Apple and Sony teamed up with director Joseph Kosinski and DP Claudio Miranda, ASC, to seize actual F1 racing in F1: The Film utilizing the VENICE 2, a Sony-engineered compact digital camera, and a {custom} iPhone-based system, setting a brand new customary for high-speed cinematic seize. Let’s dive into the digital camera tech behind the brand new racing spectacle.
When the workforce behind High Gun: Maverick determined to deal with Components 1, they had been clear about one factor: audiences ought to really feel like they’re in the cockpit at 200 mph, with out sacrificing picture high quality appropriate for IMAX screens. This problem led to 2 years of digital camera engineering collaboration with Sony and Apple, creating techniques that would stand up to the warmth, vibration, and velocity of actual F1 automobiles whereas delivering footage that cuts seamlessly with conventional cinematic materials.
Director and producer Joseph Kosinski on the set of Apple Unique Movies’ F1: The Film, now in theaters and IMAX. Picture credit score: Apple
Watching a Components 1 race – with out the standard TV boredom?
Let me be clear, and permit my very private opinion right here: Like many others, I’ve usually discovered Components 1 races a bit boring to observe on TV. The chicken’s-eye view of the published cameras detaches the viewer from the motion, and the automobiles truly don’t appear very quick, regardless that they’re racing at 200 mph.
Any fellow cinematographer will know: it’s all the way down to the truth that we’re, typically talking, watching the motion from afar, from an observer’s viewpoint. Solely lately have we seen extra dwell streams from the cockpits of the automobiles, however these photographs are few and much between and don’t make the general expertise extra immersive. The primary purpose is straightforward: the chicken’s-eye view lets us observe the race higher by way of who’s main and who’s following whom, but it surely additionally means we by no means really really feel we’re a part of the race.
So I completely perceive the problem the filmmakers confronted: the immersion wanted to transcend something we’ve seen on TV earlier than with the intention to maintain individuals focused on a Components 1 film for two.5 hours.
Gripping: F1 filmmakers handle to place the viewer straight right into a Components 1 automotive’s driver’s seat
Earlier than diving into the “how they did it”, I wish to applaud the filmmakers for the achievement that’s F1: The Film. I watched it in all its IMAX glory on an enormous display screen final night time, and I used to be rather more impressed than I believed I might be. Miranda and Kosinski managed to place you proper within the driver’s seat of an F1 automotive. Just like their achievement in High Gun: Maverick, you are feeling such as you’re not solely within the cockpit of one thing most of us won’t ever have the possibility to really drive or fly, however you turn out to be the motive force, with all of the related pleasure and nervousness. They usually did that by using modern digital camera angles that fairly merely weren’t attainable earlier than.
Claudio Miranda, ASC, working a Sony VENICE 2 on set of F1: The Film. Picture credit score: Sony
The Sony VENICE 2: The cinematic spine of the manufacturing
On the core of F1: The Film’s principal pictures was the Sony VENICE 2, praised for its dual-base ISO, excessive dynamic vary, and full-frame capabilities. Miranda and Kosinski leveraged the VENICE 2’s versatility to seize the complicated lighting environments of racing, from the cruel daylight of the trackside to the contrasting interiors of the paddocks and garages. After all, Miranda already championed utilizing the unique VENICE with the Rialto Extension Unit on High Gun: Maverick, so it’s solely a logical continuation for them to make use of the VENICE 2 on a unique type of high-speed racing film, even when it’s a lot nearer to the bottom than earlier than.
Throughout 137 shoot days and 10 dwell F1 race weekends, the manufacturing captured over 5,000 hours of fabric. In line with the workforce, the VENICE 2’s modularity allowed the digital camera division to adapt for gimbals, Steadicams, handheld work, and car mounts whereas sustaining constant coloration science and high-resolution picture seize for large-format supply. This consistency was essential given the fast-paced nature of manufacturing round energetic F1 weekends, the place shot alternatives may come up in seconds.
Miranda emphasised that the VENICE 2’s reliability below quickly altering observe circumstances was key:
“You want a digital camera system that doesn’t turn out to be a part of the issue however a part of the answer. That’s what the VENICE 2 gave us.”
