The Ohio State Reformatory
At the end of the Winter season, I asked a couple of cool places in central Ohio if I could create a drone video (typically places I haven’t seen many YouTube videos of). These were not paying jobs. I wanted to do them because I enjoy it, always want to hone my skills and get my company name out there. Afterwards the locations can have the footage for their use. I got a few that said ‘yes’ and a few that said ‘no’. Some of these places ended up with a paying job, not the goal but an unexpected perk.
The last one these drone videos I’ve done is of the Ohio State Reformatory. This previous Reformatory then max prison is now a museum and tourist attraction in Mansfield Ohio. If you’re not familiar with this location, it’s also known for where The Shawshank Redemption movie and other movies/tv shows were filmed. It’s a beautiful building and a great place to visit if your in the area.
I was not expecting to get approval because there haven’t been many drone videos of the Reformatory I knew of and there is a working prison facility right behind it which has a problem with illegal drone activity.
I wasn’t sure what approach or way of telling a story of the Reformatory via a drone video I was going to do. I decided to use Google Maps along with my ReMarkable 2 tablet to help determine/strategize preliminary drone flights I may want to do in about the 6 hours I had at the location. In the end I took many more and different flights but it always helps to feel/be prepared.
Once I got approval from the Reformatory, prison facility, fly in the airspace via the FAA and found a central Ohio day that was sunny and ok for all involved, I drove there in the morning, met with the prison facility representatives (who were very nice; made sure I knew not to fly or take footage of their facility). Used my DJI Mavic 3 drone with 6 batteries (was able to setup a charger inside as well) had a great experience and enjoyment droning the Reformatory on a beautiful day. I would have liked to have done more in the back of the building but the prison facility is really close. Below is the video I came up with. I may make variations but please let me know what you think:
