OTHER: Ferrari 288 GTO for Petrolicious

macgregor

macgregor

Veteran
My latest video for Petrolicious is out. This is for a new series called Morning coffee. 2 man crew and many many hours to finish it with little to no budget.
Sony a7r2 and a6300.


 
That looks like a lot of fun! Great work as always!

Will you do an F40? Or even better, the original 250 Test Rossa?
 
Mac,

Have you done other episodes, or just the two so far?

Edit: Just checked your site. I forgot about the Esprit video ;)
 
When I see a product exposition, especially for an expensive product like a car, especially for an expensive car like a Ferrari - I am looking to be surprised. I am looking for wit. I am looking for the signs of a working intelligence. An unexpected reaction. Otherwise it's boring. Especially if you can't identify what it is that makes this differ from a million others along the same lines. I know a Ferrari is fast. I expect it. Tell me something surprising. Tell me something I don't know. Or show me something that touches my emotions in a way I didn't expect.

So many such pieces make the product itself do all the work. Get a Ferrari - show it, duh, it's a Ferrari. The Ferrari has an inherent charge - as does a lion, the Eiffel Tower, a Rolls Royce and the Golden Gate Bridge. Can you show me something that exceeds the charge of already inherent in those iconic objects? Or is your role to merely rent that object and make it do all the work? If so, then all you show is that you are able to rent. Not much art in that. Anybody can stick a Ferrari on the road and race it. The Ferrari is doing all the work - and the creator who is showcasing it, is doing nothing.

When I see a Ferrari, I am already primed to see it race. And I'm already bored by that prospect. That's the challenge for the creative team. Sweep the viewer - pivot them. You are facing a challenge - how am I going to get around expectations and the fact that we've seen this a million times before? List of cliches, in no particular order, associated with a Ferrari: beautiful girls, cool guy with sunglasses, racing along a winding road, swirling leaves and dust clouds in the wake, rubber burns, sunlight gleaming off the bodywork, a foot out the door - in a handsome italian leather shoe, and on and on. I see a Ferrari. I don't want to see any associated cliche - or if there is one, I want a clever, witty take on it. Surprise me. Make me smile. Make me gasp. Make me anything, but bored.

Watching pieces like this is like going to an amusement park. You walk in, and there are two tents, one on the left, one on the right. Each has a tout inviting people to come into their tent. You already know each tent has a lion cage in it, with a lion. So you have certain expectations. The guy on the left says: "You'll see a lion. A lion. A lion. No surprises, if you've ever seen a lion before. That's all you're getting. A lion." The guy on the right says: "Sure you're getting a lion. But our lion - you'll see it in a way you've never seen a lion before. You know what a lion looks like - but this, this is a lion seen in a completely different way". Which tent do you think most people would choose?

There's a premium on people's time, attention span and eyeballs. When you deliver a piece that is competitive, that lures one in, that rewards, that's a channel that wins viewers. Give us more than we expect. Or see us drift away.

Technical competence. Unless it's off-the charts amazing, nobody cares. Technical competence only matters when it is absent - because that's when it gets noticed. One gets no points for merely being competent. Is my piece off-the-charts amazing? No? That's OK - as long as it's competent, that's just fine - but don't bring it up as a point in your favor. Nobody puts on their resume - "I wear pants to work" - we expect that... the only time we'd raise an eyebrow is if you turned up without pants. Unless your pants are amazing, don't mention them. We already expect you to wear pants - it's not a point in your favor.

Of course, I'm talking in general, not aiming at this piece in particular - just thoughts about similar pieces.
 
I'm inclined to roll my eyes at super cool people and their super cool cars, but thought the edit and sound mix deserve praise. Well done.
 
OldCorpse said:
When I see a product exposition, especially for an expensive product like a car, especially for an expensive car like a Ferrari - I am looking to be surprised. I am looking for wit. I am looking for the signs of a working intelligence. An unexpected reaction. Otherwise it's boring. Especially if you can't identify what it is that makes this differ from a million others along the same lines. I know a Ferrari is fast. I expect it. Tell me something surprising. Tell me something I don't know. Or show me something that touches my emotions in a way I didn't expect.

So many such pieces make the product itself do all the work. Get a Ferrari - show it, duh, it's a Ferrari. The Ferrari has an inherent charge - as does a lion, the Eiffel Tower, a Rolls Royce and the Golden Gate Bridge. Can you show me something that exceeds the charge of already inherent in those iconic objects? Or is your role to merely rent that object and make it do all the work? If so, then all you show is that you are able to rent. Not much art in that. Anybody can stick a Ferrari on the road and race it. The Ferrari is doing all the work - and the creator who is showcasing it, is doing nothing.

When I see a Ferrari, I am already primed to see it race. And I'm already bored by that prospect. That's the challenge for the creative team. Sweep the viewer - pivot them. You are facing a challenge - how am I going to get around expectations and the fact that we've seen this a million times before? List of cliches, in no particular order, associated with a Ferrari: beautiful girls, cool guy with sunglasses, racing along a winding road, swirling leaves and dust clouds in the wake, rubber burns, sunlight gleaming off the bodywork, a foot out the door - in a handsome italian leather shoe, and on and on. I see a Ferrari. I don't want to see any associated cliche - or if there is one, I want a clever, witty take on it. Surprise me. Make me smile. Make me gasp. Make me anything, but bored.

