

Can you fly FPV around athletes and performers?

Yes, where the production environment and controls allow it. Routes, distances, aircraft choice, rehearsals and performer movement are assessed as part of the planning process.

Can FPV be used during live events?

Yes. FPV can be integrated into live event and performance productions where the location, audience, performers and production controls allow it. Flights are planned around the wider event rather than operating independently from it.

Can you provide a live FPV feed for broadcast?

Yes. Live monitoring and broadcast integration can be incorporated into the production workflow where required.

Do you provide conventional drone filming as well?

Yes. Whyldthings provides both specialist FPV and conventional aerial cinematography, allowing productions to combine high-speed close-proximity sequences with larger-scale cinematic aerials.

[Explore Aerial Filming →]

What is the difference between Action FPV and Indoor FPV?

Action FPV is focused on speed, tracking and moving subjects such as vehicles, athletes and live performers.

Indoor FPV Fly-Throughs are generally designed around slower, controlled and repeatable movement through spaces such as offices, hotels, museums, venues and commercial interiors.

[Explore Indoor FPV Fly-Throughs →]

Do you work outside London?

Yes. Whyldthings is London-based and films throughout the UK and worldwide.

Planning an Action FPV Shoot?

Send the location, filming date and a short description of the action or shot you want to achieve. Whether the brief involves a vehicle pursuit, athlete tracking, live performance, broadcast sequence or a technically unusual FPV move, Whyldthings can advise on the aircraft, route and production approach required.

Email: hello@whyldthings.com