Shooting a documentary for 2007 (getting started)

(This was originally posted on January 22nd 2007 in my Myspace blog.... Just getting this new blog location up to date.)

Uh, ok, so I guess I'm jumping into this blog thing. Anyway, thought I'd use this as a way to document my next film project.
My goal is to create a 30 to 60 minute documentary about Motorcycle track days.

Filming starts in April and I will be shooting all the way through 'till September and maybe October. This documentary will cover 10 to 12 separate track days at tracks including: Pacific Raceways (WA), PIR (Portland), Thunder Hill (CA), Miller Motorsports (UT) and maybe Reno Fernley (NV).

The idea behind this project is to educate as well as entertain, including emptying out my bank account entirely. The goal is to create something that riders (from street to track) and non-riders can enjoy. It's not just going to be about bikes flying along at 160mph, there's so much more to track days than this. The comraderie and energy is electric; I want to capture that.

I really have no idea what to expect. I've got about 30% of this film laid out in my head, but the nature of a documentary is you film what happens. There only so much you can plan out. So I just wonder, with all the unknowns added to my inexperience, will this thing just fall flat on its face? Will I fall flat on my face? Ack.

I've got a lot of gear to buy and test out before then. I'm purchasing a new camera for all the off bike shots: Sony HVR-A1U. This camera is capable of shooting HDV 1080i. I will also be running two bullet camera setups for on bike footage. A 'co-rider' will also be running his own bullet cam setup, so I'll have up to three different simultaneous on-bike perspectives.

Here's the final video I created last year. Sort of the impetus behind the 2007 film.




You can see a couple other of my 2006 practice vids if you go to my video's section or just follow that youtube link to my channel.

It's getting late.
Next update I will talk about the soundtrack. Since I want this movie to be legit I need permission and/or licenses for the songs I will be using. This will probably be the hardest part of the whole project…