A CAR dealership has used drone footage to capture every aspect of the business, including a flight through the building and a look inside vehicles.

Lexus Hedge End intended the single-take tour to be an immersive experience, making viewers feel they were flying around the centre.

The showroom’s website also has a behind-the-scenes film showing how the footage was captured.

The film was created by drone operator Sam Butcher, a specialist in first-person view (FPV) flight. The process began two weeks before the day of the shoot with risk assessment and planning of the route, which included difficult transitions through narrow apertures, elevations and different atmospheric conditions.

On the day of filming, the Lexus centre had to remain open to the public and operate as normal, so the flight was timed to make sure no one was put at risk.

The drone was custom-made for the film, designed so it could fly through the open windows of a car yet be powerful enough to carry its battery pack and GoPro Hero 8 high-definition camera.

FPV drones are typically flown at speeds of around 80mph when capturing footage of a moving car, but for the Hedge End filming the drone weighed less than 250g and flew at little more than walking pace.

Mr Butcher said: “The most difficult part of the shoot was when it was really windy and we had to fly over the cars parked outside and through a very narrow doorway. The transition between fighting the wind and then moving into a static environment while maintaining smooth footage was definitely the biggest challenge.”

FPV filming requires Mr Butcher to wear special goggles similar to a virtual reality headset.

He was able to thread the drone diagonally through the front and back windows of a Lexus IS car on the showroom’s mezzanine while he was sitting in the back of another vehicle on the ground floor.

Members of the production team acted as spotters to warn of any hazards outside his field of view.

Mr Butcher said: “My favourite part of the film is the sequence where it moves from low down, over the mezzanine floor and then above the car on the lift and through to the used car area.”

Paul Wilde, spokesperson for Lexus Hedge End, said: “We feel this fly-through drone tour offers a unique perspective on the layout and welcoming environment of a typical Lexus centre and will give our visitors a good idea of what to expect when they come to us. We think this fly-through filming offers great potential for providing previews of other Lexus centre around the country.”

The video Lexus Car Dealership – FPV Drone Fly Through can be found on the Lexus UK YouTube channel.