Blackmagic's URSA Mini Pro 12K, star of Kia's new campaign

The producer Freystil has brought to life the new Kia Motors Austria advertisement using the URSA Mini Pro 12K camera from Blackmagic Design.

Filming for the ad spanned 10 days, with post-production extending an additional week. Michael Frey, owner and founder of Freystil, comments on the reasons that led to choosing the URSA Mini Pro 12K as main camera in combination with lenses Heen XC Carbon 8K: "We expected it to take us to the next level in terms of production quality, and it did. And not only that, we knew that the camera was the best tool for the job, given the requirements of the shoot and our tight schedule."

The campaign It was mastered in 4K. Subsequently, they were handed over nine full HD formats different to meet the requirements of the Austrian national broadcasters. "We shot most of this production in 8K, the rest in the highest resolution possible, and we loved it. The higher resolution was ideal for reframing and cropping in post-production," says Frey.

Climate challenges

Beyond the restrictions caused by Covid-19, Frey highlights that the harsh austrian winter was the main challenge they had to face during production: "As for the weather, the only constant we experienced was a continuous change. However, our URSA Mini Pro 12K never failed us. We shot with it for a minimum of two hours straight at minus 12 degrees Celsius, on the top of a mountain, an hour in the rain at night, a whole day outdoors with minus four degrees Celsius... and it worked perfectly."

Among the advantages of URSA Mini Pro 12K, Frey also highlights skin tones or ease of reframing and cropping: "We love the skin tones, which are softer and more true to life, as well as the ability to shoot at 110 fps in 8K. There is a shot of eyes widening that we filmed in slow motion in 8K. It came out perfect."

“We have come to really appreciate the camera from both a technical and creative point of view,” concludes Frey. “Our productions are already benefiting from the upsampled 4K images we get by combining the camera resolution with our 8K lenses.”