{"id":255401,"date":"2025-11-01T22:00:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T22:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/255401\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T22:00:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T22:00:34","slug":"on-the-fast-track-for-f1-the-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/255401\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Fast Track for &#8216;F1: The Movie&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This in-depth look at the making of F1: The Movie first appeared in American Cinematographer&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/store.ascmag.com\/products\/august-2025-issue-of-american-cinematographer?srsltid=AfmBOoqtejOgvpHMtagTHFOb-7xSSsAO6zHWgF6sLX1_hAu2-QvBXaEz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">August 2025 issue<\/a>. For full access to our archive, which includes more than 105 years of essential motion-picture production coverage, <a href=\"https:\/\/store.ascmag.com\/products\/american-cinematographer-subscription-1-year\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">become a subscriber today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The filmmaking team behind F1: The Movie wanted audiences to experience all the speed, g-force and high-risk danger of Formula One racing. To that end, cinematographer Claudio Miranda, ASC, ACC and director Joseph Kosinski collaborated with Sony on customized cameras small enough to be mounted on a racecar but with a sensor large enough to capture images that could be shown on both standard theatrical and Imax screens, per the studio\u2019s distribution strategy.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>F1, Kosinski and Miranda\u2019s sixth feature collaboration, finds former hotshot Formula One driver Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) playing out his career in whatever class he can get a ride. He gets another chance in the big league when former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) persuades him to join his struggling APXGP (or \u201cApex\u201d) Grand Prix team and mentor headstrong rookie driver Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris).<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3.-Rookie.jpg\" data-image=\"584979\"\/>Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) locks horns with his headstrong Apex teammate, rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris).<\/p>\n<p>Kosinski and Miranda started discussing the project when they were shooting Top Gun: Maverick (AC June \u201922). \u201cWhile working on a movie together, we\u2019re always talking about the next one and what we could do better,\u201d the cinematographer says, joking, \u201cThat\u2019s what keeps me around.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>For their F1 research, the pair screened various racing movies but thought few achieved the verisimilitude they sought. Miranda recalls: \u201cWhat I didn\u2019t like was that when the camera perspectives were outside the cars, it looked fast, but when they were inside them, it felt like a taxi ride.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>Getting the true feeling of speed became a major challenge for the filmmakers, since the average racing speed of an F1 car at 120 mph is difficult to fake, and the typical cheats and techniques just wouldn\u2019t pass muster. Miranda continues, \u201cIt would be hard to fake the speed on a biscuit rig [either remote or with a pod driver] that can only go 60 mph on the straights and 20 mph around a corner. That would be sad.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>The notion of using a more standard remote-arm chase vehicle was also rejected, as it could never compete with the actual speeds of the F1 cars on the track.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was suggested that we should shoot on a volume stage,\u201d Miranda adds, \u201cbut doing that or using bluescreen would also be sad \u2014 there would be no kinetic energy. Joe and I were not interested in that kind of approach.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>Another potential cheat strategy would be to speed up the image, which the filmmakers only wanted to do to a minor degree. \u201cIf you\u2019re speeding things up from 20 mph to 200 mph, people start to look like weird bobbleheads,\u201d Miranda explains.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>Complicating things even further, Pitt and Idris would be doing most of their own driving. \u201cEveryone was saying, \u2018Do we really want an actor like Brad Pitt going 150 miles per hour?\u2019 But as production went on, Brad became a better and faster driver.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>So, that became the accepted strategy: Let the actors drive for real and keep the camera footprint on the cars as low as possible. \u201cIdeally, we wanted our drivers to match F1 speeds, but that\u2019s impossible when the cars are carrying the kind of camera gear we added to them. So, we cheated [by speeding up some shots just] slightly.