[jake himes]

What's the best way to get a decent program on Speed that tells the entire story of the rally?

The TV programs from the last few years are basically infomercials, kind of insulting to all involved. Is it that crazy that we could have our rallies covered better, to tell the whole story?

BTW To all those who toiled on the actual program itself: This is not a rip no you guys. Your work has gotten much better. And I love you guys. XOXO

 

[Eric_Anderson]

>What's the best way to get a decent program on Speed that
>tells the entire story of the rally?
>



Money.

Lots of money.

 

[Morison]

>>What's the best way to get a decent program on Speed that
>>tells the entire story of the rally?
>Money.
>Lots of money.

Sigh,
Doing a quality job doesn't have to cost more money, it just takes the commitment to do it and do it right.
Commitment from the field producers to be open and available
Commitment from the competitiors to tell their stories
Commitment from the organisers to help the shooters be wre they need to be
Commitment from the organisers to make sure the story is told to the producers AS IT UNFOLDS

So far, we haven't spent a dime over an above what is being spent right now.

The next part *could* cost money.
The cost of production and airing needs to be underwriten by sponsors/advertisers who buy into the need to tell the REAL story, not their story. (one of the reasons that car racing series should NOT be turining to car manufacturers for title sponsorships)

 

[Greg Donovan]

i wish i could remember the name of the show that i saw last week. my cable guide said something else than what was really on.

it was a "documentary" on speed that followed a few endurance race teams at a race weekend. it even spent time interviewing the pit crew.

this years pikes peak would be a perfect opportunity i think to put together a really good program. even if it is only a self published/produced dvd it would pretty cool and a step in the right direction.

greg

 

[joeg]

>What's the best way to get a decent program on Speed that
>tells the entire story of the rally?

Contact the TV/ Video producers of the various rallies in the UK and they will show you how it is done.

 

[jandreini]

Take all your money out of the bank. Mortgage your house. Sell your cars(and all your other possessions). Hire a production crew to make the program. Then pay Speed to run it.

 

[randyzimmer]

RE: TV coverage

The reason SCCA needed to pay was to get the day/time slots they wanted. Rally is popular with Speed viewers so a decent show would probably make it on sometime, like the ATV races yesterday or the 12hrs of the Point show.
It was talked about on another thread, more digicam footage and a good editor may have a chance to get a good story out there.
There could be a video school for spectators like the rookie school before the event to go over the basics and then see what comes back.
rz

 

[rightseat]

RE: TV coverage

The main reason current US rally coverage lacks oomph and a human connection is precisely because it lacks a human connection.

Fans want (and need) to see more than the top few cars blasting past. They want to hear what it's like to run a rally, see what it's like, feel the stress and the dirt and the heat and what it's like to change tires out on a hot stage and try to bandaid a banged-up car together long enough to finish.. They want to hear what other fans think and want to get out of watching live rally. They don't want to hear hype...rally is so exciting you don't NEED to rely on hype (hint hint, SCCA & Speed TV)

Speed TV is relying too much on the onboard footage from front-runners. We see what Higgins/Lagemann/ONeil are seeing, but have NO IDEA what they are thinking, feeling, or actually experiencing. It's too sanitized, with the rough edges of the experience polished off in an effort to portray rallysport in a positive light.

People don't watch TV to see stories about cars. They watch to see stories about OTHER PEOPLE racing cars. This is a crucial difference. Once a production crew manages this transition with US rally coverage, many good things will happen. Broadcasters know this difference--once they see stories that will work, they won't be charging for air time...you'd acutally get some production funding.

The key is to have rally people and TV professionals work together. Even better would be to have rally people who actually ARE TV professionals direct the coverage. This has been done in other sports, I know, I've done it and had 100+ programs aired on national TV.

Cheers,
Dave G
LDR Co-Pilote (and TV producer in a Former Life)

"...Embrace loose gravel, beware big trees..."

 

[jeff burmeister]

RE: TV coverage

Dave

Nice points and they are what is needed in U.S. Rally coverage, But.....

How do you capture this on tape? How do you tear a driver away from their 45 minutes of service to 'get the drama' when they are short crew and need repairs? Or when there are 18 teams willing to talk, but they are so spread out across the service area that after speaking with just 3 teams the service is over?

Also, how do you convince teams to show up another day early so that you can get the time to get that personalized inside scoop on what is going on prior to the event. And same question as to how can you get that team to stay in town to do post event reactions, or even post retirement interviews when their only concern is getting the car out of the wood and getting it back home as soon as possible. (or getting into a bar, which we all know is my personal favorite)

I absolutely agree with you on all of you points, that _is_ what the TV show needs, but that requires some buy in from the competitors that are willing to be there to do this. But that is just my oppionion and I could be completely wrong.

Jeff Burmeister
SpecialStage.com LLC
The North American Rally Resource,
and Former SPEED associate Producer.

edit for spelling.

 

[mattjohnston]

RE: TV coverage

If someone asks me, I'd be glad to show up early, leave late, and I'll even find YOU in the service area

 

[Morison]

RE: TV coverage

>How do you capture this on tape? How do you tear a driver
>away from their 45 minutes of service to 'get the drama'
>when they are short crew and need repairs?

How often do you sit outside of the service time control or outside the time control for the first stage after sertvice?

>Also, how do you convince teams to show up another day early
>so that you can get the time to get that personalized inside
>scoop on what is going on prior to the event. And same
>question as to how can you get that team to stay in town to
>do post event reactions, or even post retirement interviews
>when their only concern is getting the car out of the wood
>and getting it back home as soon as possible.

