Behind the Scenes: Shooting the Wolfbox Dashcam Product Video
How a dashcam brand collaboration with Austin from JKU 392 Adventures turned into an authentic product video, and what goes into making brand content that doesn't feel like a commercial.
Wolfbox reached out about creating content for their dashcam. They’d seen my off-road and automotive work and wanted something that felt real, not the typical tech review where someone reads specs off a teleprompter. They wanted the dashcam in action, on real trails, in a real vehicle. Lifestyle content. Something authentic.
That’s the kind of brief I can work with. And I knew exactly who to bring in.
Austin and JKU 392 Adventures
Austin runs JKU 392 Adventures on YouTube. He’s got a built Jeep JKU with a 392 swap and documents his off-road builds and trail runs. His rig is exactly the kind of vehicle that makes product content look legit. Not a clean mall-crawler. A real truck that sees real dirt.
What makes Austin perfect for this isn’t just the Jeep. It’s his story. His Jeep thing started at 16 when his dad got him a 1993 Wrangler. They did their first engine swap together on that thing. Their first big trip was Moab, Utah. 110-degree heat, climbing Moab Rim right alongside the Colorado River, looking off the cliff down into the water. He talks about breaking a ring and pinion out there with his dad and not getting mad about it. Just enjoying it as part of the adventure, part of the journey.
That kind of story is what turns a product video into something people actually watch. Wolfbox didn’t need someone reading specs. They needed someone who lives this stuff.
The Shoot
We took Bulldog Canyon and we were racing the sunset the entire time. That ended up being a gift. The light kept getting better as the afternoon wore on, and we ended up getting some epic sunset shots that we never would have planned for.
Austin’s had his Wolfbox dashcam for about two years now. He uses it for real. Off-road trail runs, daily driving as a nurse, everything. When I asked him about it on camera, nothing was scripted.
He talked about how the rear view camera gives him a wider angle, how he can see tire placement when he’s climbing through a canyon and needs to keep the vehicle centered. That’s a real use case that no spec sheet communicates. You have to see a built Jeep navigating a narrow trail to understand why rear camera visibility matters.
Then he told this story that I wasn’t expecting. He’s a nurse, and one morning driving to work he came upon a rollover accident. Truck on its side, driver still trapped inside. He pulled over, assessed the driver, and realized his dashcam had been recording the entire scene. He said he felt safe knowing everything was documented. That’s the kind of moment that makes a product video genuine. You can’t script that.
The Interview
By the time we wrapped the trail footage and found a spot to sit down for the interview, we’d lost the sun completely. But what we got instead was better than anything we could have planned. A monsoon rolling in behind Austin as he talked on camera. Lightning in the distance, that desert storm glow on the horizon. It looked cinematic without trying.
That’s the thing about shooting in Arizona. The weather is part of the production value. You can’t fake a monsoon backdrop. You can’t CGI that light. You just have to be out there when it happens. We were racing the sunset all day and ended up getting rewarded for it.
How It All Came Together
Wolfbox handled the edit on their end. Their editors cut the final video from the footage we delivered. Our job was to capture everything according to their creative direction: the trail footage, the dashcam POV, the interview, the B-roll of Austin’s JKU out on the trail. We shot it, they shaped it.
That’s how a lot of brand collaborations work. The brand has a vision and an editorial team. They need someone on the ground who can get the shots. Someone who knows the terrain, has the right talent on speed dial, and can deliver footage that tells a story. That’s what I do.
Watch the Final Video
Working With Brands
A quick note on brand collaborations, since people ask about this a lot. The key is having a portfolio that shows you can do the work. Wolfbox found me through my off-road content. King of Hammers photos, trail running footage, automotive B-roll on my site. They didn’t care about my follower count. They cared that I could deliver professional footage with a fast turnaround.
If you’re a videographer trying to get brand work, build a portfolio of the content you want to get hired for. Shoot it on spec if you have to. Post it. The work sells itself. Nobody hires you because of a bio that says “available for brand partnerships.” They hire you because they saw something you made and thought, “I want that for my product.”
My portfolio is at bdigitalmedia.io if you want to see the kind of work that leads to these opportunities. And if you’re a brand looking for product video, automotive content, or adventure/outdoor footage in Arizona, let’s talk.
The Deliverables
Wolfbox got:
- Hours of raw BTS footage (4K)
- Drone footage of the JKU on Bulldog Canyon trails at sunset
- Interview footage with Austin
- Dashcam POV footage from the trail run
- Full usage rights
I also shot my own content during the production. Social media clips for my own channels, behind-the-scenes stuff, portfolio material. That’s one of the perks of shooting brand work in locations like this. You’re already out there with the talent and the gear. Might as well make the most of it.
And Austin got content for his channel out of it too. That’s how good collaborations work. Everybody walks away with something.