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4.-Driver-POV.jpeg\" data-image=\"574078\"\/>A dynamic shot from the movie places viewers in the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n<p>The mission, he asserts, was to be \u201cas realistic and as fast as possible.\u201d One particular film that did inspire the filmmakers was John Frankenheimer\u2019s Grand Prix (AC Jan. \u201967; see Wrap Shot, page 72), shot by Lionel Lindon, ASC. The 1966 film features groundbreaking aerial work, as well as footage captured from onboard cameras that could rotate from the driver\u2019s POV to a shot on the driver, proving that actors James Garner and Yves Montand were actually behind the wheel. \u201cIt was a big reference for us,\u201d says Miranda. \u201cThere\u2019s awesome stuff in that movie.<\/p>\n<p>In those days, they didn\u2019t have the visual effects we have now, but we wanted to stay away from digital enhancements as much as possible and capture as much as we could for real.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\u201cA Sensor on a Stick\u201d<br \/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>In configuring cameras to capture race footage, Miranda says, \u201cI tried putting every camera body in front of the drivers, but they couldn\u2019t drive with even the smallest ones in front of them \u2014 even the Sony FX3 was too big. And, for our purposes, small prosumer action cameras were crappy.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>The filmmakers initially considered using the \u201cRialto Mini,\u201d Sony\u2019s new, smaller Venice extension system, but Dan Ming, Miranda\u2019s longtime 1st AC, explains, \u201cWe decided it was still too large.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5.-Pinball.jpeg\" data-image=\"584982\"\/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/rev-1-APEX_Feature_FP_00044_High_Res_JPEG.jpeg\" data-image=\"584983\"\/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/6.-Crash.jpg\" data-image=\"584984\"\/>Top to bottom: Apex team owner Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) tries to lure his friend Sonny back to the F1 circuit; Apex technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon, left) and team principal Kaspar Smolinski (Kim Bodnia, middle) monitor a race; Sonny gets off to a rough start with Apex, smashing up a car during his time-trial \u201caudition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The result was a new prototype camera made by Sony specifically for the production. \u201cI told Sony I wanted a sensor on a stick,\u201d Miranda says. Ming adds, \u201cSony offered to take the recorder base from the more compact Sony FR7 PTZ robotic camera and design smaller-head units to house the 4K full-frame sensor,\u201d explains Ming.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>The camera the filmmakers created with Sony was officially called \u201cthe Prototype,\u201d but nicknamed the \u201cCarmen\u201d \u2014 a reference to Brazilian singer and dancer Carmen Miranda, who shares the cinematographer\u2019s surname.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>The Carmen was a stripped-down, modified Sony FX6. Miranda had the auto ND-filter mechanism removed, keeping only the ND slide, which would go behind the lens. He notes, \u201cThat was critical, because one of our favorite lenses is the 10mm Voigtla\u0308nder, and it\u2019s impossible to put an ND in front of it. We used the Carmens a lot in the cars, and they just got hit and pelted with debris. We went through a lot of them.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>Voigtla\u0308nder Hyper Wide Heliar rectilinear aspherical 10, 12 and 15mm lenses captured the actors\u2019 performances in the cars with good geometric-distortion correction. For tighter angles or looking out at the track, says Ming, they used Zeiss Loxia E-mount lenses, which they had tested extensively on Top Gun: Maverick.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>Ming adds, \u201cWe used standard FX6s as crash cams on the ground, and on cars that were to be crashed. Another cool piece of kit we had was a fully remote-controlled, full-size car that could be driven from a simulator setup. This allowed us to drive the car into the wall and stage other dangerous setups without risk to the drivers. Those cameras were streaming live video links for the drivers to drive with, and we had rigged FX6s in crash boxes for the impacts.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\nGearing Up<br \/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>The filmmakers had the full cooperation of Formula One, and seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton signed on as a producer, facilitating introductions to other league figures and serving as a technical adviser.