Rolling at 200 mph: Behind the scenes of “F1: The Movie“ with DIT Joe Steel 

Few productions this year have pushed the limits of filmmaking quite like F1: The Movie. After all, the cast and crew didn’t just recreate the world of Formula 1; they stepped right into it. Shot on real tracks during actual race days and inside genuine F1 cars, the film relied on custom rigs and specially designed Sony cameras to capture the speed, intensity, and adrenaline of the sport. Every technical and creative choice supported director Joseph Kosinski and Oscar-winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda, ASC, in their mission of creating the most authentic racing movie ever made. 

For DIT Joe Steel, this ambitious project came with a completely new level of technical and logistical complexity. With more than 60 cameras running across a wide range of formats, he had to handle massive amounts of data, maintain a consistent look, and keep workflows running smoothly across active race tracks and speeding cars. Curious how he pulled it off? Buckle up!

Looking at the last collaboration between Joseph Kosinski and Claudio Miranda, it’s no surprise they would go the extra mile (per hour) to make a movie truly authentic. Their previous work on “Top Gun: Maverick” showed a bold commitment to real action over CGI—with Tom Cruise piloting an actual fighter jet and cameras ingeniously mounted inside the cockpit. With that philosophy already proven in the skies, Kosinski and Miranda were ready to bring the same approach to the race tracks. But mounting cameras on F1 cars came with a whole new set of challenges. The gear had to be incredibly lightweight and compact while still delivering top-tier cinematic image quality.

 The film was so unique in both what we shot and how it was achieved.

During our interview, DIT Joe Steel confirms just how special the project was. „The film was so unique in both what we shot and how it was achieved“, he says. For the lead actors, Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, this meant learning to drive actual F1 race cars provided by Mercedes-AMG. For the crew, it meant finding innovative solutions to challenges that had never been tackled before. But Joe was more than up for it: „I love it when I’m put in a situation that I haven’t come across before. There’s nothing more rewarding than figuring out a challenge“, he shares. So let’s take a closer look at Joe’s responsibilities on set and the workflows he used to tackle them.

Responsibilities and production requirements 

The scale of the project meant that even the usual duties of a DIT took on new dimensions. „I had all the normal responsibilities that every DIT has on any normal film – exposure, continuity of the look, securing the data, etc. But on this film, it just felt like all of the normal responsibilities were on steroids“, Joe recalls. Balancing storytelling goals and technical demands while working within the realities of an active F1 season required careful preparation and constant adaptability.

[…] On this film, it just felt like all of the normal responsibilities were on steroids.

„The main consideration in designing my workflow was just making sure that we could be fluid, adaptable, and able to work at speed so we’d fit in with the requirements of Formula One. The other considerations were mostly technical and logistical – making sure that we could achieve the shots that Joe Kosinski wanted to get in the location he wanted“, Joe outlines.  

While talking about the overall workflow design, Joe also acknowledges the groundwork that had already been done before he joined the project: „I wasn’t on F1 from the start. There were two great DITs who paved the way before me.“ Dan Carling and Rohan Chitrakar handled the earlier stages of production, but delays and reshoots caused by the actors’ strike in 2023 meant they couldn’t continue. „Both Dan and Rohan did a lot of the early development, making it easier for me when I started,“ Joe says.  

Throughout production, three distinct shooting modes defined Joe’s workflow. „We had three very different modes of shooting running simultaneously. The challenge was constantly switching between the three modes, but that just made the days more fun“, Joe recalls. So let’s break them down!

Cameras, gear, and workflow

Mode 1: Car mode 

„Firstly, we had the car stuff,“ Joe says, referring to the most complex and demanding of the three modes. This covered all scenes filmed on the race tracks during race days with the F1 cars. Iconic circuits such as Silverstone, Monza, Las Vegas, and others became temporary film sets, often with mere 20-minute windows to shoot before the actual races started. Every second counted to capture the authentic atmosphere and crowd reactions.

This time pressure directly impacted Joe’s work: „Setting the exposure was one of the main challenges from a DIT point of view, as we had very short windows when we could run the cars on the track and we couldn’t have remote iris due to weight and remote data rate constrictions, so there was no time for experimentation or changing once it had been set.“ As an experienced DIT, Joe handled such challenges by leaning on proven tools, his technical skill, and close coordination with the team: „I had to pull out the old light meter and also had to have a great understanding of how the light levels change around the track, at Silverstone for example there can be a 3 stop difference between different parts of the track. We had a great collaboration with Claudio and Joe Kosinski to work out which parts of the track were actually needed for the particular sequence we were shooting so that we could prepare for the perfect moment. The car rigging camera team, led by Dan Ming and Jack Sands, was super helpful with this, especially when there were last-minute weather changes!“, Joe recalls. 

Alongside the logistical hurdles, the technology itself was groundbreaking. „We used specially made Sony ‘Carmens’ for the car scenes“, Joe notes. These custom cameras were small enough to mount across the vehicle, tough enough to withstand extreme speeds and vibration, and capable of producing the cinematic image quality required for the film.

„Each car had four cameras on it, and we could run four cars at a time. But each car had 18 pre-assigned positions where we could rig cameras“, Joe recalls. To keep track of everything, Joe built his own organizational system: „Joe Kosinski would call out directions as per the camera positions, so I made cheat sheets that my team in the garage would fill in with which camera ID and lens was on which position and on which car. This made it a lot easier to send the correct feeds to Claudio and video.“  

A unique video village was set up in ‘Mission Control,’ usually the strategic hub for racing teams. „Mission Control was usually in a garage at one of the race tracks. At Silverstone, our garage was right in the middle of the pit lane between Mercedes and Ferrari“, Joe remembers. „The access that we had was unbelievable – we really were treated just like another F1 team“, he shares. 

