Blackmagic 6K cameras offer taste of driving a Supercar V8

Twelve Blackmagic Design cameras have been strapped to a V8 Supercar to give motor racing fans in Australia the chance to experience the exhilaration of driving a lap of the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.

The tailor-made Shell V-Power Racing Team Supercars Experience involved Australian driver Anton de Pasquale driving around the track with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro digital film cameras positioned inside and outside the vehicle. The result was a high-fidelity experience that lives inside a custom-built shipping container with a surround-sound mix and 4D effects to complement the unique 32:9 aspect ratio.

The production was shot by Anthony Rose, one of Australia’s leading directors and cinematographers, who said it had been a challenges to find cameras that would be able to handle the car hitting speeds of more than 270km/h. “After extensive discussion and testing, we chose the Blackmagic Design Pocket 6K Pros for their rugged build and low profile, as well as their light weight,” he said. “We then used Blackmagic RAW, which allowed us to crop the image to make the most of our 32:9 ultra-wide aspect ratio.”

The cameras were mounted on the front, side and top of the V8 for filming, but the production team found that even using a lightweight camera and a custom-made rig made a huge difference to how the car handled. “As we discovered, mounting any type of cameras outside a car at high speed will dramatically affect the handling, especially with one on the roof and another suspended on tubing six feet out to the side,” said Rose.

Rose worked with the production team to create a custom rig, as the cameras couldn’t be attached with suction mounts alone due to the car’s high speeds and flexible carbon fibre bodywork.

“My colleague Tim Dugan created a custom rig to match the tubing of the car’s tube frame chassis and roll cage, which allowed for safe, rock-solid mounting throughout the car,” added Rose. “With a limited number of runs available, and the driver still strapped in tight, after each lap the camera crew would swarm the car like a pit crew to remount the cameras as fast as possible, so it could set off again. Quick decisions had to be made about the focus and exposure in the ever-changing light, and the Blackmagic cameras were perfect for being able to do this.

“Having internal batteries and a built-in screen made the cameras quick to adjust, without external cables and the need to plug in monitors. One trick I always use on all my Pocket 6K Pro cameras is to remove the battery doors for faster battery replacement, especially on gimbals and rigs like this.”

The Shell V-Power Racing Team Supercars Experience, which was created by experiential agency Traffik, will go on tour across Australia during the Supercars Championship season.