If Speedhunters ever made a vacation movie, you understand there’d be a vibrant red Ferrari F40 drifting within the snow in Japan. But we don’t must dream about that, because back in 2016 it actually happened.
The F40 at the middle of all of it belonged to Takeshi Kimura of Automobile Guy, and with director Luke Huxham, Abandon Visuals and Red Bull all involved, the resulting video was epic to say the least. Dino went behind the scenes of the shoot in Tokyo and Nagano, and today is the right day to revisit his story. Comfortable Holidays from The Speedhunters!
2016 Feature
In the event you’re remotely into cars and have been anywhere near the web during the last couple of days, you almost certainly caught the video of a man grabbing breakfast after which shooting off to Nagano along with his Ferrari F40 and doing a little skids within the snow. You’ll be able to test it out by hitting the play button above.
The Tokyo Scene
I used to be invited along to envision out how a video of this nature is put together – a possibility I jumped directly I heard what it will involve and be all about. The shoot was split up into three separate days of filming, commencing in a classy area of Tokyo where a house was rented out for the video’s initial ‘waking up’ sequence.
I wasn’t capable of attend this particular a part of the shoot, but Edward and Johnny from Abandon Visuals were kind enough to send me a couple of of the still images they all the time grab after they’re shooting projects. Luke had brought them out from the US to handle filming and the huge editing process that follows a production of this nature.
A wide range of cameras were used, starting from REDs fitted with a tantalising number of glorious Zeiss glass…
…to Sony FS700s and A7s for a lot of of the motion and night shots.
The Tokyo house location was really cool, but you almost certainly don’t realise just how tight some residential areas can get in Japan’s capital. The F40 had no issues getting out and in of the small driveway that leads into the parking spot, but clearances were a tad tight at some points.
The primary day’s shoot wrapped up successfully and the subsequent day we’d all make the three-hour drive as much as Ryuoo Ski Resort in the favored Shiga Kogen area of Nagano Prefecture.
Moving To The Slopes
On the second day of the shoot things kicked off very early as we only had use of the foremost ski slope on the resort up until its public opening time of 9:00am. That meant that every one film and photography crew, plus Kimura-san (the F40’s owner) and his team, and the extras hired to be on this particular series of shots needed to be there well before 6:00am. I do know there was rather a lot questions regarding who Kimura actually is and what his ‘Automobile Guy’ club is all about, but the reply is pretty straightforward. Simply, he’s a automobile enthusiast with the means to enjoy his passion to the fullest. Sometime soon I’ll drop by his recently opened Automobile Guy HQ in central Tokyo and take a look at his automobile collection.
But for now, just consider him as a cool dude with a cool automobile, who likes to do the good possible things with it! Filming kicked off as soon as light broke with Kimura asked to charge up the slope in his Ferrari while various angles of the scene were captured. This even included shooting through the windows of an elevator in one among the hotels.
Are you cringing yet? I noticed so many individuals commenting on the snow chains in my video post from a couple of days ago. In fact, the chains were custom made for the applying, and gave the F40 enough traction to supply some grip on the snow surface, but not enough to stop it from with the ability to slide. It’s the rationale why ice studs were only utilized in the front tyres.
The Abandon Visual crew were of their absolute element.
There have been some unexpected breaks that needed to be taken, issues with the chains coming loose and having to be retightened, not to say the Ferrari’s battery losing charge within the cold weather.
But this didn’t cause too many delays, and the list of required takes was quickly checked off.
You could not know it, but even a brief film like this requires a thoroughly thought out storyboard. Every possible shot is required to give the editor as many options as possible, and naturally to not miss the prospect of grabbing cool and unique angles.
The snowmobiles from Ryuoo Ski Patrol got here in very handy for tracking shots, each leading and following the Ferrari, but additionally going towards it because it climbed the slope through the crowds of snowboarders.
You’ll have noticed how cool the F40 sounds within the video, but that audio took a ton of labor to capture as the chains on the rear wheels created a terrible noise. It got even worse after they began to rub on the within (and out of doors at one point!) of the vast carbon-Kevlar wheel arches.
Drifting Motion
The subsequent scene was a relaxed and unused winding road away from the busy slopes. A great deal of time was spent here attempting to nail all of the shots.
Oh yeah, I even have to make special mention of those PIAA rally lights, which were requested by Luke especially for the night driving shots. Leading into the ultimate camp site scene they provided a pleasant cinematic effect, not to say looking ridiculously cool fitted to an F40. Also specifically fitted for the shoot was the tape deck that Kimura pops a cassette into at first of the film, keeping it period correct with the automobile and all…
We had a JDM-sized (read: small) Snowcat at our disposal during a lot of the shoot too, foremost reason being as soon because the Ferrari drove over the sections of roads it will dig deep into the snow and make an actual mess of things. So every couple of runs this thing would exit and smooth the snow surface out.
