Tag Archives: car reviews

Old dog, new (vid) tricks

2016-05-31 15.14.34

In this brave new world of multimedia, having additional strings in your bow is a pretty important trait. Admittedly, most of these traits I’ve not so much acquired so much as they have been bodged up in a panicked moment of requirement, so improving them where opportunity presents is a given.

I’m a late starter in the world of video – I only recorded my first proper piece to camera four or five years ago. I’m here to tell you it ain’t easy! To wit; this caravan review from 2012. Cringe alert… it’s flatter than a flat thing that’s been flattened by something very heavy.

I’ve slowly improved over time, though, by recording more vids and by watching the great work of others. I’ve also dabbled in the black art of editing my own vision, which is time consuming but particularly rewarding.

Today, I was lucky enough to join a class with my new (slash old) colleagues at Carsguide at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School run by famed Australian journalist Tracey Spicer, learning the finer points of video composition and execution.

Intonation, hand positions, dramatic arcs… it was an eye-opening day for this vid rookie. With Carsguide really ramping up its video content output, I’m really looking forward to taking my new-found skills in a non-Ricky Bobby way…

 

The festive season…

Manic – that’s a way to describe the last few weeks. Jobs for a host of clients, including Outdoor, GoAuto, Top Gear, Motor, Evo and others in places as varied as Goulburn, Tasmania, Spain and Thredbo kept me absolutely on the limiter right up to the beginning of this week.

Corralling two awesome cars and one Stig for a Top Gear vid at Goulburn proved awesome fun; a huge thanks to my good friend John Boston at trackschool.com.au for his help with that one!

stig

Next was a quick dash to Tassie to drive a range of Renault Sports. Mmm, Sports… You’ll see that story in the next issue of Evo Australia magazine.

clio

Then a dash to Thredbo, NSW, to climb to the top of Australia – before riding back down! A great weekend with the crew from Thredbo Resort and ace shooter Mark Watson of Incite Images for Australian Geographic/Outdoor magazine.

maxtrdebo

Finally, a mad-cap dash to Valencia, Spain, to drive Volkswagen’s new Polo GTI for a variety of Aussie auto outlets, including Top Gear and GoAuto. We were on the ground in Spain for exactly 25 hours…

wingtip spain

pologti

Then home, a quick day at the V8 Supercar races with Volvo, a dash to Melbourne to drive a Ford Kuga, and finally I’m looking down the barrel of my last official gig for 2014 – a drive of Mitsubishi’s Safari Rally Outlander PHEV.

mitsubishi-outlander-phev-safari-(4)

It’s been crazy, it’s been tough in spots, but it’s been rewarding and exciting. Ain’t no one else in charge of 032Media’s destiny, and I’m genuinely thrilled at the outcomes we’re achieving. There’s loads more to come, though – this game is all about the hustle!