Following up other leads personally - DTM / Hockenheim

One very early contact I got for this project was getting an interview with German Touring car driver Bruno Spengler. While the group decided that we did not want to go in this direction for the project I really wanted to follow it up personally.

After filling out numerous legal forms due to TV licensing they gave me access to the DTM event with Press access. It was not that new to me to fill out these forms, partly due to University which I have had to fill out a lot of forms for, but I have had access like this before at other events so I know what the legal process is like!

We had to leave at 5:30am to get to Germany in time to make our first interview with another driver who had since contacted me saying he would be interested in an interview. I was helped on this journey by my friend since Primary school Jon.

This is the first time I have filmed abroad but after filling out all the necessary forms I was not really that worried about how it would go.

However with transport delays it did get me a little more worried. We got to the paddock around 20 minutes before we where supposed to start the interview. In that moment i have to admit i was worried. However after we had picked up our media passes we had around 15 minutes to set up and make sure the equipment was working. The interview went really well with Loic Duval. He was very nice to speak to and he also gave us some very useful answers. I am going to be uploading these videos to mine YouTube channel and I hope to make it into a series.

After the rush of getting there and setting up we wanted to take in the enormity of what had just happened! It was a crazy day but such a rewarding one. After we had done the interview we then rushed off quickly to Bruno (the original driver we had cam to make a video with) to get some B ROLL of bruno getting ready and into his car. It was incredible access, we got some shots I am really proud of and I am looking forward to editing it, I hope to start it in study week.  We relaxed for the rest of the day at the track and watched some of the races from the media facilities. That feels weird to say.

After the first day we had to prepare for the second day, we had all of our questions ready but also wanted to look at the first days footage to see what we may need to change for the main interview. Unfortunately because of the rushed nature of the first interview we did not have time set up the shots exactly how I would have liked and on the footage we got, it was a little dark because we where facing away from the window. The sound also was a little bit of an issue but there is nothing we could have done about that with the equipment that I have.

Day 2 was great as we had a breakfast interview with Bruno. He gave incredible answers that will be awesome for the video. We also got much better lighting this time and we also had naturally better sound because the interview location was quieter than the first interview. I think I will still take the time to subtitle both videos as it will be better for the viewer. But next time (i hope there is a next time) I will invest in clip microphones to get better audio and possibly some lights, but that probably is not as necessary.

The rest of the day was spent getting footage of the cars out on track as it would be great for B ROLL of action out on track.

Day 3 was probably the most surreal day though because after the second race had taken place we went to the media conference with the winning drivers. It was us and a few TV people in a room with the drivers and the champion! That was a little surreal.

We did also film another little video with Bruno where he talks through a normal racing weekend for him which may be a seperate video.

After all of it was over and we had learned a lot we did have to take a moment to think about what a crazy 72 hours it had been. I had interviewed some of the people that I watch on TV every other weekend and I also had press access to one of the biggest motorsport events in the world.

Surreal.

I was so happy that I followed up this lead because it gave me an experience of a lifetime and hopefully once I edit what I have currently got, I can show it to more drivers which will hopefully mean I will get more opportunities like this in the future. I also got some important contacts this weekend, I hope to be able to work with these racing teams again as I think what I will produce will be seen as only positive and they would like to see more! Back to Uni!