FR7 + Inertia Wheels Unlock Car Shots
FR7 + Inertia Wheels unlock car shots
NODO’s RDX brings Inertia Wheels control to the new Sony FR7
“It was the easiest day of car work of my career. I’d never shot with Inertia Wheels or the FR7 before, but the combo worked like magic. Just a beautiful toolset.”
–Trey Nelson, Director
Shortly after the launch of the FR7, Sony U.S. reached out to NODO to help bring cinematic wheel control to the world’s first interchangeable lens full frame PTZ camera. NODO founder and cinematographer, Boyd Hobbs, jumped at the opportunity to connect it to the RDX, and he also had the perfect opportunity to test it in the field—a travel commercial coming up in just a few weeks with a few tricky shots.
Leveraging the reprogrammable architecture of the RDX, NODO integrated the Inertia Wheels with the FR7 in just under three weeks. The RDX connected to the FR7 via Ethernet. Using Sony’s robust VISCA protocol, the Inertia Wheels could control: pan, tilt, focus, iris, zoom, white balance, tint, ND, autofocus, and navigate the full menu all over the Inertia Wheel’s wireless radios.
The creative brief for the Visit Fort Worth spot dictated that each character had to arrive in the city and connect the characters to the space in as few of frames as possible. Director Trey Nelson wanted a shot with the hero kid looking out the window of a vehicle as city reflections passed across the window.
“This kind of shot can be difficult because you're exposing for the interior and exterior simultaneously while traveling through the changing light values in a city. One moment you can be in full sun, the next total shade. On top of that Trey was hoping for a sun reveal moment. And I wanted to frame it in a way that responded to the performance of the kid.” –Boyd Hobbs
Without the time for a process trailer and with a focus on flexibility, Boyd turned to the FR7 as a remote hard-mounted camera which could act fast, respond to changing lighting conditions and keep production moving during a busy shooting schedule. The team rigged the camera with a suction mount to the side of the vehicle and mounted the Inertia Wheels MAX in a pass van. From the follow vehicle, Boyd was able to frame, change ND, and even use the FR7 autofocus feature to locate and focus on the hero.
For just under an hour, the crew and actors drove around downtown Fort Worth looking for perfect moments of light and performance. With the camera so compact, neither road closures or a police escorts were necessary. Trey directed over walkie while Boyd operated with the wheels. Trey and Boyd were both happy with the frames they found and wrapped the sequence early.
In the final spot, two shots used the FR7. In the first, we see the kid through the window. In the second, we see the side of the building with the angel blowing the horn. Both shots used the exact same camera mount. Boyd simply panned the FR7 around and up, and drove around for an additional five minutes to capture the boy’s perspective.
“Being able to change focal length and exposure on the fly is a game-changer for these kinds of shots. Typically in a commercial like this, the boards that have driving always stick out because they’ll take ten times as long and tens times the money as any other shot. The FR7 totally changed that. And the FR7 cut seamlessly in with the A-camera [Alexa Mini and Vista Primes]. “ -Boyd
The rest of the commercial was almost entirely Inertia Wheels, MōVI Pro, Mini LF and Vista Primes.
The RDX for FR7 is available now for customers looking for an integration.