Blackmagic cameras at the service of speed in Nokian Tyres ‘Alive’

The latest advert of Nokian Tyres has been shot with a wide range of Magia nera cameras, including the URSA Mini Pro 12K.

The “Alive” advert puts the spotlight on tyres designed for vehicles that burn high-octane fuel and for extreme conditions in all types of environments. To showcase the product’s versatility, Blackmagic Design cameras travelled across dunes, muddy terrain and snow at full speed on a variety of vehicles. It was a challenge to shoot in these conditions, as Sam Sargeant, director of photography on the piece, says: “These elements all pushed our limits in which ways we could shoot, but we just went for it and relied on the cameras to withstand the elements. They worked in the frigid cold, in extremely dusty and windy environments, in the snow, dirt, mud, on the car, in the car, and even underneath the car.”

Ashton Sterling Bingham, director of the commercial, decided to use the URSA MiniPro 12K model as the main camera mounted on the chase vehicle “Most automotive work focuses on one vehicle, or one set of tires, traversing the elements. With two vehicles in front of the camera, it was imperative to capture multiple angles simultaneously to save time. With our Blackmagic Design arsenal, we were able to meet this challenge head on.”

In addition, the smaller size of the Telecamera cinematografica tascabile 6K E Pocket Cinema Camera 4K versions allowed Sargeant to use these cameras to shoot in confined spaces, such as next to tyres or underneath a vehicle, without having to sacrifice image quality.

Blackmagic RAW for post

Choosing a Blackmagic RAW workflow for post-production, colourist Keyhan Bayegan used DaVinci Resolve editing, colour grading, visual effects and audio post-production software, along with a Mini pannello DaVinci Resolve, and relied on the collaborative tools they offer to facilitate simultaneous colour grading sessions between himself in Los Angeles, California, and Sargeant in Bingham, Utah. The cinematographer couldn’t be happier with the performance of the Blackmagic RAW format, which he describes as “impressive”, and of which he highlights its “incredibly efficiency”.

Bayegan used DaVinci Resolve Studio’s Fusion module per beauty touch-ups and to clean up the images with two-dimensional visual effects, così come il Fairlight module to properly synchronise sound and footage: “DaVinci Resolve Studio perfectly integrates color capabilities with editorial and VFX features,” said Bayegan. “In each step of a pipeline, we were able to define a set of parameters and expand our degrees of freedom, such as doing cleanups, conforming and VFX rotoscoping work, all the way to coloring and finishing. Starting from the edit, we were able to online and conform the project easily and recreate the editorial effects, such as burn ins and flashes, with their proper composite modes.” The process was simple, as he explains: “After we started by experimenting with different LUTs, I used warpers, log controls and some Resolve FX to build the look and lock it within a few minutes, so we could all focus on the creative aspects rather than the technical ones.”

The whole filming process couldn’t have gone any better. Bingham, director of the commercial, feels that the Blackmagic solutions have lived up to expectations: “Great gear facilitates great storytelling. As a director, I want to give all my mental energy to what’s in front of the camera. The best tools are the ones I think about the least because they allow me to focus on what’s on the canvas and not what’s in my hands, which is exactly what the cameras and DaVinci Resolve Studio delivered.”