Dream Job #1
by Andrew JohnsonI officially started iMed Design in 2002. It’s always nice to have that first big project in the hopper from a great client that will help finance the beginning of the business. It’s even better when that first big project combines all of your loves - in this case, cars.
I was hired to produce the video portions of Kodak’s NASCAR Racing team’s interactive media guide for 2003. The CD would contain owner, driver and team stats, schedules, car stats, etc., and video interviews and behind the scenes videos of the operation of Morgan-McClure Racing (the Kodak team at that time). The original shoot was to take place entirely at MM. We had full access to all areas of the shop - chassis and body building; engine building and dyno, full car dyno and paint. That, in and of itself, was incredible to a motorhead like me. The only downside was that I broke off a tooth at the root the first day of the shoot. I lived on Ambesol. Note to self: always carry Ambesol and Gum wax in the camera kit from now on.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get all the shots we wanted. Mike Skinner, their driver at the time and who was great with us, pretty much invited us all down to Daytona for Speed Week to get the rest of the shots we needed. “Is that OK with you?” he asked. Yeah, sure - I saw it as a chance to get the proper assets for the project. My producer and production crewmember - both huge NASCAR fans I found out - were like deer in the headlights of a truck full of candy, cash and beer. I probably could have gotten away without paying the crew just to tag along!
So we get to Daytona. All-access access - track, stands, towers, pits, garage… It was incredible! Our job bascially consisted of getting footage of the Kodak car out on the track during testing, which only occurred a few times a day. The remaining time was spent waiting for Mike to go on the track and get b-roll. And that meant traipsing through the garages, up close and personal with the icons of the sport and their cars/teams (and by up close, I mean under the hood!). My partners got whiplash from turning this way and that. A few times they even disappeared for a while. I didn’t ask questions. For two days we were in motorhead heaven and “working” in places that few race fans get to see.
The funny thing about the new digital production equipment - the quality is fantastic while the size of the cameras have shrunk exponentially. At the time, digital video was just making its inroads into the professional ranks and the cameras were much smaller than the ubiquitous Betcam shoulder cams. I was experiencing a bit a camera envy, standing alongside the shooters from ESPN and Speed. But when the notoriously wonky owners (amplified because of Speed Week) got nervous about trade secrets and kicked all media out, I was able to stay in the garages because I seemed harmless with my little camera. I got the shots I needed.
So the combination of a unique project (NASCAR), a great love (cars), creative freedom and someone to pay for it (the client) made it a dream job.
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