Major Proiect - Brands Hatch Single-Seater Media Day w/ Steven
Single-Seater Experience Courtesy of Steven & Brands Hatch Media Day
Just over a month ago we shot the racing license sequence, this took place at Brands Hatch where we were able to speak to one of Alex's associates Steven who he knew from various meetings in the past. Steven owns a garage in Chatham, as well as a Formula Ford single-seater racing car. Steven proposed the idea then that we could come along to Brands Hatch on the 27th Feb (today) to attend to the media day, in which he would let Alex drive the single-seater around the track for the 3 sessions that it was booked in for. This was a phenomenal opportunity not just for Alex but for the documentary as well, so neither me nor Alex hesitated in accepting his offer at the time.
Today's shooting arrangement was similar to that of the GT Puma & Racing License sequences, in which I was in the pitlanes for most of the day where I would coordinate with and frequently check-up on our other camera operators positioned around the track via our walkie talkies, ensuring we had a direct line of communication should there be any issues. Today we had fellow 3rd year students Katie Joslin & Alex Hargood present with us helping out with camera operation, upon compiling the camera plan for the day we felt that it would be appropriate to have them positioned at the top of the track known as 'Druid's Hairpin'. This was one of the more simpler shots with the most complicated movement being a track/pan on Alex B as he came round the corner itself - knowing Alex H well, we knew that he and Katie would be capable of pulling this off and executing our vision for this sequence, however just in-case we were able to put together camera tutorial 'packs' for lack of a better term, which included a written and visual description of the exact shots we wanted each operator to capture during Alex B's time out on track.
As for the other operators, we also had Nick (Alex's father) joining us on this day to operate the Lumix G7, mounted to a tripod for stability and reliability. Nick would also inform me over the walkie talkie as he did with the Puma sequence when Alex was entering the pitlane so that I could be prepared to capture the necessary shots with the shoulder-mounted Sony AX53. Alex H & Katie were operating the other cameras with Katie on the Panasonic DVX200 (courtesy of UCA) and Alex on my own Panasonic FZ330. The only other camera that was active during this shoot was the GoPro affixed to the vehicle itself, slightly behind Alex's left-shoulder. This gave us a great POV shot that we could cut to and utilise throughout the montage sequence this footage will feature in, and we were all pleasantly surprised with the colour-accuracy and quality of this camera and look forward to implementing it.
Alex seemed rather apprehensive about the entire experience initially, it's easy for someone outside of the industry to associate GT motorsport and single-seater motorsport in the same category however there are clearly a world of differences in reality. Alex was required to head to Steven's garage several weeks back where he was able to take measurements and adjust the car as needed to suit Alex's height and body proportion - this is of course not necessary when you're dealing with a traditional GT vehicle. Another example of how different the experience is would be how low the racer is to the ground compared to a GT vehicle. In that sense the single-seater experience is much more akin to Go Karting than GT motorsport, however being lower to the ground in a smaller vehicle does have its advantages, not least of which is the weight - or lack thereof.
The point of the media day was for Alex to get further experience on the Brands Hatch Circuit, while also expanding his horizons and trying out something completely different and potentially out of his comfort zone, furthermore the media day itself refers to the final session in which drivers slowly follow behind a media vehicle with the boot open and photographers present, all of which are then able to take high-quality professional grade pictures that can be applied for promotional/personal use (pictured below).
I felt like today went well, and I was able to get a large amount of coverage of the day and Alex on track, similar to that of the GT Puma experience with Rod last week. I also personally enjoyed being able to get more time in the pitlanes, and on location experience in general.
Camera Cards/Planning & Operator Packs
Just over a month ago we shot the racing license sequence, this took place at Brands Hatch where we were able to speak to one of Alex's associates Steven who he knew from various meetings in the past. Steven owns a garage in Chatham, as well as a Formula Ford single-seater racing car. Steven proposed the idea then that we could come along to Brands Hatch on the 27th Feb (today) to attend to the media day, in which he would let Alex drive the single-seater around the track for the 3 sessions that it was booked in for. This was a phenomenal opportunity not just for Alex but for the documentary as well, so neither me nor Alex hesitated in accepting his offer at the time.
Today's shooting arrangement was similar to that of the GT Puma & Racing License sequences, in which I was in the pitlanes for most of the day where I would coordinate with and frequently check-up on our other camera operators positioned around the track via our walkie talkies, ensuring we had a direct line of communication should there be any issues. Today we had fellow 3rd year students Katie Joslin & Alex Hargood present with us helping out with camera operation, upon compiling the camera plan for the day we felt that it would be appropriate to have them positioned at the top of the track known as 'Druid's Hairpin'. This was one of the more simpler shots with the most complicated movement being a track/pan on Alex B as he came round the corner itself - knowing Alex H well, we knew that he and Katie would be capable of pulling this off and executing our vision for this sequence, however just in-case we were able to put together camera tutorial 'packs' for lack of a better term, which included a written and visual description of the exact shots we wanted each operator to capture during Alex B's time out on track.
As for the other operators, we also had Nick (Alex's father) joining us on this day to operate the Lumix G7, mounted to a tripod for stability and reliability. Nick would also inform me over the walkie talkie as he did with the Puma sequence when Alex was entering the pitlane so that I could be prepared to capture the necessary shots with the shoulder-mounted Sony AX53. Alex H & Katie were operating the other cameras with Katie on the Panasonic DVX200 (courtesy of UCA) and Alex on my own Panasonic FZ330. The only other camera that was active during this shoot was the GoPro affixed to the vehicle itself, slightly behind Alex's left-shoulder. This gave us a great POV shot that we could cut to and utilise throughout the montage sequence this footage will feature in, and we were all pleasantly surprised with the colour-accuracy and quality of this camera and look forward to implementing it.
Alex seemed rather apprehensive about the entire experience initially, it's easy for someone outside of the industry to associate GT motorsport and single-seater motorsport in the same category however there are clearly a world of differences in reality. Alex was required to head to Steven's garage several weeks back where he was able to take measurements and adjust the car as needed to suit Alex's height and body proportion - this is of course not necessary when you're dealing with a traditional GT vehicle. Another example of how different the experience is would be how low the racer is to the ground compared to a GT vehicle. In that sense the single-seater experience is much more akin to Go Karting than GT motorsport, however being lower to the ground in a smaller vehicle does have its advantages, not least of which is the weight - or lack thereof.
The point of the media day was for Alex to get further experience on the Brands Hatch Circuit, while also expanding his horizons and trying out something completely different and potentially out of his comfort zone, furthermore the media day itself refers to the final session in which drivers slowly follow behind a media vehicle with the boot open and photographers present, all of which are then able to take high-quality professional grade pictures that can be applied for promotional/personal use (pictured below).
I felt like today went well, and I was able to get a large amount of coverage of the day and Alex on track, similar to that of the GT Puma experience with Rod last week. I also personally enjoyed being able to get more time in the pitlanes, and on location experience in general.
Camera Cards/Planning & Operator Packs
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| (Camera Plan/Track Sheet - Highlights Camera Operator Locations & Points Of Interest) |
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| (Camera 1 - Panasonic FZ330 - Operator: Alex Hargood) |
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| (Camera 2 - Panasonic DVX200 - Operator: Katie Joslin) |
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| (Camera 3 - Lumix G7 - Operator: Nick/Alex's Dad) |
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