It’s been three years since the Bugatti Chiron set the 0-249-0 mph (0-400-0 kph) world record at VW Group’s Ehra-Lessien proving grounds. Koenigsegg has since earned that crown, but the two-minute video Bugatti uploaded is still thrilling to watch, as is the single tracking shot of the Chiron’s record-setting run. One member of the production team uploaded a new video to YouTube that provides a peek behind the curtain as to how they filmed the Chiron for its 250-mph run.
One of the goals was to do the shot at speed without any movie trickery that’d have the footage slip into an uncanny vehicular valley. So, they decided to do the real thing. There wasn’t a camera on a wire or a high-performance motorcycle – they used another Chiron and a drone camera. The crew attached a DJI X5 to the back of the other Chiron, and the two launched at the same time, which wasn’t easy, requiring several takes to get right.
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The camera was able to track the star car and provide such flawless footage that the team had to add camera shake back in during postproduction to liven up the shot a bit. There was also an issue with the camera car’s exhaust gas, which the camera had to shoot through. It’s something the crew didn’t know about until after filming had wrapped. The gas caused the image to lose a bit of its focus, and it could have been sharper.
There are other production tidbits sprinkled throughout the film, like how VW has animal sensors in the forest surrounding the track that’ll warn when a deer or other animal is approaching. The last thing anyone would want is hitting a 300-pound deer at 250 mph. That’d be bad. We also get to see the helicopter, Toyota Supra, and the Caterham that were used for filming, along with some DYI-style filmmaking tricks, too.
