Filming the Britcar 24hrs
Discussion
Perhaps a slightly unusal story, I thought I would tell you how this years 2010 event went from track to screen. Every person in the paddock has a story and that doesn’t stop with teams and drivers!
I have been lucky to cover the Event since its inception and have been at every Brticar 24 hour race. I was privileged to be asked to organise the coverage of this years event. It meant a few changes. In years previous we have been lucky to have support from Hayfisher, the best known Motorsport production company in the country. They would already have full track coverage thanks to filming the FPA races. Once night fell, they would head off leaving us with about 4 hours of top quality stuff. No FPA meant no Hayfisher.
It was my personal opinion that the 1 hour show made for the last few years was a little to short to include everyone’s story. Its almost impossible to cover every car because, as I said at the start, everyone has a story, but I felt a 2 hour show would open up the ability to chat to a few others. The race is an endurance event so why cant the TV show reflect that?
With the experience gained from the Britcar Championship races, it was thought 6 cameras were enough to capture the race over the 24 hours. Yes, you would miss stuff, but at least 2 cameras would be out on track to capture every car at different stages in the race. A full 10 camera set up would have cost Britcar and therefore each team over a thousand pounds more, so this was the best compromise.
A plan was drawn out so each cameraman would go out for 3 hours at a time, while the pit crew would have 6 hour shifts. To transport the crew we had 2 golf buggies, so they could get down to Stowe without the 30minute walk!
Saturday morning was spent filming features for part one (I call this the casual viewers part – the hardcore fan isn’t that interested in hearing from a WTCC driver but Bob in the pub is!). Myma set off in one direction while I went the other with my beautiful Evora which featured as the car I used to do (foggy) track laps with Johnny Mowlem. I sent Vicky my producer off to get some shots from the outside of the circuit but as the start time approached she was no-where to be seen. Not massively familiar with the layout she had missed the Bridge returning into the track and had ended up at Stowe…..
The race started and the two camera crews rotated. I was off shift and having been up since 6am, I should have slept however the security had thieved the golf buggies, which meant chasing them down and retrieving them, on the plus side at least they didn’t kick us off the grid this time!
As night fell, the men in yellow also decided to shut the perimeter road, making life very tricky for half an hour while producer Max pleaded for the use of the Copse tunnel – Shots of just the start line would have been a little dull.
Overnight got interesting; on track drivers struggled, while our Cameramen also discovered the Golf Cart lights were rubbish. With the rain lashing on the windscreen one particular cameraman crash his cart every half an hour. He also fell out, and slipped down a bank, covering himself in mud. The command for the man that followed was to head to the campsite and see what was happening there. He got some shots and joined in for a drink before requiring a push from the party he’d gate-crashed to get the buggy out the mud.
I eventually saw the fog rolling in and after 23 hours awake, passed out under the Clerk of the Course’ desk. The day was relentless, rain lashing down, every member of the crew came in drenched, cameras dripping, and before even going to rest, the kit had to be dried off. Our office became a mess of sleeping bodies, drying cameras and dead Monster Energy drinks cans. The great thing for me was each man came in smiling, well how couldn’t you, it’s the Britcar 24, and yet again there was an epic duel on track.
Come race end, we tried to capture the atmosphere and relief from the teams finishing, but with such a low attrition rate it was tricky with only 2 crews to capture each individual smile and tear.
While the event may be a distance memory now, I hope in some way each sodden cameraman’s smile and my love for the event is conveyed in the 2010 2 hour film. From the day the chequered flag fell, my life has been to represent, most accurately the events and feelings of the day. I did have a log of the race from my producers (who had been using the Commentary as a guide) but to make sure of accuracy I also cross-matched that with Steve Woods words and the fantastic DailySportscar Report text commentary. The pictures also tell their own story, and you’d amazing just how many details contradicted themselves… If I plumped for the wrong information, forgive me!
The edit brief was to try to get every car in shot at some point, and where possible use interviews from a variety of drivers within the major stories. There will be things I still would have missed, and for that I am sorry but we did try to encapsulate the atmosphere of the event, from the jovial and sleeping mechanics to the crow signalling in the morning.
For those of you who we missed, here is a tip, next year do what MJC did. They had a dedicated camera crew for the full weekend which brought them luck…..and maybe a dedicated TV show as well, but that’s another story.
For now, enjoy the programme and do let me know what you think. It wont be perfect, nothing ever is, but theres a lot of blood, sweat and tears both shown and spared to make the 2010 Britcar 24 hour
Regards,
Ben Constanduros
I have been lucky to cover the Event since its inception and have been at every Brticar 24 hour race. I was privileged to be asked to organise the coverage of this years event. It meant a few changes. In years previous we have been lucky to have support from Hayfisher, the best known Motorsport production company in the country. They would already have full track coverage thanks to filming the FPA races. Once night fell, they would head off leaving us with about 4 hours of top quality stuff. No FPA meant no Hayfisher.