Most championship REQUIRE cooperation with the 'official' producers with stiff penalties for non-compliance. Beyond that, there are many MANY places to catch up witha team to get the info during the normal course of happenings (have yuo evenr had a tech that you weren't sitting around at?)

>...that requires some buy in from
>the competitors that are willing to be there to do this.

Absolutely ... and it is an easy buy in.

 

[Doug Woods]

RE: TV coverage

The television coverage of the Tall Pines this year had some interesting little pieces that had not shown up in previous coverage. For example, Frank Sprongl talking to Brian Maxwell during a transit section on what he thought Tom McGeer was doing and how it affected the rally strategy. Or, Howard Davies covered in mud from toe to head (that is how the camera panned him, and no, it was not a wide angle lens ) explaining their off and getting stuck in the mud.

Doug Woods

 

[Morison]

RE: TV coverage

Doug,
the Pines show was a good one, and I just finished watcching Rocky for the first time last night and it had some great stories as well. BUT as a rule even the cars shows focus too much on the top runers and forget the production classes and other battles. Even at pines, the Comens / walkington battle was only a mention and a brief interview ... p3 spreading 3 cars across two seconds!!!!

The thing is, doing media RIGHT isn't that hard.

 

[jake himes]

Canadian coverage rocks

Good feedback so far guys.

A couple of points...

A team like mine might not be what the producers of whatever show are after but I would be available almost anytime I'm not in the car to offer whatever info a producer might like. I am sure there are others who could do this as well.

Jeff, I understand you guys have really been on the move gathering footage over the last few years. What is holding you guys back from getting more help. We are a tech oriented bunch and judging from all the photogs out ther I would guess that there might be interest in assisting whomever is putting together an interesting program about the whole rally. What do you think would be needed to get more cameras in the woods and at services? Were you limited on manpower before?

Finally, I really like what I have seen from the Canadian programs. What is stopping us from having a program like theirs?

 

[Trevor Donison]

>BTW To all those who toiled on the actual program itself:
>This is not a rip no you guys. Your work has gotten much
>better. And I love you guys. XOXO

Year end wrapup including all classes would be nice. That didn't happen this year.

 

[tom grossmann]

OK I'm going to get flamed for this one - Do you think anyone who watches WRC on speed cares to see anything but front running cars. We would love to see Grp N and Super 1600 but... We are Rallyists NOT RALLY "FANS" , there is a huge differance between racers and race fans. I would love to see more stories about Production drivers and battles but frankly at this point I'm glad there is any coverage. As far as the quality of the shows , well I can tell you from people in the Las Vegas Region of SCCA who know nothing of Rally - they enjoyed the shows immensly and never once commented about the show being a one hour Mitsu-beru Reserve commercial.I had three people who would have never come to a rally event but because they saw those infomercials they came and worked our Rallysprint. On a final note when I went to Rim in 1995 RPM Or Speedweek showed 4 seconds of the event. So our coverage has come a hell of a long way. So what if SCCA whored themselves to Subebishi , I think there are some very constructive suggestions here for the shows but.......please can we stop slaming the coverage as infomercials and be happy we get some airtime vs. 4 seconds of coverage twice a year when Baseball 2 Night doesn't have a rerun availible.

Tom Grossmann

 

[FMF]

RE: TV coverage

>Dave
>
>Nice points and they are what is needed in U.S. Rally
>coverage, But.....
>
>How do you capture this on tape? How do you tear a driver
>away from their 45 minutes of service to 'get the drama'
>when they are short crew and need repairs? Or when there are
>18 teams willing to talk, but they are so spread out across
>the service area that after speaking with just 3 teams the
>service is over?
>
>Also, how do you convince teams to show up another day early
>so that you can get the time to get that personalized inside
>scoop on what is going on prior to the event. And same
>question as to how can you get that team to stay in town to
>do post event reactions, or even post retirement interviews
>when their only concern is getting the car out of the wood
>and getting it back home as soon as possible. (or getting
>into a bar, which we all know is my personal favorite)
>
Speed has done all of the above they just never air it! Think of all the time you spend standing around in park expose waiting that you would be willing to talk to someone. Or taking a 5 min break from digging your car out of the woods to talk to the Speed camera guy on his way out of the stage. I think maybe a bigger problem is the quality of the interview on behalf of the interviewer and the person being interviewed. They ask a stupid question quickly or a really broad question because they are in a hurry, rock you back on your heals and you answer sort of like what the hell and then they are gone. It doesn?t make for good TV and the people putting the show together later realize it and leave it out. Countless times this has happened and Buffum and the Higgens brothers have enough poise in front of the camera to make up for it but even they sort of pause and almost ignore the question. There has to be a middle ground somewhere, yes drivers need to get better and that comes with practice, but interviewers need to be clued in enough to ask good questions not just ?what happened? which easily turns into more than the sound bite they were looking for.

 

[JC_595]

We are already in progress!!!!

There are some of us organizing an effort for "Rally TV" at SnoDrift.

I am(believe it or not) in the midst of writing a summary on this exact topic for all competitors to help us with.

We will be doing something more along the lines of "American Chopper" or Life in the ER", where we get EVERYONE's stories & focus on the rally scene, not the factory teams only. Lurch is on board & we will be filming the pilot episode at S*D.

PLEASE email me offline to discuss how to be involved if you are a competitor or worker.
Thanx!

JC
#595
www.gnimotorsports.com

 

[tom grossmann]

Up front let me say thank you for your efforts the more rally on TV the better , regardless of the format.

Tom

 

[J Cox]

You could call it "The Blair Ditch Project"



Jim Cox
#558



>We are already in progress!!!!
>
>There are some of us organizing an effort for "Rally TV" at
>SnoDrift.
>
>JC
>#595
>www.gnimotorsports.com