Filming an aspirational supercar advert in the desert with the Canon EOS C700 FF

"I'm a petrolhead and love cars," Brett says, so the job was doubly enjoyable for him. The camera car was driven at up to 130kph, although the Corvette went as fast as 200kph in a series of choreographed moves. "Although the camera has built-in ND filters, we did use a 1.2-stop ND because the lens can get so close to the ground, you need something to protect it."

The fierce overhead sun made shooting during most of the day impossible. "We started at sunrise and had about 90 minutes of beautiful light, then again in the evening for two hours and intercut them for a consistent look," says Brett. "The temperature hit 55°C, yet the cameras never missed a beat."

That included footage when Brett used the camera on his shoulder to capture the actors looking over the desert. "It balances well on your shoulder as it's more of a traditional film camera shape. By the time you have the batteries on the back, it's in perfect balance," says Brett. "And the viewfinder is superb."

"We chose to shoot with the XF-AVC codec, which even my colour grader admits is really underrated," says Brett. "We shot RAW and XF-AVC side-by-side a couple of times in tests. He said we could pull a bit more out of RAW, but not much. To have the ability to shoot slow-mo that XF-AVC gives you is great. I'm shooting to a lighter, smaller camera and I don't have to worry about memory. We could drive 15 minutes from one end of the road to another and keep running.

"What I really noticed is that the image is so clean in the blacks. There is no noise, thanks to the larger sensor and the camera oversampling from 5.9K to 4K. When we used to use smaller sensors, we always needed to add some noise reduction in post, but with the EOS C700 FF we don't."

That's impressive, as Brett chose to shoot the EOS C700 FF in the very flat Canon Log 2 profile because with 15 stops of dynamic range, he wanted to see right down into the shadows. "Looking back at how good the footage is, I probably could have gone to the less flat Canon Log 3 if I'd wanted to. But I did want that extra bit of detail in the darkness. Canon Log 3 still gives 14 stops but has a bit of a curve on it, so as a starting point for a grade, it's a lot easier. In fact, it's the fastest stuff I've ever graded as it's a beautifully clean file."

Capturing the aerial footage

While the EOS C700 FF was the main camera, the much smaller EOS C200 fitted with the Canon CN-E14mm T3.1 L F lens was pressed into service carried by a drone, which provided the battery power for the camera. Brett shot in Canon's Cinema RAW Light to internal CFast cards.

"I wanted a camera to match in with the EOS C700 FF and I wanted the full 15 stops of dynamic range again. With the EOS C200 I'm getting RAW quality from a drone!" says Brett. "With Cinema RAW Light on the EOS C200, you decide on everything in post. The graders just worked straight off the RAW files and put their own film curve on it."

With the full-frame EOS C700 FF and Super 35 size EOS C200 obviously using different sensors, it was critical that they could be matched up easily. "We found no issues when matching them together," says Brett. "And the workflow was not outrageous. It's a perfect combination thanks to the RAW on the EOS C200."

The final ads were outputted in various formats from 4K to HD. "I also had to run a 9x16 vertical version, so the client had it for Instagram," adds Brett. "Because of the resolution I can re-crop to anything I want."

Of course, the proof of a shoot's success is in the final movie and the impact it has on the viewer. And for Brett's Corvette Stingray commercial, the Canon EOS C700 FF certainly has captured not only the power and grace of the car but the majesty of the landscape and the glorious light.

"Every time I look at the footage, I get blown away," says Brett. "It's the final output that I care about, and the EOS C700 FF and EOS C200 have really helped make a great film."