Major Project: Donington Track Day
Today was a big shoot day for the crew. We headed up to Donington Park, where Alex would get a chance to drive the car he'll actually be racing in for the first time.
This was one of our biggest shoots and as such there was a lot to organise from my perspective. Most of it was done successfully, however, there was one area which I was unable to arrange.
In the lead up to this shoot, we had already scouted the location, so that we could establish the best places for camera operators to be stationed. I had then taken Alex's camera plans and complied packs for everyone to be able to use, detailing a map of the circuit, a planned schedule, call sheets, shotlists etc.
I had also been in contact with the MSV staff (who run both Brands and Donington) and explained our project and previous access to them. Thanks to this I was able to arrange trackside access for all our crew for the day.
The one thing I could not do was arrange for any additional crew to come and help us on this day. Due to the location and timings of the shoot, it simply wasn't possible to get any assistance. Our "go-to" crew members were all busy. And it wasn't fair or possible (logistically or financially) to arrange any other crew to travel over 150 miles to our location for what would be a very early start and late finish.
So in order to make up for this, this was one shoot where I simply had to be on camera. Thankfully though my crew appreciated that I was less comfortable with this than the other opperators, so ensured my location was somewhere I had previously scouted, they had my shots be the easier to capture, and put me with a camera and tripod that I was comfortable with.
Anyway, after arriving at Donington the first thing to do was head up to the media office, get the crew signed on as media (and Alex signed on as a driver). I then accompanied Alex to his driver's briefing and spoke to staff to help establish when Alex's class was likely to be on track. Fortunately, it transpired that this day was entirely dedicated to Alex's class so they had control over when they wanted to go out for a session.
I had created a rough schedule of when I expected Alex to be out, and I was able to amend this by liaising with him and later his co-driver Sam.
This was mine and Cailans first time meeting Sam, and we had no idea what to expect. Fortunately, he was a really nice, and down to earth guy. He already had an idea of the project from Alex, but Cailan and myself introduced ourselves and what our roles were on the film. Then we both explained what we'd be looking to film today and get out of him, which he was really down with.
Once we'd all established how the day was to run it was time to get in position. Even though I was to be trackside filming, it was agreed that it would still be my responsibility to organise the running of the day's events (such as when camera operators should move locations, when crew should meet to charge camera's when they should stop for lunch, when we should interview Sam etc).
Operating a camera went perfectly fine for me, I'd given everyone walkie talkies as before and we stayed in regular contact for the first half of the day. Cailan would give me a heads up every time Alex came out on the track or pulled in to the pits, and communication between all of us was really effective throughout the day.
I was able to instruct each camera operator about when I think it was best for them to move or stop filming, keeping an eye on my call sheet, to keep everyone on schedule. Thanks to the camera plans/packs i was able to successfully complete almost all of the shots I was required to get. Thanks to the location scout I had no issues reaching my locations and operating my tripod from multiple angles.
During the latter half of lunch break, I suggested that now was a good time to interview Sam (as i had put in my schedule) So whilst Nick went to get in position, myself and cailan set up an interview with Sam. I briefed him on the questions we would be asking and helped to get him mic'd up. I've found it good practice to get contributors to answer a few silly questions so we can adjust gain around their natural dialogue, and help them feel more comfortable on camera. But Sam started speaking quieter than he did when we started filming, and there was a lot of background noise so im not sure how good it will sound in the edit.
None the less it was a successful interview, concise and to the point which got across all the key information, we needed. So after this Cailan and I headed out to our afternoon track locations.
The afternoon continued in much the same fashion as the morning, there was a bit off an issue trying to hear/communicate with people in the afternoon though, since the walkie talkies range was being pushed and it was a very noisy session. But with a bot of patience from everyone communication was still effective. I got to try a few pans and additional movements in my afternoon location, but found myself struggling to do this successfully i the space that i had, and decided I would be more effective in my first two locations.
At the end of the day Cailan took more of a lead and captured a very successful closing PTC with Alex to round off the sequence. Not only completing the shotlist but obtaining additional material, which was fantastic.
After the shoot, I attempted to dodge as much of the footage as possible on the journey home, but I did not properly organise the collection of SD cards as i did with the distribution. As a result, I was not able to locate/have access to some of the SD cards until I got back home and unpacked. Which lead to a delay in the reviewing of footage and the start of the edit for this sequence.
This is something I will learn from and take on board for future shoots. But overall despite having to be on a camera myself, and despite the scale of the days shoot. It went really smoothly and everyone did a great job, I think the end result of this will look excellent.
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