For those unfamiliar with the Pacific Northwest, you probably imagine majestic mountains—only they're hidden behind thick gray clouds that unleash torrents of rain. So, when you see the title of this article, you might wonder: why would a commercial shot in the Northwest in November need fake rain? Can’t you just step outside and capture it any day? Let me back up and explain why we needed fake rain, and then show you how we created it on a budget.
We teamed up with TruckVault to produce a 60-second commercial for their All Weather Product Line. This gear is tough, durable, and built to take a beating. And we needed to prove that. From the start, we knew that nothing screams "tough" like a product standing up to the relentless downpour typical of the Northwest. So, could we shoot this project in real rain to capture that grit? The short answer: yes, we could—but it came with a few logistical challenges.
Contrary to popular belief, rain isn’t as predictable as people think. With only two shoot days, and talent, crew, and locations all locked in, we didn’t have the luxury of waiting around for a month, hoping for the perfect rainy day.
Then there’s the problem of rain and cameras—they’re not exactly best friends. Sure, we needed shots of the product enduring the elements, but shooting for two days straight in the rain would slow us down and put our gear at risk. If we could “turn the rain on and off,” we’d protect the equipment while still getting the visuals we wanted.
And let’s be real—real rain might feel wet, but it doesn’t always *look* great on camera. A classic Hollywood trick to make rain pop is to mix water with milk. This, combined with an irrigation system, creates bigger, more visible droplets that really stand out on screen. We needed rain that you could *see* and *feel* through the lens. On top of that, we had multiple locations to cover in just two days. Relying on natural rain would have made continuity a nightmare. So, with all these challenges, we found a solution—but it wasn’t a high-tech film tool. It was a piece of construction equipment from a rental site.
Enter the water trailer: a 500-gallon tank with a hose, adjustable nozzle, and gasoline pump—perfect for our needs.
We used the water sparingly during takes and turned it off between shots. This approach allowed us to film the key scenes in about four hours, with 200 gallons still left in the tank. The rest was used to wet down a forest road and wash the truck.
While this portable rain machine worked well, it had its downsides. The gas pump was loud, but luckily, we weren’t recording live audio. If we had been, it would’ve been a real issue. The hose’s adjustable nozzle let us control the water spread, but its coverage area was smaller than we expected. As a result, we had to cut a few wide shots because the rain didn’t fill the frame. The hose was also pretty short, meaning the trailer had to stay closer to the action than we would’ve liked. In one shot, the trailer was visible, so we had to cover it with branches to hide it.
And finally, the trailer itself was heavy. Navigating anything rougher than a forest road would have been tricky. So, while it worked great for this shoot, it probably wouldn’t be useful on a trail or deep in the woods.
Despite these limitations, for $200, this construction equipment worked like a charm. We controlled the rain, and it helped us capture some epic footage. Maybe next time we’ll figure out how to make fake snow…
Watch a full RAW episode above or check out the project's case study here
