Rolls Royce Behind the Scenes

Shooting BTS

Working as Behind the scenes photographer and ‘making of’ videographer for Rolls Royce shoot ‘Dawn’ TV advert.

I worked with FilmCanaryIslands in Tenerife for a number of years. My function was as a graphic designer, photographer, videographer, BTS and timelapse. The commission was from Rolls Royce to shoot an advertisement.

The brand new Rolls Royce was a closely guarded secret, especially how it looked. When it was not being driven, the covers went on. The filming location was Lanzarote due to the rugged look of the landscape. The mood of the final video was dark and atmospheric. As a result, the volcanic nature of the island certainly provided this.

The slideshow is best viewed in landscape

Multi-tasking

This was my first car advert. My job was to take Behind the scenes photos and also shoot Making Of video at the same time. As a result, I had a nest of Canon and Panasonic cameras around my neck. This meant I was able to shoot photos and video without changing settings. The GH5 was the video camera and the Canons were the stills.

The car was simply gorgeous and a pleasure to shoot. Special qualified drivers put the car through its paces for filming. The crew used chase cars, Russian arms and drones to get the shots. Being a fly on the wall was an understatement. Shooting BTS means you have to be everywhere at the same time. Coordinating with the director, DoP and technicians was the key. At times, there would be about twenty crew around the car during preparation. You couldn’t see the car for people busy doing their thing. It was an art grabbing shots without getting in the way.

After a busy three days, it was a case of selecting the photos to process and choose the clips to make the BTS video. Shooting the behind the scenes for Rolls Royce was a fabulous experience. The time and weather factors brought an intensity to the shoot, but the results were very rewarding.