Bonneville on TV

[DallasV]

Good show, Kind of bugged me that they said if Blowfish set the record it would be the fastest doorslammer, along with whole first to be 300. What about Kugel, Legget, McDonald and Pitts, Fields? Oh well guess they can't get all the facts correct. My claim to fame..If you look close after Scott hands Leslie her 2 club hat you can see my arm from the elbow down shaking her hand. I smell emmy for supporting actor.

[RayTheRat]

What part of the show gave you the idea that the "special meet" was included?

DW

This isn't from the show, but it might help:  There was a video crew from the east coast that shot tons of stuff at the Shootout.  I got to know 'em a little bit.  But they're a private outfit, hired by Mike Cook if my sleazy old memory still serves me.  They got kinda "in the way" a bunch (I guess people think that of me and my camera, too, so I shouldn't throw stones) but I think the most interesting part of it was when the lead guy (a Brit) taped a small video camera to the fin on the Speed Demon.  It starts here:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/bsf2008/shootout/demon/part4/080925_0402r8_jpg.html and you can see Ron Main talking to the Brit and then he takes the camera off.  I didn't overhear what they were saying, but it seemed pretty obvious to me.

So I don't know where or when video from the Shootout (or WoS, for that matter) will be shown or made available.  That crew asked me if I'd take some photos of them doin their thing...and every time I caught up with 'em to transfer the images to whatever they had, they were too busy to be bothered with it.  So they never got 'em.

I spose I could create a section on the Shootout pages, but it'd probably be kinda boring.

There were 3 things that struck me about the show. (I just barely finished watching it.)  First, there was so much frikkin repetition...well, I guess that's how Discovery Channel (and maybe others) does things.  How many times can you see the same thing over again before it becomes totally catatonic?   The other thing was their emphasis on the very thing that SCTA-BNI and USFRA have been trying to soft-pedal: crashes, injury and deaths.  Over and over again, they showed several crash clips which (to the great unwashed) could sure give the idea that racing on the salt is like the Saturday night Bombers at the local short track...only 3 times as fast.

As a photographer, I've been asked not to show certain things involving accidents.  And I understand why...so I don't even try to get that type of shot.  Yet those very things seemed to be a high point of the show, particularly the blood inside the roll cage of one of the cars (memory fails me again, I can't remember which car it was.)

Finally, the 5 or 10 second maximum time for any given scene may be fine for those raised on video games, but I don't care for that sort of videography.  Maybe I'm gettin old or sumpthin. 

Yeah, it was nice to see some coverage, but I didn't find it anything to write home about, as we used to say in the military.  Maybe that's why I very rarely watch tv.  I just don't enjoy it.  (So why do I have DirecTV in HD?  So I can watch things like F1 and Le Mans and so on.)

I video taped it for Doug Anderson (Boogie-Woogie) in NY and I'll be sending the tapes off to him.  But I don't think it's gonna stay on my dvr in HD format very long.  I'll wait to see if there are things that I missed and perhaps others picked up on before I delete it.

Frankly, I get more out of seeing peoples' narratives and photos on the web.  I can spend hours doing that, but it takes a concerted effort for me to watch something on the toob...even when I've recorded it and can FF thru the commercials.

Ohhh...a couple more things.  The sound of the motors was missing except for hearing the 881 car fire up...and a coupla seconds of cars leaving the start line.  And the statement that the OSU team had been 'Blackballed.'  I sure didn't get that impression when I talked to the team members.  Besides...the ERC truck is always parked a almost as far from the main pit area as OSU's fuel trailer was. 

Oh, well.  TV is the opiate of the masses...or so said an author/critic named Wes Moore.  I tend to agree.  I'd prefer to get my opiates from books or on the web...or actually out doing something...like being at Speed Week.

I'm putting my firesuit on now, just in case any flames might arise from this post.

RtR
ps.  This is the only shot I got of Leslie Porterfield (and it wasn't intentional.  She'd just walked in front of me as I was panning the camera at the start line:

[Jonny Hotnuts]

DOWN:  

They used film of Jason McVicar's crash (direction reversed)
to illustrate Leslie Porterfield's crash the year before.

I too did not like this. Jasons wreck was a big one and they had good video of it and this is why they likely chose to use the footage but they clearly made it seem as if that was her wrecking. A buddy of mine called to say that it was one hell of a wreck she did......

They could of at least given Jason some cred for as many times as they used the shot.  


Other than that I thought they did a fine job. I would of like to seen some more covrage of po-folks and not big buget outfits but that doesnt mean DC didnt do what they felt was best.

-JH

[thundersalt]

I thought it was a nice show. It is cool to see yourself on TV. I saw myself 3 different times for a total air time of about 1.5 seconds( had to look close and use pause )
Troy, I thought the same thing when they made the $500,000 comment and the stock body doorslammer remark. That car is a long ways from stock body.