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>The production\u2019s race cars were actually the heavier and less powerful models intended for the second-tier F2 league administered by the Fe\u0301deration Internationale de l\u2019Automobile (FIA), the governing body of world motorsport. The vehicles were modified by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team to replicate the chassis of the longer Formula One vehicles. One electric car was used for pit-lane action and starts, and four vehicles with Mecachrome engines were deployed on the track. VFX on the cars largely involved digitally altering their skins to represent whichever team a scene required.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>The filmmakers had 15 possible camera-mount positions spanning the cars\u2019 front wing to the rear end, enabling them to cover the race action from every direction, but mounted a maximum of four cameras on a car for any given setup. Miranda and Ming worked with Panavision to develop remote-control pan heads with internal motors that would allow the Sony Carmen cameras to rotate 720 degrees. The cinematographer adds that the units also allowed the filmmakers to control focus, exposure, color temperature, roll and cut.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>Ming explains, \u201cThe pan heads were remotely controlled from our mission-control area. Panavision built them specially for the Carmen cameras. The driving mechanism for the head used a Preston motor so that we could use the same motor driver [MDR] to drive focus as well as the pan.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/7.-Cockpit.jpg\" data-image=\"584987\"\/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/rev-1-APEX_Feature_FP_00059r_High_Res_JPEG.jpeg\" data-image=\"584988\"\/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/8.-Fire.jpg\" data-image=\"584989\"\/>Top to bottom: Joshua pushes a car to its limit during a practice run; Joshua\u2019s friend and publicist, Cash (Samson Kayo), his mother (Sarah Niles), Cervantes and Apex chief mechanic Dodge Dowda (Abdul Salis) grow tense while watching a Grand Prix; after ignoring Sonny\u2019s strategic advice during a race, Joshua suffers a fiery crash that lands him in the hospital.<\/p>\n<p>In each car, pans were executed via a pair of Preston Cinema Systems MDR-3 four-channel motor drivers plugged into RF Film\u2019s onboard IP networks, which also connected the four cameras and wireless mesh radio. Separate 4K transmitters from Wireless Wizards and Hornets Tech sent a QHD signal for monitoring. Chrosziel motors drove focus. Ming details, \u201cWe designed the system using the Prestons because we knew RF Films could control them over an IP network, which was key while using a mesh network to cover the track wirelessly. So, we designed the heads with Panavision to use Preston motors to drive the pans. Also, with Preston motors, when you don\u2019t send an input, voltage is sent to the motors to lock them in place. Some systems allow you to move the lenses by hand and will snap back to position only when you send a signal to it, which is bad in high g-force environments. So, with one MDR-3 motor drive, we had four channels, which could control two focus and two pans each.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>The manufacturer also built custom boards to power the entire system with Anton Bauer 26-volt batteries regulated to the Sony cameras\u2019 required voltage. \u201cWe could only fit four recorders on each vehicle, [which is why] we were limited by space to four cameras per vehicle for each setup,\u201d says Ming. \u201cDue to bandwidth and video-transmission limitations, we kept a limit of 16 simultaneous cameras, total, between all the vehicles.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>Miranda notes, \u201cCameras and mounts were changed constantly; we could not put all the cameras out [on the cars]. It would have been too hard to drive, and we did not want to do unnecessary cleanup [by digitally painting out cameras from each other\u2019s shots]. We used the cameras we needed for the shots we were trying to achieve.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>Two camera mounts occasionally faced the drivers on a riser less than 1&#8243; tall, which created just enough room for Pitt and Idris to see under them as they took a turn. All told, the filmmakers ended up with an estimated 5,000 hours of racing footage.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/9.-Placing-camera.jpg\" data-image=\"584990\"\/>Claudio Miranda, ASC, ACC (orange striped shirt) and A-camera operator Lucas Bielan prep car-mounted cameras.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/10.-Pan-cam.jpg\" data-image=\"584991\"\/>Custom Sony FX6 Prototype \u201cCarmen\u201d cameras and a transmitter help track the action.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/12.-Pan-CU.jpg\" data-image=\"584994\"\/>A closer view of a Carmen panning camera.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/11.-Pan-rig.jpeg\" data-image=\"584992\"\/>A side mount supports one of the pan cams.<\/p>\n<p>One car was essentially a dedicated camera vehicle, capturing POV shots and panning to cars beside it. Stunt drivers took the wheel for the more challenging bits of race work, donning the actors\u2019 helmets.