The Real Thing from Public Record on Vimeo.

I could easily rhyme off a dozen reasons why I find this short documentary attractive. It’s one of those when-worlds-collide moments for me, having spent much of my teens and early twenties in the automotive industry.

Director & DP Julian King provides breathtaking images as a custom car builder applies his craft to an old Boss Mustang. As far as the story line, I’m drawn by how the project was inspired by a defining and influential memory from the builder’s past – Andretti’s devotion to this particular engine. It reflects the spark that I look into my past and find, one that’s knee deep in bearing grease and gear ratios.

When I first watched this, I remember being struck by the use of simple monitors within the shop room setting displaying images of film that likely wouldn’t match up well with the style in which the docu-short was shot. By displaying it on a monitor, the viewer is kept within the realm created by the camera – colour tones, dynamic range and depth of field. It’s a style I used when shooting Unfinished Business.

When I watch it back now, it’s the shots captured by an unmanned camera – affixed the the car’s bumper covers or just outside the passenger window – that catch my attention. I like seeing the open road, unobstructed by a windshield or dash. I’m really attracted to the lead / chase cam, shot from the hood or trunk of a second car. I don’t know if there’s a project in my near future that will allow me to apply these techniques, but I’m sure as hell going to try to find one.

-C-