Race Car Mechanic Movie

 I Started a Twitter, yay me  @MechanicRace  is the handle 

 I took some time to sit in a closed room with and air filter ,,, this smoke is something else for my allergies.  I invited a bunch of people via Facebook to follow the film page and  I am sure I missed someone so please share  Basically if you have been involved with motorsports and can - will be interested in being a contributor to this film about honoring Race Car Mechanics in a documentary form I'll send a film release and start planning to schedule interviews. 

 Been a busy week of researching the best techniques to capture stories in person & remote.  The plan is coming together :   It appears that the best move for remote is a Google Meet via invite and then record the whole thing. That way it saves to the G Suite drive directly.  The in person will take a bit of planning & set up as well as travel.  Luckily I have many local contacts to speak with and to that end I have ordered a video camera and have to test shoot.  My mentor mentioned making a short over arching of the story called a "Sizzle Reel".  Saturday, I created the first 30-45 seconds while walking the dogs ...in my head and then started to script that out.   Its actually harder than one may think to get the images in my head out into words. I did the first mental walk through and then did a "talk through" with Dana to help "paint the picture".  Then I typed in a few notes and slept on it... well didn't sleep ... tossed and turned and obs

Happy Thursday                     There is s suggestion on the part of my film mentor to look into a slightly better camera with a different lens and better manual control of the F-stop.  He is right since it will avoid much post shoot audio syncing, but the budget it was it is - invisible ha ha  That has led me on the hunt for a DSLR with changeable lenses and external mic input.  Since I am currently committed to Canon I have begun the hunt for a refurbished or gently used T6i or better and a 100 mm lens.  If anyone has a lead, please contact me. K Back to it          

3 September 2020  Quick note to answer why I am doing this.  Simply, I saw Ford v Ferrari and my mentor was ignored for his contributions to the GT40 program. I suppose that there is a reason, that isn't my problem to sort out. My goal is to assemble the stories of the non household names; the people that do the work.   Right, back at it  

2 September 2020  Welp, (wellst?) I was encouraged to add a Blog here.  That's easy enough as it turns out since we live in an amazing time.  I have some updates that would be spoilers - really amazing that the racing community continues to have the biggest hearts of any business I have even had the pleasure to be a {small} part of. Without tipping the hat - ( wife thinks it's funny that I refuse  to read the episode summary that precedes every netflix episode ) - I want the story to unfold as the creator intended.  So I am taking that approach here, keeping secrets.  What I can say is that Dana ( a.k.a. The Wife ) and I did a test "talking head" interview this weekend and I learned a lot.  Walt was right - SOUND is Priority #1.  We tested in our office which is like a camper top on the  garage and traffic on Vista Del Mar & LAX departures are a handful.   Background on the test are awful with paper thin curtains. So yeah that is a thing.  Natural lighting is nic

 Last week's record heat and smoke allowed for inside work:  Boom Mic Stand assembled. Tested Sony audio recorder.  Interview seat procured. Two Camera test set at Covid Friendly distances. Tripod w/level quick disconnect tested. Lapel Mic test with Sony.  Mini & Standard SD cards formatted & tested. Additional Canon batteries charges and tested.  A gob of cables assembled and tested. Lighting equipment acquired and tested.  Video & Audio test in ShotCut.  Global contacts made with participants that will Google Meets.  Royalty Free Images are being gathered...  Interview outline started. Story Board begun.  Mentor call resulted in more homework! I have estimated that this will be a five year project from start to finish.  The work is nothing compared to the work done by the Race Car Mechanics.