Claudio Miranda, ASC
Sony’s compact “sensor-on-a-stick” prototype: Becoming cinema right into a cockpit
As superior because the VENICE 2 is, it was by no means going to suit contained in the confined, high-vibration surroundings of an F1 cockpit below the halo. The manufacturing wanted a light-weight, strong, full-frame digital camera that would preserve cinematic high quality whereas withstanding 5G forces, vibrations, and excessive warmth throughout racing circumstances.
Body seize from the video output of one of many compact Sony prototypes, arrange contained in the cockpit of the automotive, filming Brad Pitt. Picture credit score: Sony (screenshot from BTS video)
In collaboration with Nobutatsu Takahashi-san and his Sony Cinema Line Division, Miranda and 1st AC Dan Ming labored with Sony engineers to develop a removable sensor prototype primarily based on the Exmor R full-frame back-illuminated CMOS sensor structure from the FX3 and FX6. Aspect observe: We not too long ago interviewed Sony’s Nobutatsu Takahashi-san concerning the present technique within the Sony Cinema Line (following the announcement of the FX2) at Cine Gear. Verify this interview out in the event you missed it.
Inside simply eight weeks, the F1: The Film workforce and Sony developed a useful system, nicknamed “sensor-on-a-stick.” The system featured drop-in ND filters for exact publicity administration below various lighting circumstances and recorded internally in 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 XAVC-I at as much as 600 Mbps, delivering strong information seize within the demanding surroundings of F1 racing. Mainly, it’s the identical sensor that’s used within the Sony FX3 and FX6. The system allowed the sensor to detach from the digital camera physique whereas sustaining clear sign integrity, which was essential for becoming the unit into tight cockpit areas with out sacrificing high quality. Importantly, the digital camera’s output was absolutely appropriate with the manufacturing’s LUTs, guaranteeing seamless integration throughout grading to match the look established with the VENICE 2.
The compact Sony digital camera prototypes had been positioned everywhere in the automotive. That is the model that may truly do fast pans remotely, utilizing a Preston motor and distant. Picture credit score: Sony (screenshot from BTS video)
A prototype for the Sony VENICE Extension System Mini?
It appears just like the system that was used grew to become nearly a prototype to what would later be launched because the Sony VENICE Extension System Mini, which I reported about earlier than when it was launched at an occasion in Pinewood Studios in London a couple of months in the past (although that system truly makes use of the complete 8K sensor from the VENICE 2). Plus, the Extension System Mini after all makes use of a VENICE 2 because the precise recording physique, which was not achieved on this film – as said above, apparently they actually labored with the compressed XAVC-I codec, giving them the identical picture high quality as an FX3/6 with their inner recording (and the identical sensor).
Compact Sony digital camera prototype used on F1: The Film. Picture credit score: Sony (screenshot from BTS video)
However however, whereas extra compressed than the VENICE 2 RAW video picture, this custom-built system enabled unprecedented digital camera placements on and inside Brad Pitt’s and Damson Idris’s F1 automobiles (truly, modded F2 automobiles made to appear to be F1 automobiles) with out including extra weight or compromising steadiness, whereas offering a full-frame cinematic look to POV photographs that had beforehand solely been attainable with broadcast-level cameras.
Extra of the compact Sony cameras on the racing automotive. Picture credit score: Sony (screenshot from BTS video)
They even used these cameras for POV photographs from contained in the cockpit, as seen on the helmet. Picture credit score: Sony (screenshot from BTS video)
As a part of that, this compact Sony digital camera prototype was additionally positioned on a panning contraption that could possibly be remotely panned utilizing a Preston motor. This allowed for some superb quick pans between the motive force of the automotive and what was in entrance of them.
Sony engineers traveled globally to energetic tracks to check and refine the digital camera below dwell circumstances, guaranteeing it met manufacturing wants for reliability and picture high quality.
Batteries for cameras, in addition to distant wiring and different tech, needed to be hidden contained in the chassis of the racing automotive. Picture credit score: Sony (screenshot from BTS video)
In line with Miranda, Voigtlander and ZEISS Loxia lenses had been used on the compact Sony digital camera prototypes to remain additional small, additionally with the lens packages whereas taking pictures.