Given the places we were filming at, getting the crew out and in required using these cool vans running rubber tracks, which made us feel like we were being deployed right into a war zone or something!
All things considered, I used to be impressed the automobile coped so well with the abuse it was being subjected to. The custom studded front tyres made easy work of some pretty deep snow too.
I did, nonetheless, feel sorry for the abuse the rear Speedline-made wheels were being put through, and in a few areas the chains did rating the surface. It’s nothing that may’t be fixed, but still, these are real F40 items…
There was also a time that one end of the chains got here undone while the automobile was under power. Yes, it’s painful to see, but thankfully the underlying carbon-Kevlar body is ridiculously strong and only the paint was affected. As I’m sure you’ll be pleased to listen to, the automobile is currently in on the Ferrari dealer getting some well-earned TLC.
Kimura was having fun with it though. He got here into this project knowing there was a high likelihood that some things would go improper, but we were all there to do one job and nothing was going to stop that.
Luke kept thundering on, mentally checking off each shot in his head.
It’s a satisfying thing seeing a project unfold before your eyes, but tough to maintain the entire production on schedule.
So the filming continued.
The ultimate shot on this location was an aerial sequence filmed with a DJI drone piloted by Edward from Abandon Visuals. Unfortunately, its batteries weren’t liking the sub-zero (Celsius) temperatures.
But thankfully, having a hot twin-turbo Ferrari V8 at our disposal meant that the packs could possibly be kept at a functioning temperature.
A number of minutes of low-height flight brought the batteries as much as operating temp, after which the drone was sent skyward to capture Kimura doing his thing.
Things went very easily for probably the most part, however the front lift on the suspension began to step by step lose ride height, which was probably what caused the one spin that Kimura had on the day.
The front of the automobile was by now in its lowest position which can be positive and look great for Tokyo streets, but not a lot if you’re driving your F40 like this! Still, it made the front end dig into the powder and throw it up within the air and over the automobile.
Seeing Kimura flick his automobile left and right in nicely controlled power-slides made me wonder how many F40 owners have driven their cars like this? It surely can’t be many! Given their value, most sit parked in temperature-controlled garages, so to see a man having fun with such an iconic Ferrari in this manner made me smile. Good for him I kept pondering!
The Final Motion
The subsequent scene was shot from inside a wooded area because the F40 shot by downhill with a few snowboarders alongside. This took some careful timing because the position of the boarders was critical.
Much more crucial was timing the shot, because the camera was mounted on a gimbal and held by Johnny on the back of a bobsled contraption while Luke did the steering.
At times I just had to take a seat down and take all of it in; there was little likelihood that what I used to be seeing in front of my eyes would ever occur again. Actually, scratch that – I’m sure it’ll be done again sometime with a special automobile.
But this was an F40, in order that’s an automatic win. It will possibly’t be beaten. Ever!
We paused for a second while some snow was thrown up onto the automobile’s windscreen. The thought was to mist up the inside the front glass in order that Kimura could wipe it clear for an additional short sequence of filming.
Here it’s, all in motion.
The ending shot with the automobile spinning up the wheels and kicking snow within the air was also shot at this point.
Viewing all of it from behind provided the perfect angle, and it worked brilliantly first go. And with that it was a wrap for the day’s first shooting session.
After a much-needed food and refreshments break, followed by a day nap to bring our bodies back to normal temperature and muster up a little bit more energy, it was back out again right when the slopes closed to the general public at 5:00pm.
This time we’d go all the way in which as much as one among the very best slopes on the resort, which meant the F40 needed to be towed. It was a great 15-minute climb, but totally value it because it gave us a pleasant view of the valley before the dusk changed into night.
From that viewpoint, Kimura was filmed going as fast as he had ever dared to in the snow. Luckily, the official Ferrari mechanics he had brought with him had managed to repair the lifting system on the front while everyone else was getting a pair of hours rest, so it was good to go. He gave it his best shot and got here pretty near the 120km/h speed he thought he could achieve.
After his second go, he got on the radio and decisively said: “That’s it – I’m not doing that again!”
The ultimate camp scene was also being filmed at this location, and with temperature creeping closer to -10 degrees Celsius we were all so comfortable when the campfire was began. When not getting used within the scene, the fireplace provided welcome warmth to the crew who all gathered around it.
After slurping some fast noodles, Kimura cracked open a can of Red Bull, and with that ended a quite long day of filming.
The subsequent day it was onto the access road that results in the Ryuoo resort.
Now it was a scramble to get the extra shots to offer the ultimate edit some continuity.
Who said you may’t have a little bit of fun on the side though! And that’s the perfect a part of working with an expert and dedicated team just like the one which was assembled for this project. With everyone loving and having fun with what they were there to do, and almost everyone into cars, it made for a fantastic working environment. The result speaks for itself.
Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: dino_dalle_carbonare
dino@speedhunters.com
This Article First Appeared At www.speedhunters.com
