When Joseph Kosinski took on the aerial scenes in Paramount’s Top gun: Maverick, he wanted to capture the experience of a fighter pilot in the Navy. “The actors definitely act differently when they experience it in real life,” he says, describing how the filmmakers created that energy with a unique camera technology mounted in the jet cockpits to film the actors while on board.
It worked so well that Kosinski and cinematographer Claudio Miranda now want to use similar technology to capture the experience of driving a Formula 1 car for their upcoming self-titled Apple racing film starring Brad Pitt.
An Oscar winner for Pi’s life who has been working with Kosinski since 2010 Tron LegacyMiranda explains that he consulted Sony on the initial development of the Venice digital cinematography camera, which was used to shoot Independent thinking person, and more recently he collaborated with Sony on the Rialto Expansion System that effectively decouples the sensor from the camera. “You have this little device that you can stick anywhere, and then the main body would be attached somewhere else,” he explains, noting that there were six such cameras in the jets, with very lightweight spherical lenses.
Kosinski with cinematographer Claudio Miranda (right)
Courtesy of Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures
“The Navy initially said it would be difficult to find room for one camera, and eventually six fit,” adds Kosinski. “That’s largely because Claudio and our entire camera department worked closely with the Navy to find places to store all this equipment. [It took] a lot of back and forth to design a system that can withstand the speed and the G’s and be safe in the event of an ejection.
Miranda says, “We wanted to capture this on camera as much as possible,” though of course acknowledging the handover to the VFX team. “I mean, obviously we didn’t blow up any planes.”
When in the air with a Navy pilot flying the jet, the actor would be responsible for starting the cameras. “There was a little button that controlled all six cameras,” says Miranda. “Then they would say their lines and what had been rehearsed on the floor.” After each flight, the team reviewed the recording to determine if another one would be needed.
For the Formula 1 movie, Kosinski says they want to take a similar approach to shooting the actors in race cars: “to let the audience experience what it’s like to drive one of these incredible machines. There are only 20 people in the world who experience that every week.” Independent thinking person‘s Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films are producing. Also on board to produce, along with Pitt’s Plan B, is seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Actress Monica Barbara (left) and Cruise
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
More work is needed on the camera system before filming can begin. “When it comes to racing, lightness is everything,” says Kosinski. “We need to come up with a new way to capture it so that the cameras are much smaller and much lighter, just like the cars themselves, but still capture a very high quality cinematic image.”
To achieve this goal, they have collaborated with Formula 1 and Hamilton. “I think every kilo in a lap is about a tenth of a second,” Kosinski explains. “We don’t want to put on so much equipment that we slow the car down, because that works against the experience.” The film is in preparation and production will start in mid to late 2023.
This story first appeared in the Dec. 7 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