Voigtlander and ZEISS Loxia lenses had been used for the compact Sony prototype digital camera that was placed on the automobiles to shoot F1: The Film. Picture credit score: Matti Haapoja / YouTube
Apple’s {custom} iPhone-based digital camera: rethinking onboard views
To seize the enduring onboard photographs with the motive force’s helmet partially in body – a staple of Components 1 broadcasts however sometimes delivered at decrease decision – Apple engineered a {custom} digital camera module utilizing components from the iPhone 15 Professional particularly for F1: The Film.
The {custom} Apple digital camera system included the 48MP main sensor and A17 Professional chipset from the iPhone 15 Professional, guaranteeing high-resolution seize and dependable efficiency below race circumstances. An built-in impartial density filter enabled the workforce to handle publicity exactly, sustaining consistency for coloration grading in publish. The system recorded in Apple Log in ProRes, permitting seamless coloration area alignment with the VENICE 2 and Sony’s compact system throughout post-production. Designed inside the weight and aerodynamic constraints of normal F1 broadcast cameras, the unit preserved the steadiness and compliance required by FIA rules.
Customized Apple digital camera primarily based on the iPhone 15 Professional digital camera constructed right into a automotive half for F1: The Film. Picture credit score: Bobby Tonelli / YouTube
Right here the digital camera is fitted – contained in the automotive half – to the automotive for taking pictures F1: The Film. Picture credit score: Bobby Tonelli / YouTube
As an alternative of counting on wi-fi connectivity, the digital camera system utilized a wired USB-C connection to a {custom} iPad app, enabling the crew to regulate body price, publicity, white steadiness, and recording controls simply on race days whereas guaranteeing operational stability.
This technique changed conventional broadcast digital camera modules utilized in F1 with a sensor able to capturing cinematic-quality onboard footage that could possibly be intercut seamlessly with VENICE 2 footage, eliminating the necessity to upscale or closely grade broadcast materials.
Apple’s engineering workforce rigorously examined the digital camera on precise F1 automobiles through the 2023 and 2024 seasons to validate reliability below high-G circumstances, vibration, and warmth, making it one of the crucial superior onboard digital camera techniques utilized in a story function so far.
Bringing all of it collectively: A unified workflow for a unified look
The manufacturing’s publish pipeline needed to deal with footage from the VENICE 2, Sony’s compact prototype, and Apple’s iPhone-based system whereas preserving a unified look throughout the IMAX and large-format supposed outputs.
To make sure a constant look throughout all cameras, the manufacturing captured log-profile footage on each system, permitting for max flexibility throughout grading. Sony’s coloration science maintained consistency between the VENICE 2 and the compact prototype system, offering a seamless visible match for photographs captured in radically totally different environments. Apple’s ProRes log recordings had been built-in into the grading pipeline utilizing {custom} LUTs that matched the VENICE 2’s look, guaranteeing that onboard footage may mix cleanly with the primary unit materials. Managing the sheer quantity of multi-camera and multi-environment footage throughout dwell race weekends required meticulous audio synchronization and exact metadata tagging, which proved important for retaining the workflow organized and environment friendly all through post-production.
X-AVC I photos maintain up on an enormous IMAX display screen, and so do “iPhone photos”
What’s shocking to me is how simply and properly the compressed XAVC-I footage match into the RAW photos captured on the VENICE 2, and it’s a testomony to how far small cameras have come when a serious Hollywood blockbuster can depend on photos that basically can be achieved with a $3,000 FX3 (or FX2, for that matter).
“The know-how allowed us to maneuver the digital camera in locations and at speeds that simply weren’t attainable earlier than, however what issues is the way it serves the story. We didn’t need tech for tech’s sake. It’s about inserting the viewers in the automotive, feeling the warmth, the vibration, and the stakes of each nook.”
Claudio Miranda, ASC
With F1: The Film, Sony and Apple haven’t solely pushed digital camera know-how ahead however have redefined what is feasible when high-end narrative filmmaking meets the intense world of Components 1. This collaboration units a brand new benchmark for immersive, high-speed filmmaking. And it proves that digital camera know-how is unquestionably not your limitation on the subject of capturing high-quality photos that look superb, even on the biggest IMAX display screen. So – no extra excuses: an excellent story will be shot on the superb digital camera you have already got in your drawer.
Have you ever seen F1: The Film but? How do you are feeling about utilizing smartphone know-how alongside flagship cinema cameras to seize Hollywood blockbusters? Share your ideas with us within the feedback under!
