Need help from some Speed Week veterans

[johnneilson]

Or, just call the SCTA office and get the skinny directly from the source?

It's not like they haven't had this request before........

J

[ack]

Brian Leckey has the most experience shooting footage and managing crews at land speed events I would talk with him.

https://www.contentcanning.com/

[typo41]

If you are filming for any reason, team or professional, you must register with the SCTA's Holly Martin. She will give you the guidelines of what you can and can't do and where you can and can't go. and what you need to have in your vehicles - CB radios and such
Team videographers are not charged to film/shoot (sorry old school), but commercial, not matter large or small, are charged a day rate to shoot.
And don't break out the drones without special permission (official flight training) and fight rules, no flying over the crowds or running down the course.

But is it worth it??? You BET!!!
I started out as a photographer of sorts, some like my work, and now I own a race team with my wife and major help from my friends and we even have sponsors!

[Speed Limit 1000]

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that GearHeadTour is not very active on LR and asks but never answers questions?

[metermatch]

I would like to add that Bonneville is one of the last venues that an average guy can build a car by himself in his own garage and still set records.  Get photos/interviews with average guys and their cars.  Don't just focus on the big dogs with deep pockets that pay everyone else to build their cars.

Jeff

[Saltfever]

For a few shots you might want to rent a scaffold (with BNI permission) and position at the edge of the north end of the pits. It gives you a different perspective and provides some interesting options.

For sure you need to get at least one spectacular shot from about the 3 mile. Listen on the CB for one of the fast streamliners and then get ready. Looking south toward the start line you will barely see anything. It's almost like looking over the curvature of the earth. Soon you will see a small speck in the distance and the beginning of a rooster tail. No noise at this point (unless it is coming through your CB). You will start to hear the harmonics of a hard pull at full song! A tiny spec of a car rapidly appears leading a rooster tail growing bigger. You may or may not hear a gear shift. Still looking south, and about 1/2 mile away the speed will be incredible and the car will appear to be racing ahead of the sound. As it goes by the exhaust pitch will change due to Doppler shift as it disappears toward floating mountain. Standing  there at the three when the speed, the furry of the motor pulling hard, and the Doppler shift all come together is about as close as any man will come to the emotion a woman feels when she hears the baby's first cry.

If you can capture that you have succeeded in only one part of SW. As mention above, Speed Week is a total experience greater than the individual parts.

[Stan Back]

"No noise at this point.."

You could here Al Teague being pushed off while you're at the four.

[maj]

For sure you need to get at least one spectacular shot from about the 3 mile. Listen on the CB for one of the fast streamliners and then get ready. Looking south toward the start line you will barely see anything. It's almost like looking over the curvature of the earth. Soon you will see a small speck in the distance and the beginning of a rooster tail. No noise at this point (unless it is coming through your CB). You will start to hear the harmonics of a hard pull at full song! A tiny spec of a car rapidly appears leading a rooster tail growing bigger. You may or may not hear a gear shift. Still looking south, and about 1/2 mile away the speed will be incredible and the car will appear to be racing ahead of the sound. As it goes by the exhaust pitch will change due to Doppler shift as it disappears toward floating mountain. Standing  there at the three when the speed, the furry of the motor pulling hard, and the Doppler shift all come together is about as close as any man will come to the emotion a woman feels when she hears the baby's first cry.

I sure hope someone can capture that feeling on film,
my first experiance like that was the Hadfield/West car in Australia
Odd atmospheric conditions. We were in the pits at about the 4 and you could hear the big motors start line clearly but very hazy with only a mile or so of the track clear viewing
to hear the car start, run through all the gears and come into view just as it hit top gear , fly by with a veil of salt following to dissapear back into the haze and just the rolling thunder of the exhaust going on and on gave me goosebumps all over
second experiance that moved me so much was watching Speed Demon at the 2011 or 12 shootout from one of the timed mile marker positions
both next best thing to actually riding

[Saltfever]

"No noise at this point.."
You could here Al Teague being pushed off while you're at the four.

That was then, but we are talking now, Stan.
With these turbo'd motors, and a north wind at the 3 or 4, its sometimes hard to distinguish whether the start is coming from the long course or over on the short course!     You can't see either one and the wind is at your back. 

[jl222]

"No noise at this point.."
You could here Al Teague being pushed off while you're at the four.

That was then, but we are talking now, Stan.
With these turbo'd motors, and a north wind at the 3 or 4, its sometimes hard to distinguish whether the start is coming from the long course or over on the short course!     You can't see either one and the wind is at your back.

  Not everyone runs those bloodless siphers

                  jl222

[salt27]

  Not everyone runs those bloodless siphers

                  jl222

Now that was funny.   

[Doc B.]

Small tip learned the hard way - for that long "on song" shot make sure you are set up well away from any blabbery people who will, with some precision, talk over the best bits of that doppler effect. The cars are plenty loud for pretty much any style mic, but a shotgun mic will help keep out that off-axis jibber jabber. A parabolic mic might be fun to try if you have a sound assistant.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

For ambient sounds (engines!) on the audio stream at SpeedWeek I use a cardioid (pattern) mic on a stand - about 30-50' feet away from the announcer/timing slip trailer.  The pattern and the distance help reduce extraneous noise so we can enjoy the motors (whether they be whisperjets with big turbos or thundering titans running 90%).

If you want some really cool sound - try recording it in binaural with a properly-built mic holder, then listen back in good headphones.  You'll be stunned at how good it sounds.   Headphones, not speakers, okay?

[Ole Don]

And if you get a really good video with all the great sounds from the three mile mark, then play music or talk over the sound, you will be on everyone's poop list for life. Maybe longer.

[4-barrel Mike]

Gearheadtour hasn't logged onto the site since May 27.   

Mike