Just Drift - Willow Springs International Raceway - May 30th 2009

Woke up Friday morning to go to work at 6am ready to get the weekend started. Little did I know that the next opportunity I would have to actually sleep would be 48 HOURS LATER. Normally one wouldn't complain about having a quote "really long weekend", but this was the exception to the rule. Sitting back after it was all said and done, after all the editing was finalized and I can watch the video, I guess it was worth it.

Loaded my friend's car up on my trailer and left Woodland (near Sacramento) around 8 PM. Only 3 hours later than planned. Drove to Salinas, loaded my friends truck and prepped everything for the following day. We got no sleep through the night and left at 4 AM, only an hour later than planned. We drove all morning only to take wrong turns here and there and finally made it to the track at 10 AM, about 2 hours later than planned. This was only the beginning.

As I start to set my Camera up, I realized I had left my tripod at home. Huge let down. I came all this way to forget a very intricate part of my arsenal. I'll now make a check list for future filming so I don't forget anything important. I was now going to have to rely on the top handle that my father and I made, even though when we made it, it was designed to be used with the tripod. I had never shot with it before, but by the end of the day, I had mastered the art of the top handle. Not so much, but I got by ok.

The entire day I shot in PF24 HDV, which would later be converted into 24P. I used Tv mode with the shutter speed at 500. I didn't think to switch it up, I wish I did just to see what looks better/worse. Of course, the project looks better than it does on vimeo, but I think it looks great. Here is the video, please follow to vimeo to view in its highest quality:

Just Drift - Willow Springs International Raceway - May 30th 2009 from Andrew Zaragoza on Vimeo.

I love the "Pleasantville" effect. I just had to try it out. I did not want to over due it, so I figured the intro would be best fitting. I had to adjust some colors, but not much. Only one car looks a little pink-ish as opposed to its red actual color, but I can live with that. I set the White Balance myself at every different angle. I think it vastly improved the color of the shots and made for less headaches when editing in post. If you have any questions, please post them here. Any productive criticism, please post here. I do appreciate every comment I receive, from praise to despise.


Thank you and Enjoy,
Andrew Zaragoza aka "Local Street Hero"