AUSTIN KELLEY DIRECTOR
Austin Kelley
CASE STUDIES
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AUDI / E-TRON SUV WORLD WIDE REVEAL
Director: Austin Kelley | Producer: Nick Erickson | Agency: Seeds Detroit | Production Company: Hello Pluto
Day 1 - Range Proof Test
400 Miles Continuous Filming On Open Road, 4 Drone Setups, One Day
THE ASK
Continuously film vehicle to vehicle and obtain aerial photography of the E-Tron electric SUV on its range test journey to Lake Tahoe from San Francisco on a single charge up the ascending elevation. And then back to San Francisco from Lake Tahoe down the descending elevation. All within one day. This content would play on-stage live presented by Audis President during his keynote.
Audi E-Tron Live Worldwide Reveal On-Stage
THE PRODUCTION CHALLENGES
Not only was the crew challenged with filming both trips in a single day, they additionally needed to film multiple drone shots of the E-Tron with road closures spanning multiple counties and police jurisdictions in different states. Down time for charging would heighten the stakes and necessary precision and planning for Day 1.
THE SOLUTION
The crew couldn't use a Russian arm "pursuit vehicle" across hundreds of miles on public road so they utilized a front and rear van mounted 8K Cineflex controlled RED Helium System. This gave the crew a minimized profile on open roads while still maintaining a 260 degree rotational freedom. The drawback was the inability to jib up or down so the camera height was tested and approved morning of. We also equipped the E-Tron with four mounted 4K GoPro's exterior and interior. The drone crews would travel ahead to predestined locations timed for E-Tron arrival with local authorities for road closures.
Car to Car 8K RED
All Environments
400+ Miles
Continuous Filming
Aerial Drone 6K
All Environments
Single Day - 16 Hours
Dawn into Night
Vehicle GoPros
Interior + Exterior
"Rear Mounted" Cineflex 8K Tracking Vehicle
CIneflex 8K Helium - w/ Austin's Lucky E.T.
Car to Car CIneflex Controls
"Front Mounted" Cineflex 8K Tracking Vehicle
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Police Escorts and Police Road Blocks
4K GoPro Exterior and Interior Mounts
DJI Inspire 2 Drone
The Results
The Cineflex Elite System and the DJI Inspire 2 drones allowed the crew to accomplish an otherwise impossible journey 400+ miles. The Cineflex Elite System did overheat upon our journey back. So the crew managed to take the lens shaft cover off dramatically reducing its temperature and to continue an otherwise smooth journey. The clarity of resolution, the smoothness of motion, and camera flexibility allowed Audi to capture terabytes of footage in all environments and angles for endless options for on-stage use at the live world wide reveal. The Audi E-Tron World Wide Reveal was seen by millions across the world and utilized the footage through various channels.
DRONE STOP SCREENGRABS
Emerald Bay State Park, CA
Sacramento, CA
Pollock Pines, CA
San Francisco, CA
"AUDI E-TRON ON-STAGE RANGE TEST"
CREDITS: VIMEO
Day 2 - 8K Nature Plates
8K Nature Plates. Multiple Environments. 400+ Miles. One Day.
THE ASK
To film 8K POV "road plates" and side profile road plates in multiple environments to project behind an LED rotating E-Tron on stage before the grand reveal. On-Stage Projection at 5:1 Ratio.
Audi E-Tron Live Worldwide Reveal On-Stage
THE PRODUCTION CHALLENGES
The crew would need to capture nature plates without traffic control in multiple environments all around Lake Tahoe and beyond: some profile and some POV. The POV angles would require perfect intervals of clear traffic and the profiled shots would have to keep scale, motion blur direction and distance in mind on narrow two way roads. The scale would have to frame the road into the shot from just the right distance for the on-stage projection at a 5:1 ratio.
ON-STAGE NATURE PLATE CAPTURES
THE SOLUTION
The team utilized an ultra low mounted Cineflex Elite System at the rear (which allowed lower reach than the front) to capture plates at the correct scale. The correct "wideness" of the FOV (field of view) was also taken into account so the team changed the lensing system as well. Particular shutter speed considerations as well as resolution and frame rate were computed for minimal motion blur and clarity. Multiple passes at each location were required to capture the perfect plate with no traffic and the direction we needed. A caravan of cars were used to create intervals of slowed public traffic.
Low Mounted Rear Cineflex Elite
CIneflex System Change
5:1 Ratio for On-Stage Projection
System Reset + Lens Swap
5:1 Ratio Crop During Filming
The Results
The Cineflex Elite System and the DJI Inspire 2 drones allowed the crew to accomplish an otherwise impossible journey 400+ miles. The Cineflex Elite System did overheat upon our journey back. So the crew managed to take the lens shaft cover off dramatically reducing its temperature and to continue an otherwise smooth journey. The clarity of resolution, the smoothness of motion, and camera flexibility allowed Audi to capture terabytes of footage in all environments and angles for endless options for on-stage use at the live world wide reveal. The Audi E-Tron World Wide Reveal was seen by millions across the world and utilized the footage through various channels.
"AUDI E-TRON ON-STAGE 5:1 RATIO NATURE PLATES" PRODUCTION COMPANY: HELLO PLUTO
"Desert POV"
"Mountain Top Road POV"
"Trees Side Profiled"
"Lake Side Profiled"