in this video i'm going to break down a recent car commercial I DOP'd on
i'll take you behind the scenes looking at gear
explain the lighting setups
and explore creative filming techniques now let me start by saying that you don't need a massive
crew to pull this off i've linked everyone in the description below but in short it was me as
DP reilin joey directing pim bijl on fpv our two drivers from drive and slide vincenzo de dancer
and bts by walid gaëtan and luca gearwise I shot everything on the sony a7s3 using only one lens a
24 to 70 millimeter f 2.8 for stabilization we used the dji rs3 pro plus transmission
both handheld and mounted on a tilta hydra car rig the shoot was split into two sections the
driving parts which we formed just outside of paris and the dancing sequences in amsterdam in
the netherlands starting with the dancer we had two different setups first we focused mostly on
slow movements and close-ups and the second where we had more dancing jumping and faster movements
for when the beat drops the first setup consisted of one soft light a nanlite forza 300 on a large
parabolic softbox and a nanlite pavotube set to a red hue we wanted to emulate the colors of
the car which cut perfectly to the close-ups of the body before revealing the car for most of
the shots we had the pavotube fixed on a stand but we also tried a few where reilin moved the
light around and this created an interesting dynamic frame rates we opted for slow motion
shooting everything in 100 frames per second except for a few scenes in 25 frames per second
at a low shutter speed of just five for a creative player effect these shots served as dynamic
transitions between cuts moving on to the faster scenes we changed rooms and here we did a mix
of 25 frames per second and 100 frames per second but the overall movements were faster
with a bigger focus on the wides we opted for a single hard light from the side to create a strong
contrast between light and shadow i prefer soft light most of the time but in this case the hard
light really accentuated the beautiful movements from vincenzo we got so many amazing shots here
that it was difficult to choose which ones to keep in the end it was about pairing the right
movements with the car shots on that note the driving scenes day one we had a difficult start
with rain slowing us down at one point it got so bad that i knew i was risking my camera that was
already drenched in water so we put a bag over it but that didn't stop the drops on the lens
after a few runs we managed to get some really good sequences without the water messing up the
image boosting the overall morale of the team this was the first time i used the gimbal in the rain
and it was impossible to cover up the rs3 without restricting movement and i'm happy to say it
survived the whole day of filming using the tilta hydra on the outside of the chase car was a dream
but the real mvp was the dji transmission the biggest plus is the ability to control the gimbal
movement straight from the monitor with the side handles but taking it a step further the ability
to change camera settings and dive into the menu on the a7s3 is a game changer using the
touchscreen i could adjust white balance iso and autofocus but most important start recording this
was by far the most exhilarating form of filming i've ever done with the chase car at times going
faster than the main car and sometimes drifting along all while i had to keep the shot framed
i used the joystick on the dji transmission on a custom setting for smooth control and i'm happy to
say that the signal did not cut out once a common problem with conventional receivers when shooting
cars a polarizing filter is a non-negotiable and really helps to take away some of the shine from
the vehicle we stacked it onto a 1/8th mist filter and with a one to five stop VND on the front
on day two we were met with sunny skies but this also posed a challenge of inconsistency
in the final edit so again we got way more footage than we needed with the gimbal set to super smooth
we didn't have to stabilize any of the shots but it's crucial to balance the camera perfectly and
do a calibration for best results we shot all the car scenes in 25 frames per second for a realistic
feel of the speed and power of the car but made an exception for the final scene at the end of
the film this spectacular shot was captured by pim bijl a master fpv pilot based in the netherlands
although only this shot made the final cut pim got a ton of amazing clips and i was beyond impressed
with his skill talking about skill that drivers the guys from drive n slide blew us away with
their world-class driving the understanding of what works for film is one of the main reasons
the project was a success their coordination focus on safety and ability to execute complex
driving under pressure had me speechless at the end of day 2 we shot the close-up product type
shots on the ferrari for lighting we just used a nan light pavotube 15x moving over the frame
to create mystery in the intro scenes this was all shot on a 24-70 millimeter some on
the gimbal and then a few macro shots hand out using an adapter attached to the 24-7 millimeter
last but not least this film would not be possible without the amazing vision of reilin joey
reilin not only directed the film but is also the genius behind the concept and main edit
so if you're looking for serious inspiration go check out his channel a massive thank you to dji
for trusting us with this project and for allowing us to create something that we're passionate about