[Billy @ AHG]

I'm inclined to agree with Ray, too much time wasted on repetition , however , still fun to watch !    One thing I guess I missed, I was not aware that the Buckeye Bullet, made even one successful run .   Did that happen at speed week or at the private meet ?

[power58]

Thought it was a good show also. Found out why I had to drive so far to see the Bukeye Bullet pit. Didnt Know they Tech guys "Requested them" to be Far
away from the rest of us. I also got to see the 5100 Car I crewed on (1.5 seconds)  Wished they would have shown more of the Old Crow stuff. I thought they shot a lot of footage of the Crow team. The Discovery Channel did capture the sprit of Bonneville in that you always want MORE !!! 

[McRat]

Wow!  I got a speaking part!  Do I have to send a check to the Screen Actors Guild for dues, or will they just bill me?  

Seriously, I liked the show, but ditto on the repetition.  That is common now on documentary style shows.

And technical inaccuracies are also very common if you are a participant.  But the shows are written for the masses, if it was written by (or for) enthusiasts, it would probably be boring as heck for the casual viewer.

[dwarner]

Wayne,

"...seems like the 'special meet' was filmed also..."

DW

[Richard Thomason]

I really enjoyed the show last night but I agree with many of the comments especially the emphasis on the crashes, danger etc. Glad my wife didn't watch it. Would have started a whole new round of "discussions".

[doug odom]

Watched the first 30 minutes. Got sleepy and went to bed.
Was hoping for " On Any Sunday " and got " Days of Thunder "

[Stan Back]

Agree with Ray.  Doug -- the last 30 minutes were just like the first.  Crash scenes repeated over and over.  Records misrepresented.  Shat Rods misleadingly shown while they were discussing race entries.  Over-dramatization.

And I, for one, don't think we need to promote our events in this manner -- we got too many entrants already.

[4-barrel Mike]

Pete Richardson (V4F/VGC #1931) just emailed me:

"FAME...Well my crew got a few seconds of national fame and a good view of Lickety`s door....Later Pete"

Mike

[F104A]

   One thing us guys from the North American Eagle team have figured out, if it bleeds it leads. The more danger and crashes they can portray, the more they will show it. You continually have to ask to edit
the dialogue for accuracy or they will make up their own stuff. We've done several shows for Discovery, National Geographic and CBC and it is really hard to keep the producers from exaggerating or distorting the facts. Keep in mind, these are usually independant producers that put together a show then sell it to Discovery or Nat Geo. They are trying to make money by selling a product to a company that is only interested in making money too. Us racers are the only ones that don't get paid for our performance, no matter how dangerous it is. And thats the way the ball bounces...........Ed

[bvillercr]

Good show, Kind of bugged me that they said if Blowfish set the record it would be the fastest doorslammer, along with whole first to be 300. What about Kugel, Legget, McDonald and Pitts, Fields? Oh well guess they can't get all the facts correct. My claim to fame..If you look close after Scott hands Leslie her 2 club hat you can see my arm from the elbow down shaking her hand. I smell emmy for supporting actor.

Exactly, in Comp Coupe there are three cars that have gone faster than them with records.  One in unblown fuel(Wooden/Carr), and two in BFCC(Track Master car, and Burkland).  Within these cars there are four speeds that are faster than Blowfishs' 286.  Blowfish is a special car and should go faster than it did, but the arogance of the builder is hard to ignore.

[caesar]

Hi All-

Thanks so much for the all the great feedback- positive and negative.  Producing a show is like a great Bonneville machine- always a work in progress.  And while you constantly struggle with power vs. traction, we wrestle with striking a tone that appeals to both the salt diehards and the masses.  Repetition isn't something we love to do as filmmakers either but is an unfortunate cable necessity in the world of 300 channels, TIVO, etc.  If you flip to the show 25 minutes in, we need to bring you up to speed (pun intended) so you will stay. 

I'd like to thank all of the racers, SCTA, crew and fans for the amazing hospitality they extended to our crew and at this year's Speed Week. We'd also like to personally thank the Kugels, Ron Main, and the Old Crow Team.  We had some great storylines and coverage of Jerilyn's first run, the Speed Demon, and Bobby and his team- unfortunately we only had 43 minutes of final showtime to work with.   

I would like to address Ed's comment- nobody gets into non-fiction production for money, like building a car its the opportunity to create.  If it was about money we'd all have found different careers.  We've actually spoken in the past, I am sorry you have had an unfavorable experience with another production team, but that's an unfortunate generalization. 

For the record, I am hooked as a land speed fan.  This was my 3rd trip to the salts, maybe some day I can scrape up enough cash and find some time to actually build something, bring it out and race it. 

Dan