A RACING DOCUMENTARY
So you've seen our race videos and all the sweet launch pics we share from the Snowmobile Drag Racing Ontario racing events. But what does it take to pull off a race weekend? How much effort is needed to build a winning race sled? These are the topics we explore in our latest documentary in partnership with SDRO - 'TILL THE TREE DROPS
We've been working with Arianne & Jeremy from SDRO since February 2020. In that timespan, we've covered 9 of their events, sold countless photos, created 12 videos, and published 2 calendars, with a 3rd currently in the works. After spending all that time with a group of people, race weekend feels less like a gig and more like a weekend hanging out with friends. To quote Dominic Toretto,
A Documentary?
The idea to create an in-depth documentary about the races has been bouncing around between Arianne and myself for quite some time now. The race videos I normally produce focused mostly on the sled races themselves, but that's really only telling half the story. What happens behind the scenes leading up to a race weekend is truly the section of the iceberg that's underwater and never visible, for both SDRO and the race teams.
The idea to create an in-depth documentary about the races has been bouncing around between Arianne and myself for quite some time now.
My first attempt at peeling back the layers to shine a light on what occurs in the background leading up to a race weekend resulted in my short video titled "All the Moving Parts." The video was a great success in my opinion, and it seemed to strike a chord - it left me wanting more...
Let's Tell the Full Story
To tell the full story and create a documentary, we knew we'd need some high quality sit-down interviews as well as a race team we could follow throughout the 2022 race season. Bob Fetterly from Winchester Auto Racing was the perfect match. Having just built a new racing sled for his son, this was the perfect opportunity to see first hand the struggles and triumphs as the father and son team progressed through the races.
Lights, Cameras, Interviews!
The interviews went smooth and we captured some great stories. This was my first time ever conducting interviews, and I think I was just as nervous as the people in front of the camera! I was prepared though. Leading up to the interview I had created a list of questions. For equipment, I setup my two LED light boxes, one in the front as the key light, and one in the back as a rim light. I used an inexpensive lav mic wired into my Canon 1DX Mark ii and manually set the audio volume. For lenses, I used my 16-35mm zoom lens for the wide shots and then switched over to my 85mm prime for the tight shots. A second camera to capture a side angle would have been a nice addition, but we managed with just a single camera and the video turned out great. Bob's shop was the perfect location, and he even repainted the floor for us!
Bob's shop was the perfect location, and he even repainted the floor for us!
Making the Cut
Deciding which video clips to include in the documentary was the truly challenging part to this video. With so many years to pull from and so much BTS content from Arianne, laying down the first cut took a great deal of effort. Once I had some basic structure, I pulled in Arianne and Jeremy so we could start bouncing ideas off each other. After a few more drafts, we cut the final version and scheduled our viewing party!
Deciding which video clips to include in the documentary was the truly challenging part to this video
'TILL THE TREE DROPS will be premiered on YouTube May 15th at 7:00 pm. I hope you join us and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the documentary. This was a great learning experience for us and solidifies our passion for short and documentary films.
Thanks for reading and take care folks 😎
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