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>Action-vehicle supervisor Graham Kelly and his team assembled the cars and helped secure the equipment inside. The longer bodies of the F1 vehicles created more space for gear in the floor trays (components located beneath the car, near the front axle), including the recorders and battery plates. \u201cWe had to make sure we could run our cables from the floor trays to any of the camera-mount positions,\u201d notes Ming.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>Then there was the matter of operating the small cameras remotely. Miranda recalls, \u201cMy concern was, \u2018Can we control the cameras and whip-pans through all of the track? What system would work?\u2019\u201d The production turned to wireless-video specialist Greg \u201cNoodles\u201d Johnson of RF Film. \u201cNoodles was able to get our [Carmen panners] networked around the whole track with video, focus and camera control,\u201d Miranda continues. \u201cSo, if I couldn\u2019t change an ND, I could change ISO on the fly. He worked closely with Dan Ming to help with all of this integration.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\u201cLights Out\u201d<br \/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Everything was put to the test when principal photography kicked off in July 2023 at the British Grand Prix on the Silverstone Circuit. To chronicle the ups and downs of the fictional Apex racing team\u2019s season, the production piggybacked on the actual Formula One calendar, setting up at races in Hungary, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Mexico, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi, where the main unit and actors were usually on hand.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>The movie includes actual race footage supplied by Formula One and its teams from various trackside cameras, lipstick cameras buried in the track, and a cablecam; some of these placements were made at the filmmakers\u2019 request. Ming notes, \u201cClaudio tweaked camera settings for more compatibility with our [main production cameras], Sony Venice 2s, and Joe would have meetings with the broadcast team before each race to tweak certain angles if there was a specific shot we needed at a specific turn.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>F1 teams typically have two \u201ccamera pods\u201d on their cars \u2014 housings for both cameras and transponders that can transmit data \u2014 but the 720p broadcast cameras they typically contain had to be replaced with custom units that would satisfy the production\u2019s high-end cinema demands. The solution could not add extra weight to the vehicles.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/13.-_Carmen_-camera.jpg\" data-image=\"584997\"\/>A closer look at the Carmen system.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/15.-Helmet-cam.jpg\" data-image=\"584999\"\/>A helmet cam used to capture shots from the driver\u2019s perspective.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/14.-Driver-cam.jpeg\" data-image=\"584998\"\/>A dashboard-mounted cockpit camera.<\/p>\n<p>In collaboration with Formula One, the FIA, and engineers at Apple, the filmmakers opted for iPhone technology; the tiny custom cameras, capable of shooting 4K raw, were placed on two competing cars during races. Ming explains, \u201cWe found that the iPhones\u2019 In-Body Image Stabilization did not work well with the high-frequency vibrations and violent g-forces we were working with, so when Apple designed and built the custom wing cameras for the F1 cars, we had to go back to an older chipset that didn\u2019t have that feature.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>For aerial work, the production favored helicopters over drones. \u201cJoe and I watched some FPV drone footage of races and got so turned off by the slickness of it,\u201d Miranda observes. \u201cWe kept it more cinematic and were able to do a lot with helicopters. For the Daytona section of the movie, Kevin LaRosa II served as pilot and Michael FitzMaurice was the operator; they had worked with us on Top Gun. Various pilots and operators handled other sequences.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>One of those helicopters provided a variety of footage for the movie\u2019s opening sequence, which shows Sonny competing at the 24 Hours of Daytona race. The chopper was visible in one shot, so the production\u2019s visual-effects team digitally altered it to resemble a TV-news chopper \u2014 although Miranda notes, with a laugh, that its presence so close to the track would be highly improbable at a real race.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\nImmersed in the Action<br \/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>To take advantage of the large crowds for wide shots, the production shot on the racetracks with the actors and stunt drivers in brief windows when there were breaks in the action during real qualifying rounds. \u201cIt was a rush to see Brad really going out there with all the race fans watching,\u201d says Miranda. \u201cThe ADs would give them Apex racing-team signs and rally the crowd with, \u2018Hey, it\u2019s Brad Pitt, put your hands up!