We’ve said before, it’s important to quickly swap your lenses to avoid exposing both the sensor and glass to the elements for too long, but what if you have to do it in a situation that isn’t so ideal, say, while dropping from the sky? Should you ever find yourself in this situation, like the divers in this epic Sony China ad to promote the new Alpha A7R, here’s a behind-the-scenes look on how they did it.
Nothing in the video was faked in a soundstage. Created by cinematographer Simon Hammond and Australian creative agency Cutting Edge, the video shows a group of skydivers changing the lens on Sony’s new mirrorless full-frame camera in mid-air. The 4K, slo-mo video (not shot with the A7R, which would have been cool if the A7R had 4K video capture) required nine dives to capture just nine minutes of footage over two days.
Still, it seems there are many who doubt the authenticity of the video. The kids at ISO 1200 got in touch with one of the aerial directors of photography, Rob Douthat, to talk about how they created the ad. “You don’t see every trick of the skydiving cinematographer trade and the multiple times we shot different views so the haters will never be satisfied,” Douthat said. “And to be truthful I’m not overly worried either. The BTS pretty much shoots them down.”
Check out the behind-the-scenes and final videos below.