Top Gun: Maverick is probably one of the most anticipated movies of 2020. The movie was shot on the Sony VENICE and a BTS and images of the film have been released.
The film will be in theaters on June 26, 2020.
DP Claudio Miranda, ASC, and Director Joseph Kosinski utilized the VENICE and VENICE Rialto Extension System, along with SIGMA FF High-Speed Primes, ARRI/ZEISS Master Primes, Fujinon Premier Zooms, ZEISS Loxia, and Voigtländer lenses.
Image credit: Sony
The small size of the ZEISS Loxia and Voigtländer lenses in conjunction with the Sony E Mount proved to be a good combination for capturing vision from the cockpit.
As you can see from the above image, the production team used a VENICE array that was bolted to the glareshield in the Super Hornet. A combination of the Rialto Extension System and regular VENICE cameras were used. Notice the gaffer tap being used to secure the connection of the Rialto camera head!
All the cameras were configured for E-mount lenses. Due to the lack of space, the vision was recorded in XAVC Class 480 internally to Sony SxS cards. The AXS-R7 RAW recorders were not used for these scenes.
A lot of the air to air shots were captured by Helinet’s L-39 camera platform. We have previously written about Cinejet on the site. CineJet is an Aero L-39 Albatros jet featuring a customized gyro-stabilized SHOTOVER F1 camera system designed for high-speed aerial cinematography. CineJet is capable of producing some truly stunning imagery and unique camera angle options due to the sleek profile of the aircraft and its high-speed maneuverability.
I bet Top Gun director Tony Scott (God rest his soul) would have loved to have one of these available to him back in the day. The SHOTOVER F1 used by Helinet on CineJet, is specifically tailored for the unique capabilities of the jet platform, providing high dynamic range and unsurpassed 8K image quality at elevated speeds exceeding 350 knots and during maneuvers approaching 3Gs. 350 knots and 3Gs is substantially more than your average helicopter shooting platform can do! Previously if you wanted to capture high-speed air-to-air footage you had to use systems offered by companies such as Aero Vision. You may well remember that one of their planes was used to help capture material for the viral video “Jetman”.
The Aero L-39 Albatros is a high-performance jet trainer developed in Czechoslovakia by Aero Vodochody. It was designed during the 1960s, and to date, more than 2,800 L-39s have served with over 30 air forces around the world. The Albatros is the most widely used jet trainer in the world.
The Aerial Coordinator and lead camera pilot for Top Gun: Maverick is Kevin LaRosa. Aerial Director of Photography is David B. Nowell, ASC, who was the aerial camera operator on the original Top Gun.
Image credit: Sony