Watching pieces like this is like going to an amusement park. You walk in, and there are two tents, one on the left, one on the right. Each has a tout inviting people to come into their tent. You already know each tent has a lion cage in it, with a lion. So you have certain expectations. The guy on the left says: "You'll see a lion. A lion. A lion. No surprises, if you've ever seen a lion before. That's all you're getting. A lion." The guy on the right says: "Sure you're getting a lion. But our lion - you'll see it in a way you've never seen a lion before. You know what a lion looks like - but this, this is a lion seen in a completely different way". Which tent do you think most people would choose?

There's a premium on people's time, attention span and eyeballs. When you deliver a piece that is competitive, that lures one in, that rewards, that's a channel that wins viewers. Give us more than we expect. Or see us drift away.

Technical competence. Unless it's off-the charts amazing, nobody cares. Technical competence only matters when it is absent - because that's when it gets noticed. One gets no points for merely being competent. Is my piece off-the-charts amazing? No? That's OK - as long as it's competent, that's just fine - but don't bring it up as a point in your favor. Nobody puts on their resume - "I wear pants to work" - we expect that... the only time we'd raise an eyebrow is if you turned up without pants. Unless your pants are amazing, don't mention them. We already expect you to wear pants - it's not a point in your favor.

Of course, I'm talking in general, not aiming at this piece in particular - just thoughts about similar pieces.
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Corpse,

I have been an auto racing fan for many years. I really do see where you are coming from and think there is a lot to be learned from your wisdom stated in the post. Great stuff. But on the other hand, I feel it is quite out of touch with the work shared by Macgregor or the overall modern work environment. To put it bluntly, what you speak of is ultra high budget workflow. The kind of jobs that rarely happen. All too often it is wham bam we only have three hours to complete this...

All due respect but what you would like to see and what is *expected* to be made by the client etc... is most definitely going to be different. To write all of that and then say it does not apply to the work shown is kind of a misdirection. Is Macgregor or anybody for that matter supposed to create ground breaking earth shattering work every time we share something? Even if the budget does not allow? I just think it is an unfair standard to hold folks to when you do not know the circumstances behind the job.

Peace and no ill feelings but just thought I would share that your post kind of read like a criticism of a well made very short piece.
 
I hear you, Bassman, and I hope my post was not taken as an attack. I can see how it may seem like misdirection to say it does not apply to the work here, but I guess I'm saying that in a way that's expressing agreement with the earlier part of your post - I don't know the circumstances behind this work, which is why I was reluctant (and frankly not willing) to have my observations directly apply to this work. After all, if it is indeed "hey, here are the limitations, and we want you to do x, y, and z", and the guys didn't have all the control, it would be kind of high-handed to then critique them for things they had no control over... you do what the client demands and work to those limitations. Basically I should have phrased it better to say: when I see this kind of work with high-end products, my expectations are also pretty high, and that is a general rule, but I don't criticise this particular work, because I don't know what the conditions of work were.

Anyhow, I didn't mean what I said to be in any way negative toward the work here, it was more of a general observation.
 
I think for zero budget the piece is beyond reproach, but I also think OldCorpse's observation applies.

When we go to a restaurant, a concert, a date, a new country, a movie...aren't we all hoping for a "wow, I didn't expect that" element? William Zinsser's excellent "On Writing Well" points out that most every report of the Grand Canyon is insufferable because, wonderful as the canyon is, people tell us exactly what we expect.

As cool and sexy and fast as a Ferrari is, what do your eyes see about it that others haven't? This is what a good showman would ask. And what are we if not showmen?

(p.s. I saw Penn & Teller for the first time last night. These guys have been doing stage magic for forty years and they still pack a large theater nightly. In an era when making a cow disappear should seem like a tired act, people still come and love it. Why? Humor and surprise, humor and surprise...)
 
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All good. Thanks for clarifying. Too bad so much work falls into the lower category than the higher budget category! Although I have to admit that I am pretty easy to please when it comes to race cars and great audio.
 
OldCorpse said:
When I see a product exposition, especially for an expensive product like a car, especially for an expensive car like a Ferrari - I am looking to be surprised. I am looking for wit. I am looking for the signs of a working intelligence. An unexpected reaction. Otherwise it's boring.
Click to expand...

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I think it totally showed OP's vision and showmanship and so forth...really well-done "fast car" piece. As mentioned, the sound design was great and I thought the same for the editing, though it seemed an interesting choice to keep the camera static in the garage, I sort of wanted some camera movement, but when the pace of the editing slams into driving mode the static shots certainly helped accentuate that.
 
charliemcdanger said:
As cool and sexy and fast as a Ferrari is, what do your eyes see about it that others haven't? This is what a good showman would ask. And what are we if not showmen?)
Click to expand...

Depends on what the point behind the production is.

For example.... A shot of the driver getting out of the car from the very uncomfortable Italian driving position. Showing from the interior the limited amount of headroom available. While a bead of sweat rolls down the drivers head shot through the front windshield pulling back to show it's slope and reveal the terrarium like interior. As the driver checks his hair in the side mirror the camera pulls back once more to show the back of his shirt soaking wet. His wife walks up, gives him a kiss and then says... You stink, go take a shower. As they walk toward the garage showing a few other classic cars in the background, The VO comes in... There is something about owning an old Ferrari that you can't wash off at the end of the day.
 
I liked it. But I am also a fan and a subscriber of Petrolicious. I have always wonderd if they use the same crew for the films. Stylistically they seem pretty consistant. I have thought a few times about sending them a note requesting a behind the scenes look at the films.
 
I really enjoyed the coffee piece --- almost as much as I like coffee, and that's saying something! Tightly edited, well-proportioned rhythm, but first of all some really nice angles. Plus, I love those 1980s Ferraris --- such a pleasant contrast to today's nanny-electronic four-wheeled boats. Don't get me started.
 
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