Today was my last experience in the car before the race on Sunday. I had two 30 minute sessions in the BMW race car at Brands Hatch and this time I was alone as Sam was not doing any prior testing at this track. I would be alone on track for the full hour which would give me valuable experience and lessons before the race date. Due to it being a Friday our D.O.P was not available due to work which left George to take on-board his responsibilities as well as being the producer for the day. We would also have the help of Connor from University and my Dad on trackside cameras, both of whom have
Friday Pre-Shoot work:
Shotlist:
- Alex walking into Garage with car [M/S Following from behind]
- Alex walking into Garage with car [W/S Static on Tripod outside Garage]
- Miscellaneous footage of Alex and Sam speaking [Various M/S and C/U]
- Slow pans “Beauty Shots” of the car [M/S, C/U]
- Alex putting on suit [M/S]
- Alex putting on helmet [C/U]
- Alex getting in the car [M/S - Standing by the bonnet - Level with driving position]
- Alex driving out the garage [M/S - From pitwall]
- Alex pulling into the pitlane [M/S]
- Alex driving out the garage [M/S - From garage]
- Alex in car [C/U - Speaking, Ready to Go Out, etc.]
- Alex debriefing with Sam [Start at FIXED M/S Zoom to FIXED C/U]
- Alex leaving pitlane from the end of the pitlane position [M/S]
- VARIOUS ON TRACK SHOTS AS SEEN IN CAMERA PLAN
- Alex coming into the pitlane [M/S]
- Alex taking off equipment [M/S]
- Alex packing up his racing equipment [C/U]
- Alex walking off into the distance down pitlane [W/S - Tripod]
Camera Plans
The shoot date
As a driver and contributor, this was the most important day of the project so far. I was having my first experience in the car I will race on Sunday and on the correct circuit. Thankfully I had a bit of Brands experience from the previous test days, but today's was the most important. I had asked the team to be understanding of my situation and not to ask me any extra questions, partly due to it breaking the illusion of being the contributor, as well as needing to be focused on improving out on track.
Thankfully we had trackside access for the day meaning even though we were short on crew, we would be able to capture shots from a number of locations thanks to my camera plans. George would be taking Cailans role of following me around during the day and capturing actuality, while Connor and my Dad would be trackside, capturing four different shots over two sessions. Every 15 minutes I asked the trackside team to change position or at least shot type/angle so that we would have the maximum amount of coverage for this small sequence.
For myself as a driver the day went really well as my teammate Sam guided me throughout and gave me valuable feedback as the day went on. My lap times kept coming down and I was happy with my own performance out on the track. The footage capture via the onboard cameras was also better than at Donington as the Go Pro's had the correct settings on to ensure the view out of the windscreen was not overexposed. I expect to use this Go Pro instead of mine to ensure we record the whole race as it can be manually connected to the Car USB. Storage will also not be an issue due to the lower (1080p) camera quality.
Trackside shots were similarly good and George did well to adapt to being on a camera during Cailans absence. He had obviously studied the material that Cailan had produced and did a good job of getting both interesting and unique angles. The depth and length of coverage that we obtained on today's shoot was fantastic, considering we had just three camera operators and only 2 trackside. I was really impressed with the team as a whole for their performance behind the camera. We did not record any pieces to camera today as we were low on crew, but as this will be such a short sequence I don't think it would be feasible.
I know that the sequence recorded today will enable the viewer to understand the commitment and passion I have for this project and the importance of showing this is that it further demonstrates how much effort myself and the team have put into the project. I think this prologue to the race will enable the viewer to know that I am not going into this race completely blind, I have spent a lot of time making sure I am prepared. It is also important to show, even if it is briefly, the whole journey that I have been on and this scene will help the documentary show that. This scene may possibly need a slightly different grade in the edit to ensure the viewer knows it is a test session rather than the actual race. I expect this scene to be covered with an underlying beat and some voiceover. The hard part about this sequence will be condensing all of the unique angles into less than 20 seconds. I would rather this be the case, however, than having to reuse clips or use clips online. That is something I am very happy about throughout this project. I have always ensured we have had enough cameras to create the sequence I intend. The commitment and cost of getting help means we have a lot of choices in the edit which is a fantastic situation to be in. I am personally really proud that I pushed us all as a team to ensure we get the right crew behind us.
George's main note from the day was that he lost Sam at times in the business of the pitlane and action out on the track. This was mostly because we did not have a designated garage as in all of the previous shoots which meant keeping track of everyone's movements was harder. It was important to know this for Sunday as George and Cailan will need to know at all times where Sam is. This will be made easier in the race as we will be in a pit garage and Sam will hopefully be in sight at all times from that area. As we do not have trackside access this could prove to be a little harder but at least George is aware of the importance of being in contact with Sam. It was good to pick up this information before the race day as it will really help enable the team to follow the shot list and get all of the footage that I feel is needed.
The day went as expected and we got much more footage than needed for what will probably be a 15-20 second sequence in the build-up to the race. The amount of footage will thankfully mean that we will have many options when in the edit and I am really excited to see how it looks. Very close to race day now, I am very excited, if a little nervous! All plans are in place for Sunday even though we do not have trackside access. I have used our previous scouts and experience as a fan to understand the best places for our camera operators on Sunday, in which we will have 3 cameras around the track plus Cailan and George working together in the pitlane. It will be a great ending to our project, and I know we will maximize the opportunities to capture some fantastic footage.
No comments:
Post a Comment