Hamish Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 The idea for this topic thread came out of postings on another thread. as some of you may know my Dad ( who died in October 2018) raced cars and made films as hobbies the filming was semi professional on top of his day job as a PR executive. i have most of his films and have just started to convert them so I can share them on YouTube. all his films were filmed with a 16mm Bolex clockwork cameras in colour film and post filming sound. All of which was ground breaking for an amateur. i hope you enjoy his period films. please feel free to add your own contributions as this is a friendly group with a common interest in old cars and things. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hamish Posted August 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 A Taste Of Vintage 1960 vintage car racing mainly at oulton park . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bluestone Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 Simply captivating, a visual feast, informative commentary .......and those slow mo' shots ! Wow ! Thanks for sharing this incredible production Hamish. Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
foster461 Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 That is pretty remarkable Hamish. So the video was captured separate from the audio and somehow synched up ? The commentary was really well done, love the humor. I wonder if that Rolls recovery vehicle survived.. Stan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DavidBee Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, foster461 said: That is pretty remarkable Hamish. So the video was captured separate from the audio and somehow synched up ? The commentary was really well done, love the humor. I wonder if that Rolls recovery vehicle survived.. Stan Hamish's dad must have had a mic with a tape recorder, then took the recording on reel to a film lab where they turned the magnetic audio tape into an sound "track" and combined mechanically with 16mm footage, then the edit done on a Moviola or a Steenberg. (There had to be extra space to accomodate the sound track.) 16mm is half with of 35mm, so quite fiddly to make a cut and join. (They used a glue "cement".) The glue method was superceded by adhesive tape when they discovered it worked. Then a positive was made all in one piece. Something like that. Until a Pole invented the Nagra recorder which was plugged into the cine-camera. This was around 1959. It took a while for the synchronized cine-camera to be available off the shelf. Edited August 13, 2020 by DavidBee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hamish Posted August 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 (edited) Hi stan the film was shot sent away to be developed. when it came back dad would go through it all and physically cut the film and splice it all together. Then the sound was added. this sound recording wasn’t necessarily what was recorded at the event. Dad sometimes recorded his road cars ( with and without exhaust as needed) and on one occasion when there was a bit of a bump- he and his mates involved in making the films threw some bins around. i struggle with digital editing. he literally had hundreds of yards of film cut to length and pinned in order on wooden poles in a little box room. some of his annual club films were shown to a few thousand people at a London Leicester Square cinema as an end of year midnight showing and as David said. The film was cut between frames. The emulsion coating scrapped off each end to be joined so the glue would stick. I did some of this in the ‘70’s but probably on just waste. Edited August 13, 2020 by Hamish Added after David’s insight Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jerrytr5 Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 Terrific stuff Hamish, so that's what people were doing when I was born ! Keep 'em coming, what a great archive. Jerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DavidBee Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 Totally agree with Deggers, your example is also excellent. The addition of a third track for (intriguing, well chosen) instrumental music finishes it off (so you have action sound, voiceover and instrumental) I think opening and closing frames definitely helps shift from video to film short. I was thinking this over, and asking myself, what is it exactly, that I find really motivating and shareable? The shift is a shift in thinking the moving image. What I mean by that is the difference between snapshot and cinematic shot, the shot, the SHOT! You see it, you visualize it, you make it "happen". (That's what H's dad did). In my opinion, ehen you decide to film, instead of doing video, you allow yourself the luxury of creative freedom which allows you to express yourself more, further, more subtly. The voiceover in Degger's example sidesteps pomposity, while making these heady statements about driving a vintage motorcar. Excellent script, carefully worded, succinct. How many shots? I didn't count them, but more than one would have imagined. The cuts are straight cuts, no dissolves, and yet there is no lack of continuity, of flow. That's where basic storyboarding helps. You figure out your sequencing. An awful lot is going on with the XK120, and yet it is all done in little over two minutes. It's condensed, for sure. But, to all intents and purposes, this is a short film, not a vid. I think we are all so automatically overwhelmed by Hollywood, or should I say intimidated by its fun and games that we don't realize it has appropriated filmmaking. But no. "You can do your own thing", guerilla filmmaking, it's called, or zero-budget filmmaking, and many people do, just for fun. Once you get your head round it, you begin to realize what you can do. And a lot of watching helps, to get a taste of how expressive the cinematic image can be, moving, both literally and allegorically. In the other thread, about still photography, there are many suggestions touching on the art of photography. About considering what is in the frame, about ehat you don't want in it, about finding a better shot, a better camera angle, or location. Considering lighting, unwanted reflections on the bodywork, for example. Even a phone camera may offer a choice of settings. All this is what makes the difference between shot and snapshot, between "video-ing" and filmmaking. Thanks to digital filmmaking, there is no need to buy expensive celluloid these days nor (cheaper) videotape. You can even find stock, copyright-free, music and sounds! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2long Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 Thank you Hamish! A wonderful glimpse and it looks so much fun! