Filming The Mercedes AMG GLE 63S

Having the right tools can go a long way in production, but sometimes how something was
done isn’t reflective of the end product. That sums up how we felt about this project as we
didn’t have a big budget, great crafty, or a large crew. To understand more, first take a look at
the finished product, below:

Getting There | The Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE 63s from Taproot Pictures on Vimeo.

How We Did It

The creative concept was simple, “A couple drives through open winding roads in the Pacific Northwest to their favorite beach spot to watch the sunset. Sometimes getting there is just as fun as being there. Introducing the brand new Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE 63s.”

The execution of that concept required us to shoot in Michigan, on open roads, without an no arm car, with limited crew (due to the pandemic and budget), and in a half day. Talk about constraints!

With some ingenuity, sweat, and fortunately no blood or tears, we created this:

This was our “Camera Car.” We’ll let you decide if this is a legitimate rig or not, but we knew that we could produce an amazing image with a few simple tools.

We used the following to build this rig:

• 7 Speed rails
• Ronin 2 Gimbal
• Flowcine Black Arm 
• RED Scarlet Weapon 5k Camera

Inside the vehicle we had four people due to safety and COVID-19. The camera car crew was made up of the following:

• Driver
• Gimbal Operator
• 1st AC (Focus Puller)
• Communications

We also had two spotters on the open road to communicate via walkie where bystanders and other vehicles were. With only a half day to shoot, we had to make sure that the road stayed clear as much as possible in order to capture some of the longer 3/4 cruising shots we were after.

Did We Mention Photography?

On top of the motion shoot we also needed to capture stills. A separate camera car was used for photography and directed by Logan Zillmer.

Here are some of the resulting images to go along with the web spot:

The Outcome

A polished spot designed for the web and social experience featuring an amazing vehicle.

GETTING THERE

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