The sun was shining, the breeze was light, and sandpipers were merrily skipping through the long green grass which pristinely bordered the 2.2 mile, 40 foot wide, silky concrete test track, Hethel.
Originally, the site served as an airbase to squadrons of the U.S. 8th Air Force during World War 2. Portions of the runways and taxiways were utilised and developed as a circuit that could be used to test cars. The track has undergone a complete refurbishment and is a state-of-the-art facility, an FIA specification purpose-built circuit combining a variety of technical aspects with a series of bends, hairpin, corners, straights and a turning circle designed to put Lotus’ high-performance cars through their paces.
A perfect setting to put our film crew and kit to the test while showcasing the most powerful production car ever built… the all-electric Evija. But of course, we couldn’t just focus on the Evija; we were lucky enough to also capture its two brothers from the Emira range, the I4 and GT4.
The Emira I4 was built for the track but engineered for everyday whereas the Emira GT4 is built for the drivers and is homologated for competition in global and non-homologated specialist race series around the world.
The grass was dewy, and the smell of coffee wafted through the air as we began to unpack our plethora of kit. Conveniently, there was a circuit operational command centre with a viewing platform right next to the track that we were able to utilise. Providing essentials such as comms, charging points and storage. Such luxuries are not normally available on shoots which is why our van comes complete with onboard facilities for the more remote filming locations.
So the brief was to put some of our kit through its paces including testing boundaries of some of the new heavier-weight FPV drone options; whilst capturing footage and B-roll of the cars on the track.
The DJI Inspire 3 with the X9 full frame camera was, of course, important to obtain the high level cinematic shots and although it can shift with speeds up to 58mph it was important we captured the raw aggression and agility of the cars and get closer to the action, therefore we complimented this with both the Siccario FPV carrying the ZCam along with a 5” FPV racing drone carrying a Go-Pro Hero 11.
The Siccario is our heavy lift FPV drone which is capable of lifting larger format cameras such as the ZCam and Blackmagic offering better quality cinematic footage. The downside is that it is a heavier FPV drone therefore it did struggle at times to keep up with the super cars which also reduced flight times significantly. Luckily, we were well stocked with batteries and the switch over is quick allowing us to be back up in the air within a matter of minutes.
Our 5” FPV racing drone on the other hand is much nimbler to throw around the sky, highly responsive and could get tight into the action with minimal fuss.
The crew also filmed on the ground with the Sony FX3 alongside a Ronin RS3 handheld gimbal and Go-Pro Hero 11 cameras that were mounted internally and externally on the vehicles to offer immersive content to mix in with the aerial shots. Ideal for those close-up captures.
Terabytes of data were ingested over the course of the shoot and then it was off to (delete the) post production where our editor carefully pieced together all of the best bits to form a series of short videos including behind the scenes and a selection of social shorts with a raw and edgy vibe.
Videos speak a thousand words painting emotion and connection for the viewer, watch here now;
For more information or to talk to one of our team regarding your upcoming shoot, give us a call on 0208 166 9712 or drop us an email info@skypower.co.uk
