IRELAND | THE HOME OF DRIFTING

Client: Velo on behalf of 20ten Creative

Project: Off Grid with Archie Hamilton

Location: Dublin, Ireland

Deliverables:

• 1 x 18-min hero episode

• 1 x 45-sec trailer in 16:9 and 4:5

• 1 x full lap run through

• Collection of high-resolution screengrabs

Dead Pixel did:

• Organising crew and travel

• Filming

• Directing

• Editing

• Grading

Quote of the Shoot:

“I hit the corner so fast that Ryan Reynolds forgot his lines”

James Deane

World Drifting Champion

Pre-Production

We knew that filming was to take place just outside Dublin, Ireland on a private race track named Mondello Park. We cross-checked travel options and it worked out more cost-effective for us to take our own vehicle on the ferry from Manchester to North Wales, then over the Irish sea Vs flying. (Kieran’s stomach still hasn’t forgiven him).

Prior to filming, we discussed the details of the events and what our friends at 20Ten had planned for Archie. Getting to grips with how the lessons and racing would play out allowed us to ensure we had the right equipment and ideas to capture the best content and not miss a moment (e.g. camera positions on track and GoPro wheel coverage for specific takes).

We also discussed the expectations of our local FPV drone pilot and had multiple production calls to ensure filming on the ground went as smoothly as possible across a jam-packed day of action.

Production

Day 1. We packed our bags and drove from Manchester to North Wales to catch the ferry. We landed in Dublin and drove to meet the agency and talent.

We filmed the opening sequence where Archie meets Becky and James at a friend’s garage. We covered this segment using two Sony FS7 rigs and an FPV drone, offering up direction to control the narrative and produce engaging content. Once the sun set, we moved on to a typical Irish pub to learn all about the sport of drifting and why it was so big in Ireland (and try a Guinness, obviously). This would be the opening 8 minutes of the hero episode and helped set the scene, educate the audience on drifting and tee’d up the following day’s activity.

Day 2. Learning to drift - Archie can pull a few donuts but has never been in a customised drift car before. We started in the paddock and had multiple in-car cameras rigged to capture his struggles as he developed his drifting skills throughout day, along with wide coverage from our FS7s and overhead drone. Once he got the sign off from Becky and James, it was over to the track to put it all into practice.

We finished the track day with a lead & chase segment. This is how drifting judges score competitions and the aim of the game is to drift in tandem with another vehicle, getting as close to (sometimes touching) the other car as possible. It’s safe to say that these kinds of moves are not for the faint-hearted and these drivers have to be as precise as you can get.

Post-Production

The 18-minute long episode featured 8 cameras, 5 audio feeds and the data to go prove it after two non-stop days of filming.

The editing process took two weeks from start to finish by our in-house team. That’s including piecing together a story from all of the events that unfolded and sifting through the hours of footage to find the best frames, to cutting the full edit (and trailer) with bespoke sound design and grading.

Some kind words from the fans of the Velo Global Youtube Channel…

“This content is f*cking mega. Honestly, one of the best vids I've seen in a long time. Well done all”

View the full series here:

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