It was my personal opinion that the 1 hour show made for the last few years was a little to short to include everyone’s story. Its almost impossible to cover every car because, as I said at the start, everyone has a story, but I felt a 2 hour show would open up the ability to chat to a few others. The race is an endurance event so why cant the TV show reflect that?
With the experience gained from the Britcar Championship races, it was thought 6 cameras were enough to capture the race over the 24 hours. Yes, you would miss stuff, but at least 2 cameras would be out on track to capture every car at different stages in the race. A full 10 camera set up would have cost Britcar and therefore each team over a thousand pounds more, so this was the best compromise.
A plan was drawn out so each cameraman would go out for 3 hours at a time, while the pit crew would have 6 hour shifts. To transport the crew we had 2 golf buggies, so they could get down to Stowe without the 30minute walk!
Saturday morning was spent filming features for part one (I call this the casual viewers part – the hardcore fan isn’t that interested in hearing from a WTCC driver but Bob in the pub is!). Myma set off in one direction while I went the other with my beautiful Evora which featured as the car I used to do (foggy) track laps with Johnny Mowlem. I sent Vicky my producer off to get some shots from the outside of the circuit but as the start time approached she was no-where to be seen. Not massively familiar with the layout she had missed the Bridge returning into the track and had ended up at Stowe…..
The race started and the two camera crews rotated. I was off shift and having been up since 6am, I should have slept however the security had thieved the golf buggies, which meant chasing them down and retrieving them, on the plus side at least they didn’t kick us off the grid this time!
As night fell, the men in yellow also decided to shut the perimeter road, making life very tricky for half an hour while producer Max pleaded for the use of the Copse tunnel – Shots of just the start line would have been a little dull.
Overnight got interesting; on track drivers struggled, while our Cameramen also discovered the Golf Cart lights were rubbish. With the rain lashing on the windscreen one particular cameraman crash his cart every half an hour. He also fell out, and slipped down a bank, covering himself in mud. The command for the man that followed was to head to the campsite and see what was happening there. He got some shots and joined in for a drink before requiring a push from the party he’d gate-crashed to get the buggy out the mud.
I eventually saw the fog rolling in and after 23 hours awake, passed out under the Clerk of the Course’ desk. The day was relentless, rain lashing down, every member of the crew came in drenched, cameras dripping, and before even going to rest, the kit had to be dried off. Our office became a mess of sleeping bodies, drying cameras and dead Monster Energy drinks cans. The great thing for me was each man came in smiling, well how couldn’t you, it’s the Britcar 24, and yet again there was an epic duel on track.
Come race end, we tried to capture the atmosphere and relief from the teams finishing, but with such a low attrition rate it was tricky with only 2 crews to capture each individual smile and tear.
While the event may be a distance memory now, I hope in some way each sodden cameraman’s smile and my love for the event is conveyed in the 2010 2 hour film. From the day the chequered flag fell, my life has been to represent, most accurately the events and feelings of the day. I did have a log of the race from my producers (who had been using the Commentary as a guide) but to make sure of accuracy I also cross-matched that with Steve Woods words and the fantastic DailySportscar Report text commentary. The pictures also tell their own story, and you’d amazing just how many details contradicted themselves… If I plumped for the wrong information, forgive me!
The edit brief was to try to get every car in shot at some point, and where possible use interviews from a variety of drivers within the major stories. There will be things I still would have missed, and for that I am sorry but we did try to encapsulate the atmosphere of the event, from the jovial and sleeping mechanics to the crow signalling in the morning.
For those of you who we missed, here is a tip, next year do what MJC did. They had a dedicated camera crew for the full weekend which brought them luck…..and maybe a dedicated TV show as well, but that’s another story.
For now, enjoy the programme and do let me know what you think. It wont be perfect, nothing ever is, but theres a lot of blood, sweat and tears both shown and spared to make the 2010 Britcar 24 hour
Regards,
Ben Constanduros
Toucing on the perimeter roads being closed. I found a novel way around that. I was staying in the White Rabbit campsite and someone had conveniently cut open the fence at the far end, which was conveniently past the roadblock, meaning I could advance further round the circuit all weekend.
I can't wait till the airing as tis is by far my favourite race meeting of the year. Any chance of it being held more into the summer?
I can't wait till the airing as tis is by far my favourite race meeting of the year. Any chance of it being held more into the summer?
Stuart, Ben's excellent piece above highlights the complexities of what will seem to the viewer to be simply a two-hour programme, and those complexities run through every facet of a racing event, including the time of year that the 24hrs is held. Silverstone have their summer priorities - British GP, Classic Festival, Moto GP - and we must also strive to avoid proximity with other 24hr events - Le Mans, Spa, Nurburgring; events that could dilute public interest, and potentially dilute the entry too, added to which, we also run a championship, and need to time the 24hrs at a point that doesn't disrupt that too much as well.
Getting back to the subject, excellent piece Ben.
Getting back to the subject, excellent piece Ben.
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