UWOL #2: "Hold My Beer & Watch This" By Brian McKay
 

Here we go again:

The garage part of the shoot was great fun hanging out with my son Todd the one wrenching on the engine and his good friend James. I wanted to leave the audio in the garage a tad louder but when I counted the number of beeps required I decided to pass on that idea.

The outdoor portion was a pure nightmare to shoot, cold enough to freeze your....well you know what I mean.

I look forward to any and all comments.

Thanks Brian

Brian,

First of all, you should win hands down for the best film title! I was almost afraid to watch it because it sounds exactly like something one of my friends would say right before they did something very stupid! :)

Good film, you involved the work required in order to get the payoff which was the racing.

I think you should have included the audio with all the beeps because it wouold have fit in so well with your title. :)

I had my own little beep at 1:33 when they were making the turn. That dude on the right end was grabbing some air. :)

Even though it was really cold, it looked like it was allot of fun.

Good job!

I always wanted to ride one of those, have yet to. Great footage and cool intro.

I thought it was a good intro to have the preparation leading to the race. For the first short bit as I watched, I wondered about the theme, but when I saw them lined up and ready to race, it was a good perspective to see the work behind the fun.

Great footage of the race... looked like they were having fun, but maybe you, with your hand frozen to the tripod, slightly less so!

Brian,
your film had a nice pace, though you could have cut down the lenght of some of the close-ups in the garage more!
The race could have been better if you had shoot from more angles. E.g hold your camcorder at ground level and the snowmobile passed by in high speed. I know this could not be done in the race but you could easily done it at the warm up before the race?
Some of your zoomed long shots was not steady, I don't think you used any tripod. A monopod will do to get the shoot more steady.

Overall impression, this was a film with a nice pace, the music suited the action well. You did a good job in the cold Brian!

Not quite what I expected......
 

I was looking for my brother to be starring in your film. Great fun. I kept expecting them to transition into hill climbing with some carnage thrown in.

Randy

This film portrayed aspect of a little known competetive sport, providing all of with insight into the techincal aspects, and the thrilling aspects. From that perspective it succeeds.

Interesting, informative....kept me watching ! Looks like a blast for sure. I'd have liked to see more variety in shots as they look like your shot from the same point, also some of them could have benefited from a tripod.

Your title rocks fella....I laughed when I first saw it listed....:)

Nice piece...on topic :)

Interesting, I do say tho, I was kinda afraid to watch this one due to the title! lol.

Those things sure do look like alot of fun! I would so love to ride one!

I would second what Per said. I think some low angles set were there was little bumps and then zoomed in, so you are out of the way but it looks as if you are right there as they fly over them would have been cool.

~Gabriel

Brian,

I had to chuckle at the title, would fit in here in Saskatchewan. I had thought of shooting sleds but we got hit by the big thaw right on time.

Some of the shots as I recall seemed a bit distant and knowing how fast these modern sleds go it would have been cool to do something to demonstrate that. Perhaps pick up the rear of the sled and rev her up to 70 mph wile filming the speedometer!!

I enjoyed the whole thing and the garage sceene was the best, and yes leave the beeps in!!

Now I've seen your video Brian and I think you've done a great job.
I would have liked to see a scene where the drivers came towards you, though. But maybe it wasn't possible to do in the race.
In nothern part of Norway we have the same kind of scooter-race.

Thanks everyone for the comments. Prior to the outdoor part I spent days watching the weather hoping against hope that the temperature would come up...no luck. The guys and gals (yes) gals doing the racing did all they could for me and even in that short time a few of them froze their faces.

Snow machine racing in Rankin is a huge thing in late May they will host three styles of racing.... Drags, Cross Country and SnoCross and hand out over 100K in prizes. I have some spectacular footage from years gone by....but we all know the rules.

Again thanks for the advice....it will be followed in #3. BTW I'm still downloading and watching the films and as I do I will pass along my comments.

Thanks Brian

Interesting video you have, Brian.
Nice to see how you got those snowmobiles. I know how hard it is when the distance from you is large.
Done that with boat racing myself. So well done!! I like what you made.

Hi Brian:

Nice job! The logistics of shooting in freezing weather, wearing gloves, shooting fast paced video from difficult distances. Amazing you pulled that together the way you did. I like the switch from inside to outside, instead of all outside.

Congrats on a good video! And a great comment by Kevin Railsback about your title.... that should go in as a quote!

Cat Russell
Spike Productions

Brian
When I first seen your title you had my interest. It wasn't what I expected that's for sure. I thought things worked out very well considering the conditions. I've rode these things in minus 30 weather and I know I wouldn't be traveling that fast. In fact I rather not be traveling! One thing that would have been nice would be a pov from the snowmobile on the go. Nice job man!

Gordon Hoffman