“Shooting with What Fits in Your Pocket”: Diego Pernía and the Challenge…

of Filming a Nissan Commercial Using Only GoPros.

Can a camera that fits in the palm of your hand capture the epic scope of an automotive production? For director Diego Pernía, the answer wasn’t just yes — it became a bold technical, narrative, and emotional bet that challenged every rule in the book. In this interview, Diego takes us behind the scenes of a project as extreme as it was authentic: filming a car commercial for Nissan using nothing but GoPro cameras.

A Story in Your Pocket

“My first reaction was a mix of curiosity and challenge,” recalls Pernía. He had been asked to tell a big story using cameras that literally fit in your pocket. But instead of backing down, he realized that the challenge wasn’t about the tool — it was about how to use it to expand your vision. “We focused on turning its flaws into style and its strengths into language,” he explains, highlighting a surgical-level preparation that included training sessions with the manufacturer, custom rig designs, and meticulously planned visual storytelling.

Taming the Beast

One of the biggest technical challenges was dealing with the GoPro’s lens distortion. “We decided not to fight it, but to incorporate it into the narrative,” he says. They used the distortion to amplify a sense of vertigo and speed, creating a raw aesthetic where imperfections became strengths. And when gear fell short — like filters that never arrived — the solution was simple in concept but complex in execution: move the scene, not the sun.

Creative problem-solving peaked when the team mounted four GoPros on a stabilizer head controlled by a Russian Arm. “It was uncharted territory. No one had done it before, but it worked perfectly,” he says. Over 20 cameras were used — and as Diego jokes, “some of them are no longer with us.”

Locations With Personality

The terrain was as much a character as the trucks themselves. With trusted location scout Lalito Soto, they looked for settings that weren’t just visually striking but had personality. “We wanted places that conveyed toughness, challenge, and authenticity.” Mountains, remote paths, and an unforgiving sun shaped the narrative just as much as the camera or script.

No Sugarcoating: Truth as a Narrative

The relationship with Nissan helped keep the creative direction sharp. “It wasn’t about dressing up reality, but about showing what their trucks are really made of,” says Diego. No CGI, no gimmicks — just pure action captured with raw cinematic edge.

Storytelling on the Edge

“The inspiration came from a brief of 80 pages — bold, fun, and clear.” But what drove the vision was imagining the viewer not as an observer, but as an unexpected passenger. The story never slows down to explain — it pulls you in. “Every shot had to feel like a racing heartbeat, every cut like a gear shift. It’s the kind of story where you don’t ask ‘what’s happening?’ but ‘how do we get out of this?’”

Acting Without Acting

The actors didn’t just play characters — they represented the crew. “While they were living the story on camera, we were living the same behind it,” he says. Fiction and reality moved in sync — both facing dust, terrain, time pressure, and the same shared passion.

Mistakes That Became Gold

Some of the best footage came from happy accidents: cameras stuck under suspensions or brushing against the mud. “That closeness to the ground gave the project a level of immersion that went beyond the script,” Diego explains.

A Lesson That Goes Beyond Filmmaking

In the end, Diego walks away with a powerful realization: “The scale of the story isn’t defined by the size of the camera, but by the clarity of the vision.” This project sharpened his eye and reminded him that without risk, there’s no real cinema. Sometimes, all it takes to tell something big is a brave idea, a passionate team, and a small camera that catches it all.