The access that we had was unbelievable – we really were treated just like another F1 team.

In Mission Control, Joe worked closely with the director, DP, camera operators, focus pullers, sound, comms, and playback. Space was tight, so planning was everything: „I would make mission control floor plans beforehand to make sure we could fit everything in with enough room to work.“ The rest of the camera team was usually housed somewhere else: „There would be a separate garage, sometimes on the other side of the track, where the camera team would be. They would do all the camera rigging there.”

„From ’Mission Control’ we could monitor all the car mounts courtesy of Wireless Wizards who did the picture RF on track days, and we could control the camera menus, focus, and panning thanks to the system that RF Films built to give us a wireless mesh that covered the entire tracks“, Joe explains. The result? Real-time panning control and dynamic shooting at 200 mph—allowing seamless transitions from exterior racing shots straight into driver close-ups. 

„When we were in car mode, I would use my rig almost like an OB live vision mixer. I would take in 16 feeds from the RF team. Claudio would only need to see four cameras at a time, so I would monitor all 16 and just switch him to the cameras that were relevant at the time.“ 

Because Claudio Miranda prefers to work with his own rig, Joe also integrated with it: „I also networked myself to his rig so that I could control his switcher, recorder, and the cameras through the fibre.“ Speaking of rigs, what are Joe’s key components on his setup? „On my rig, I use AJA video hubs and Blackmagic capture cards. Monitoring with Sony PVMs. Software is always the trusty Pomfort Livegrade!”, he says.  

I used Livegrade for capturing references, which were super important because we were bouncing around the script so much […].

Livegrade played a crucial role in the workflow. As Joe explains they used a single show LUT loaded into the cameras and monitored at REC 709. „This meant we were much more adaptable when we had to send cameras and single monitors off to different parts of the track“, he describes the reasoning behind this decision. While Livegrade wasn’t used for LUT or CDL adjustments, it was essential for reference management: „I used Livegrade for capturing references, which were super important because we were bouncing around the script so much, so making sure I had clear and precise reference was critical“, he says. Reflecting on the collaboration, Joe adds, „I loved working with Claudio. This was my first job with him, and it didn’t take long to get in tune with how he likes things done and how he likes the image to be set.“

Mode 2: Drama mode 

Between the adrenaline-fueled car sequences, the team would frequently switch gears, moving back and forth into a different workflow: „Then we had normal drama mode, where the DIT team would take over wireless and would shoot more conventionally,“ Joe explains. 

In this setup, Claudio Miranda worked from his own 4K rig. „When we were in story mode, all cameras would be hard-wired using these great custom fibre boxes that Rohan had made. I would then get my picture from Claudio so that I could use Livegrade for creating references“, Joe explains. Smooth fibre workflows were key: „When we were shooting conventionally, all the fibre was beautifully managed by my floor assistant Jude Vonledebur and Val Gulbinauskas. They were great getting picture up really fast, which always helps.“

Their main cameras for the drama sequences were Sony Venice 2s, but the full camera lineup was far more expansive as Joe recalls: „We also had Venice 1s. FX6s, FX9s, Ronin 4d, DJI Action Cam, Red, and the broadcast cameras. Each different camera had a specific role whether it was in the stands, crash cams, VFX plates, array cams etc.“. Altogether, more than 60 cameras across nine formats were used, which required solid data management.

„Silverstack Lab was crucial in downloading and organising all 60 cameras, which Data Manager Emilie Hoggarth did a great job of managing all the downloads for. Some of the cameras didn’t have the ability to enter the naming convention how we wanted it, so it was vital that we had a piece of kit that could help us keep track of everything,“ Joe explains.

Silverstack Lab was crucial in downloading and organising all 60 cameras […].

In addition, Silverstack Lab was used to quickly create transcodes for grade tests and reviews. „As we were shooting all over the world, we didn’t always have the fastest turnaround on dailies. So sometimes I’d take footage into DaVinci to start doing grades with Claudio to show Joe Kosinski what was possible and to better review the footage. We used Silverstack Lab a lot to make sub masters of the ProRes RAW from the Ronin so that we could get footage into DaVinci,“ Joe explains. 

Mode 3: Slimmed-down setup 

The third mode offered a much simpler, more flexible setup compared to the high-tech Mission Control environment. As Joe explains: „The third setup was completely slimmed down to just a couple of Cine 18 monitors on a stand, for if I needed to put Claudio in a really tight location like the pit wall or in the seats of the Grandstand.“ For anyone unfamiliar with F1 lingo, the pit wall is the strategic hub during races, while the Grandstand offers some of the best views of the track.

Because the crew frequently switched between all three shooting modes (high-speed car sequences, conventional drama setups, and this stripped-down configuration), adaptability was essential. Joe and the team had to be ready to move quickly, adjust equipment, and maintain a consistent workflow no matter which mode they were in. 

As mentioned, Joe enjoyed the technical innovation of the project and the challenge of tackling problems he had never faced before. Of course, we were also curious about his favorite moments beyond the technical side: „It’s got to be just being in and around the races. Being in the paddock and pit lane on a race weekend is so much fun (and I’m not even an F1 fan!)“, he exclaims. 

Huge thanks to Joe Steel for taking us on the tracks and behind the scenes! For more exclusive insights, make sure to also check out this video by Sony Cine.