United Kingdom
Professional Video
Content creation & presentation
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
Paris-Dakar rally
Established in 1978, the Paris-Dakar off-road rally has seen thousands of vehicles attempt to complete the 10,000 kilometre race. The GY-HM100 and GY-HM700 cameras will be used to follow two drivers as they prepare for the 2011 rally, raising money for two drinking water charities as they go.
British-born-Canadian, Mark Jennings- Bates, will be the driver and British man,
Mick Extance, his co-driver/navigator. Mick is a veteran biker, who has been racing since 1978 with a vastly successful career in the Dakar rally, and is currently the most
successful British rider to have taken part in the event. This will be his first Dakar in a car; he will join Mark, a 2006 Novice and Open Class Champion, as the top Open Class driver
in 2008 as part of Team Bowler.
After a successful run with JVC’s GY-HM100 and GY-HM700 camcorders, everyone involved agreed that the cameras would fit
Antares Media’s requirements to film this particular endurance race with the Bowler team. AMG producer/director, Alexandra Thompson, talks about their plans to record a documentary
about Mark and Mick’s journey to Dakar 2011, and the fact that they have the added challenge of raising $4m or more for two charities, ‘Just A Drop’ in Britain and ‘FeViva’
in Canada, dedicated to bring fresh water and sanitation to outlying regions of Africa.
“The documentary we’re creating will be in two parts. The first will focus on the preparation for the race, with some background on all concerned, as well as the fundraising drive
and hopefully covering some of the work 
the charities are doing. Then the
second part will focus on the race itself, which is a 14-day endurance race with about 21 hours of driving per day in mainly desert-hot conditions.
“The solid-state recording system used by the JVC cameras is ideal for such a documentary, with no moving parts to get dusty when we film. Also, as it records QuickTime files, this
helps us edit on location with Final Cut Studio to keep a good workflow going throughout the race with online excerpts. We also intend using the smaller GY-HM100 for
video diaries.”
The two-drivers will need all of their experience to tackle the Bowler Nemesis, which is definitely not for the faint-hearted. The car, manufactured and designed by Bowler Off-Road in
Derby, is a monstrous 4-wheel drive vehicle, boasting an enormous 4.4 litre engine, 6-speed manual gearbox and 252 BHP. The Bowler team comprises of three cars and a support truck for
the race.
“The GY-HM700
was chosen for its vast array of professional features and will be used as the main camera for shooting the documentary," Alexandra continues. "We will look at using the
GY-HM100 cameras inside the cars themselves, with one camera for both Mick and Mark. They give us the high quality we need yet are
small and lightweight enough to not get in the way. They are also extremely simple to use; the quality of the footage in the conditions we had to work in was really impressive.
“We had no problems using the cameras and they dealt with all the sand being kicked up by the boys superbly. I would say the GY-HM100 and GY-HM700
are perfectly suited for use in a rugged environment, due to their reliability and durability.”
|