David Weldon shoots “Whatever Comes Your Way” car jump scene in 224fps at 8K.
Fremont, CA, USA – Monday, July 21, 2025 – Blackmagic Design today announced that David Weldon used Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF to shoot a dramatic car jump scene in WeatherTech’s popular Superbowl commercial “Whatever Comes Your Way.” The scene was shot at 224fps at 8K, taking advantage of the URSA Cine 12K LF’s to shoot in 12K, 8K and 4K all at the same sensor size without any sort of cropping in and downsampling.
WeatherTech, a maker of quality auto, home and pet products, has been a long time Superbowl advertiser. This year’s “Whatever Comes Your Way” commercial was one of the most talked about from the game, featuring a number of car stunts as four senior women go for a joyride in a 1963 Lincoln Continental and flirt with passing drivers, tag trucks with graffiti and scandalize youth along the way. Ultimately their car is protected by WeatherTech floor mats.
The commercial was shot by cinematographer David Weldon and directed by Joseph Kahn. The two have worked together on more than 200 projects in the past, including Kahn’s latest feature film “ICK” to music videos for Taylor Swift, and Weldon was familiar with how Kahn approaches each shoot needing the creative freedom to change and add in the moment.
Weldon explained planning for the commercial: “Given that this commercial is a Super Bowl spot and was going to be seen by millions of eyes during the game, we both wanted this spot to feel alive with color and have a polished professional look and feel, all while still maintaining a cinematic approach. I always look for new tools to introduce and find creative spots for those tools. And I’ve been looking for a place to take the Ursa 12K Cine out on a project to do some real world testing.”
One of the most complicated shots was a car jump at Dockweiler Beach in Los Angeles. Since the jump was high enough to cause damage to the oil pan, two stunt cars were used, which allowed Weldon to be able to get two chances to capture the jump.
For the shot, the stunt team set up a ramp for the car to go about 2 feet off of the ground, with a spot in between the two ramps for the camera to sit on the ground. This allowed Weldon to shoot twice and allow an adjustment to tilt up or down to see more of the car as it flew over the camera.
“We knew we needed it to be high speed. The camera was placed right on the ground on a low-hat with an O’Connor 2575 head and some sandbags in case it might have a little shake around it from the car jump. And we were on a 12mm Laowa Prime lens to get as wide as possible. We shot 224fps at 8K with a 2.40:1 ratio. The URSA Cine worked perfectly,” he continued.
“It was shot at 8K with the goal of being able to save on some resolution space, as we did not need the 12K recording resolution. And this is what I love about this camera — the ability to shoot 12K, 8K and 4K all at the same sensor size without any sort of cropping in and downsampling. This camera is pretty remarkable in the fact that it’s RGBW sensor allows the camera to have this type of processing. It gets super technical to explain this and understand it, but just consider that this is the only camera on the market that can do this without any sort of crop factor, while still recording in BRAW,” Weldon explained.
The camera’s workflow and ability to integrate with DaVinci Resolve for post production was also a big advantage for both Kahn and Weldon as they planned out the shot.
“It’s difficult when you’re introducing multiple cameras and then you add on top of it going to an entirely different camera system. This can cause a lot of problems for the camera team but Blackmagic has made an extremely user friendly interface that has really grown and evolved over time, which really makes its use on set quick and straightforward.
I have to add that the integration of the camera footage at 224fps and going into DaVinci Resolve to interpolate the footage to 448fps is an incredible feature. That feature almost sounds impossible or some sort of gimmick, but once you do it and you have that choice in post and you’re getting those level frame rates, it’s an incredible option to offer to your director,” Weldon finished.
About Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984.Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.