\u2019\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after the three actual finalists left the winners\u2019 podium, three cast members walked on and performed their own champagne-popping for the cameras in front of the cheering throng. \u201cIt would take us longer to get through all our setups, and eventually the crowd would thin out,\u201d Miranda recalls. \u201cWe sometimes left our cameras in shots. I was operating a crane for a wide shot in which you\u2019ll see another operator shooting our close-ups. We dressed them to look like press.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>Formula One gave the Apex team its own garage in the pit lane next to the official teams\u2019 spaces, allowing the filmmakers to shoot scenes with their actors as real racing action unfolded around them. \u201cWe had to be light on our feet, and equipment had to be minimal,\u201d Miranda says. They also had to be mindful not to interfere with the airwaves: \u201cI had to work with F1 during races to make sure we weren\u2019t jamming any of their cars with all of our electronics. That was super-critical.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>The need to be nimble at races led the filmmakers to use a DJI Ronin 4D with Sony G Master lenses, with the crew controlling iris and focus remotely. \u201cThat allowed us to be a little mobile unit running through the paddock,\u201d Miranda explains. \u201cI was stressing to people, \u2018Let\u2019s keep it small.\u2019 I wanted something self-contained.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>A-camera operator Lucas Bielan handheld the Ronin 4D for a tracking shot at Daytona in which the napping Sonny is awakened by a knock on the door of his van. He steps out into the midnight air and walks down a path to his team\u2019s car, where he testily replaces his teammate for the next leg of the endurance race.<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/16.-Gimbal-car.jpg\" data-image=\"585002\"\/>A turntable rig was used to capture VFX reference material.<\/p>\n<p>For the race at the Silverstone track in England, production set up their cars behind the real drivers at the starting line and shot them as they all took off \u2014 except for Sonny, whose car mysteriously stalls. \u201cI wanted a crane-type shot of the start of the race,\u201d Miranda says. \u201cThe Ronin 4D has an extension system similar to the Venice Rialto extension system. The gimbal and head separate from the main system, allowing us to put the gimbal head at the end of a speedrail pole, making a very small crane. Ideally, I would have had a normal crane, but that was not an option; we had to clear everything in under a minute. I tried to have a driving crane, but that was not allowed, so we did it small and cheerful.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/17.-Scorpio-rig.jpg\" data-image=\"585009\"\/>A remote head mounted on a Servicevision Scorpio 10 crane angles in on a driver.<br \/>\nLens Arsenal<br \/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Most off-track scenes were shot in the U.K. with Sony\u2019s Venice 2, equipped with Arri\/Zeiss Master Prime lenses; Miranda sometimes operated A camera, while B camera was operated by Natasha Mullan. A third camera was occasionally needed. The filmmakers captured mostly in the Venice 2\u2019s Super 35 mode at 5.8K 17:9 to satisfy both the traditional 2.39:1 aspect ratio for most theaters and home screens and 1.90:1 for digital Imax exhibition. For certain shots, including some helicopter footage, they shot at 8.6K 17:9 full frame in case the VFX team needed to do any replacement work.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>For plate photography, Sigma FF Prime lenses were deployed. \u201cWe shot a lot of plates \u2014 usually background plates with crowds \u2014 since we couldn\u2019t get all the angles of a scene live,\u201d Ming says. \u201cWe\u2019d shoot what we could live at every race, but we\u2019d have to clean up some scenes after the races had moved out. We shot full frame to get maximum resolution.\u201d The camera team shot in full-frame mode when using the 150mm Master Prime to achieve shallower depth of field. \u201cI like the way it looks in full frame \u2014 it bleeds off the edges and gives you a bit of a different look,\u201d the cinematographer says.<\/p>\n<p>Zoom lenses were employed to simplify reframing while shooting races. On the ground, Fujinon Premier PL 18-85mm and 24-180mm zooms were used on cranes, the U-crane mobile arm and sometimes on the dolly. When the filmmakers wanted to reach as far as possible on the dolly, they called on the Premier 75-400mm.<\/p>\n<p>In the helicopter, they selected from among the Fujinon Premista Lightweight 19-45mm, Premista 28-100mm and 80-250mm zooms for their full-frame compatibility.<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/19.