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peter V W Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 Great film Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DavidBee Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 (edited) "As the exhaust notes fade and the crowd goes home, we end another Oulton Park weekend and another vintage year..." Truly remarkable, Hamish! Can't wait to watch more. Such a revealing document of very British eccentrics, and their silent passion for vintage cars. So many memorable candid shots of ordinary (?) people, as if 1960 were now, and there was all the time in the world, and no immediate rush. Tinkering with engines between races, Sid Day screwing the accelerator to the floor, someone "happily at work rebuilding the engine of a Delage", Clifford "developing every mechanical fault known to Man". Lots of double-barreled folk, Crowley-Milling's 2.9 Alfa; the crowd scenes in the sunshine, a driver plugging an oil breather with a rag, the sight of Jim Berry's Bugatti billowing fumes, Shellenberg's Bentley win, action sequences, not to mention the sound of those roaring engines! And the size of some of them! Did I hear 12 litres? Bigger still? Cars even younger than ours now, by comparison. The sound of an ERA double-declutching on an uphill bend, the "Austin Brigade", Austin Seven Ulsters (I think), the close ups of drivers taking off, the young couple, he is wearing checked tweeds, his arm gently laced over his partner's shoulders to the camera, rolled up sleeves. The discreet commentary in a slightly clipped accent, a driver "joining the Rotary Club", as his car goes into a spin, another competitor, at one minute to go, is pumping up fuel pressure, and "a nice bit of machinery under that bonnet", is the comment as a young girl walks past wearing a straw hat, the Jazz, still very fashionable. All this. No, more. Edited August 13, 2020 by DavidBee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TR8IAN Posted August 14, 2020 Report Share Posted August 14, 2020 Brilliant, thanks would like to see more. Cheers Ian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted August 14, 2020 Report Share Posted August 14, 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3QD4ua0tWg&t=49s Apologies to those who have seen this before, 1970's cine film (Standard 8) at Denham Airfield (Fairthorp SCC autotest meet), Goodwood 1976 "Practice day (I am in car 46), and Donnington Park IWE same year. Can't match the quality of Hamish's film !! Bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hamish Posted August 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2020 Great film Bob the reversing in the cones looks very tricky H Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DavidBee Posted August 14, 2020 Report Share Posted August 14, 2020 Super8 has its charm. A warmness about it. Thanks Bob! A very cool lady towards the end was doing very nifty manouvering and reversing — the best? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DavidBee Posted August 14, 2020 Report Share Posted August 14, 2020 (edited) I came across this short just now. Cross-cutting between the owner of a Triumph Spitfire and two club members helping her out. Doesn't matter about camera shake at one point, or the (to me) silly bandana one of the guys is wearing. Edited August 14, 2020 by DavidBee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rodbr Posted August 14, 2020 Report Share Posted August 14, 2020 Hi hamish, My sincere thanks to you for this amazing historical production which brought back distant memories as child being dragged round the paddock at VSCC meetings weekend after weekend. At that time the public access was nowhere as restricted as now but My father was a VSCC member so all was good. I don't remember the detail as I was only 6 or 7. But memory of the hot oil smell and atmosphere brought back wonderful memories of my dad who passed not that long ago. I appreciate all the hard work you have done to bring this to life for further generations. i have seen car roll and the driver chucked out and they walked away . I loved the idea of the Alta being worked on by headlights. i noticed the cam timing being done with a somewhat puzzled look. Twin cams set in a field Cudos!!!! Rod Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie D Posted August 14, 2020 Report Share Posted August 14, 2020 4 hours ago, DavidBee said: ...the (to me) silly bandana one of the guys is wearing... As you have said before, everything in a shot should be there for a reason. Possibly (certainly) he is wearing that “Silly bandana” to stop the sweat from his bald head flowing into his eyes. (Looking at his tee shirt he is certainly no Prince Andrew.) Maybe he didn’t have time to select his best designer bandana before he was being filmed, but at least he was able to keep his eyes open while he was working on the car. Sometimes practicality has to come in front of art. Charlie. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted August 14, 2020 Report Share Posted August 14, 2020 4 hours ago, DavidBee said: Standard 8 has its charm. A warmness about it. Thanks Bob! A very cool lady towards the end was doing very nifty manouvering and reversing — the best? That cool lady was my wife ! Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DavidBee Posted August 14, 2020 Report Share Posted August 14, 2020 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Lebro said: That cool lady was my wife ! Bob. WOW! What a skilful driver! The guy before ended up off the track while reversing. Your wife was fast and veeery impressive! Confident at the wheel. Chapeau! As the French would say... ERRATA CORRIGE: By "Standard 8" I meant Super8! Edited August 14, 2020 by DavidBee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DavidBee Posted August 14, 2020 Report Share Posted August 14, 2020 15 minutes ago, Charlie D said: As you have said before, everything in a shot should be there for a reason. Sometimes practicality has to come in front of art. Ha ha! I agree, how could I not? But even so, the sweaty teeshirts and bandana... these are small details, of course. But distracting nonetheless. And therefore, detracting from what is a very touching initiative. The widow was over the moon. A former (teenage) owner of a TR3, to boot. Perhsps, Charlie, I am too finicky. But wouldn't you want it to be your level best? And taking time over things? I would have used a big hankie myself... No, Charlie, forget what I am saying, I end up trivializing what is, in my opinion, a touching little story, without intending to. Fair play to the Triumph Club for being so thoughtful. Now that, surely, is what counts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 10 hours ago, DavidBee said: WOW! What a skilful driver! The guy before ended up off the track while reversing. Your wife was fast and veeery impressive! Confident at the wheel. Chapeau! As the French would say... ERRATA CORRIGE: By "Standard 8" I meant Super8! "The guy before" (in the same car) was me Your complements have been passed on. Bob. P.S. The film was Standard 8 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hamish Posted August 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2020 Hi this is my Shelsley video also in motorsport section shows the other TR’s in the class and some other paddock shots. together with a trip back down the hill to the paddock that isn’t often shown hope you like it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
brian -r Posted August 18, 2020 Report Share Posted August 18, 2020 Great video, looks tremendous fun and well done to you. Thanks for posting Bri Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stillp Posted August 18, 2020 Report Share Posted August 18, 2020 That car sounds as good as it looks Hamish! Nice driving too. Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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