FPV & Drone Filming at Wissington Medical Cannabis Farm

FPV and drone cinematography at the Wissington medical cannabis farm in Norfolk, filmed by Emmy-winning FPV pilot and drone cinematographer Lewis Whyld. The project covered 18 hectares of glasshouse cultivation, using bespoke cinewhoops and larger aerial systems to move through the growing environment and reveal the scale, structure and industrial process behind one of the world’s largest medical cannabis production sites.

Flying through the vast glasshouse at Wissington, the drone moves between rows of plants and production infrastructure to show the unusual scale and geometry of the facility from ground level through to wider aerial perspectives.

Project Details

Client / Broadcaster: CNN
Production: Weed 5: The CBD Craze
Presenter: Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Location: British Sugar Riverside Glasshouse, Wissington, Norfolk
Pharmaceutical Partner: GW Pharmaceuticals
Role: FPV Pilot & Drone Cinematographer — Lewis Whyld
Broadcast: CNN, 29 September 2019
Filming: Bespoke cinewhoop FPV and larger aerial cinematography systems
Facility: 18-hectare medical cannabis glasshouse, approximately 13 football pitches in size
Crop: Non-psychoactive cannabis cultivated for pharmaceutical CBD production
Purpose: Production of CBD used in medicines including Epidiolex / Epidyolex for severe forms of epilepsy
Coverage: Cannabis cultivation, rows of plants, glasshouse structure, production environment and wider scale of the facility
Technical Approach: Small bespoke cinewhoops for close flight through the growing environment, combined with larger aerial systems for wider perspectives
Story Focus: The rapid growth of CBD and the industrial-scale production behind pharmaceutical cannabis
Specialism: Indoor FPV / Broadcast Documentary / Agriculture / Pharmaceutical Production / Controlled Environments / Drone Cinematography

Flying FPV Through a High-Value Medical Cannabis Facility

Filming inside the Wissington medical cannabis facility required far more than simply navigating a large indoor space. Strict hygiene and biosecurity protocols were in place throughout the site, and the crop itself was extremely high value. The aircraft and filming process therefore had to avoid any contact with the plants or interference with the controlled growing environment.
The glasshouse also created a particularly unforgiving flying environment. Much of the surrounding structure was glass, while the growing areas were filled with cables, hangers, irrigation lines, support strings and other infrastructure used to manage the plants. Many of these obstacles were thin, difficult to see and potentially hazardous to a drone at close range.
Lewis used compact bespoke cinewhoops to move carefully through the cultivation areas, maintaining precise control around the plants and suspended infrastructure while protecting both the crop and the facility. The resulting FPV footage allowed CNN to travel visually through the growing environment without disrupting the highly controlled production process.

FPV Cinematography for CNN’s Weed 5: The CBD Craze

The FPV sequences were created for CNN’s Weed 5: The CBD Craze, presented by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, helping take viewers inside the industrial-scale production of pharmaceutical cannabis rather than showing the facility only from conventional camera positions.
Moving through the crop at plant level gave the programme a sense of scale that was difficult to communicate from the ground. The close FPV footage showed how densely engineered the growing environment was, while wider aerial shots established the extraordinary footprint of the 18-hectare glasshouse.
Together, the two perspectives helped connect the individual plants with the much larger story CNN was telling about the growth of CBD and pharmaceutical cannabis production.

Specialist FPV for Controlled & Sensitive Environments

Medical, pharmaceutical and high-value production facilities often impose constraints that go well beyond normal indoor drone filming. Hygiene procedures, contamination risk, fragile infrastructure and the value of the product can all affect how an aircraft is prepared, handled and flown.
At Wissington, the drone system and flight routes had to work around those constraints from the outset. Compact aircraft, controlled speeds and carefully planned lines reduced the risk of contact with plants, glass or suspended growing infrastructure while still allowing dynamic movement through the facility.
That approach makes FPV particularly useful for controlled environments where conventional camera movement is limited, but where the production process still needs to be shown from inside the space rather than only from the perimeter.

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Planning FPV Filming for Controlled & High-Value Facilities?

Through Whyldthings, I provide specialist FPV and drone cinematography for controlled production environments, pharmaceutical facilities, agriculture, laboratories and other sites where hygiene, access and product protection are critical.
The Wissington medical cannabis assignment required precise flight around high-value plants, glass structures and dense suspended infrastructure, while working within strict hygiene protocols and without interfering with the growing environment.
For sensitive facilities, the aircraft, route and operating procedure are tailored to the site first, allowing dynamic FPV movement without compromising the environment being filmed.
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