-Camera-placement-diagram.jpeg\" data-image=\"585013\"\/>A racecar equipped with 15 different camera positions.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20.-Monitor-view.jpeg\" data-image=\"585014\"\/>A monitor displays the perspectives provided by the various car-mounted cameras.<\/p>\n<p>The Rialto extension at 8.6K 3:2 full frame with the 10mm Voigtla\u0308nder was deployed for a particularly significant driving shot. In an earlier scene, Sonny explains that he drives for that rare moment of grace when it feels like he\u2019s flying, and he achieves that sensation during the season\u2019s final race. The filmmakers convey this heightened moment for the viewer by adopting Sonny\u2019s POV as he speeds down the track. \u201cI couldn\u2019t put a roll rig on the camera,\u201d Miranda says, \u201cso we shot at a higher resolution. A roll rig would be a device we could use to control the \u2018rolling down the track\u2019 shots remotely, but the rigs that were available were too big and clunky. Instead, we overshot the desired framing to allow for post roll. Since we were shooting 8.6K, we had plenty of resolution to do that. We shot wide and then, in post, we got the frame we wanted within the original shot and created that \u2018rolling\u2019 effect. We ran some tests on that and were happy it worked.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/21.-Car-interior-schematic.jpg\" data-image=\"585012\"\/>A schematic provided by 1st AC Dan Ming details the complex systems installed in the racecars to capture action on the tracks.<\/p>\n<p>Miranda composed for a 2.39:1 frame, aware that F1 would be exhibited in digital Imax on hundreds of screens. \u201cWith Imax [1.90:1], you still have a sense of horizontal framing, and you\u2019re getting this extra immersion. We\u2019re not hitting the Imax film 1.43:1 ratio, although Joe thought a lot about it \u2014 on Top Gun: Maverick, we opened up to 1.43:1 in the aerial sequences \u2014 but this movie has so much racing that he found it hard to go in and out of different formats so often.\u201d (In the Imax version, after some introductory beach imagery and a cut to the Daytona race, the frame opens up to 1.90:1, where it remains.)<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\nAvailable Light<br \/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Miranda had to work with available light at the races. For nighttime events, the tracks are commonly bathed in LED floodlights from tall towers, and the cars have rear lights and LED panels. Miranda is particularly fond of the look of the night race on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. \u201cThose lights are not stadium height \u2014 they\u2019re put up just for the race, 20 feet in the air,\u201d he says. \u201cWe got a much more staccato, flickering light on Brad as his car passed under them, which makes the race feel super-fast. Dedicated stadium lights are a lot farther away and don\u2019t give the same fast light change.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/23.-Pit-stop.jpg\" data-image=\"585017\"\/>Bielan captures a pit stop with a handheld camera. <br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/22.-Claudio-and-Danny-Ming_2025-11-01-211114_hnib.JPG\" data-image=\"585018\"\/>Miranda (foreground), key grip Sam Phillips (holding pole-cam) and Ming (far left) coordinate the start of a race sequence.<\/p>\n<p>Most races, he adds, start around 12 p.m., which he calls \u201cDoP hell.\u201d At the British Grand Prix, the production was blessed with overcast skies. \u201cThe Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is the most interesting one because it starts about an hour before sunset and goes into twilight and then night,\u201d he reflects. \u201cIt has a great desert low light and dusk. We had to change exposures, so there was a lot of dialing and playing around with the cameras.\u201d<br \/>&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>When Kosinski screened F1 for actual Formula One drivers, \u201cthey loved it,\u201d Miranda reports, \u201cbut they got a little mad \u2014 jokingly \u2014 when our drivers would pass them in the movie! They were complimentary about the way we shot the movie and how it felt real, not gimmicky. That\u2019s a great testament to the job we did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unit stills by Scott Garfield. Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures, Apple and Sony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This in-depth look at the making of F1: The Movie first appeared in American Cinematographer&#8217;s August 2025 issue.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,9426,39513,48,118748,581,578,576,577,12355,39500,70581,14830,12356,1164,4551,2542,2732,8718,82,2341],"class_list":["post-255401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-camera","tag-cameras","tag-canada","tag-carmen","tag-cars","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-grand","tag-ming","tag-miranda","tag-movie","tag-prix","tag-race","tag-real","tag-says","tag-shot","tag-sony","tag-sports","tag-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}