Translate

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Silverstone 2013

Fresh from my weekend at Silverstone, I thought I would write a blog about my experience as not only was it the 2013 Santander British Grand Prix, but it was also the first weekend of shooting Why Do We Do It! 
This was my seventh British Grand Prix at Silverstone and I never tire of it! I look forward to this
weekend more than any other in the year and it has now sort of become an annual pilgrimage for me and my brother. This year was going to be slightly different for two reasons; one was that we would be doing only the Friday to the Sunday, whereas usually we would travel down Thursday and head back on the Monday and two; I would be technically working as it was the start of my shoot for Why Do We Do It.  
We set off bright and early on Friday morning at around 5am and headed straight to Silverstone, arriving at around 8.30am. It was raining, of course it was, it's Silverstone after all and after the deluge of last year the feeling was all too familiar. My brother and I drudged through the damp and the puddles up to Luffield Corner, laid out our seats, erected the umbrella and waited for the action to start. The crowds on Friday are usually pretty small due to it only being a practice day and the rain wasn't helping the attendance either, so I decided to use it as a practice day myself. As well as my Pentax K5 and K200d, I had also recently purchased a three lens set for my iPhone 4s which I wanted to try out. Unfortunately, due to the fact I was using my phone as a sat nav and our fridge was plugged into the cigarette lighter, my phone was extremely low on battery. I still managed to get some shots, but nowhere near what I wanted too! Lesson learnt; better preparation required.
I also used the Friday as a chance to test out my new Manfrotto shoulder rig. I loaded it up with my K5, my Rode mic and lenses ranging from 135mm up to 300mm. Even with these lenses it remained brilliantly stable and for the price I felt I had a good deal, my only issue with it is that it is made predominantly of plastic and I'm not sure how long all the components will last under continuous wear and tear. All and all the Friday was an okay day. I didn't manage to get all the footage and stills I wanted, but I had tested out my equipment and felt confident the next two days would bring what I needed. 
That evening we headed to Bo Peeps caravan park, where I have stayed the previous 5 times I have been. Before we found this brilliant site me and my older brother Mark thought it would be a good idea to travel to and from Norwich everyday to the track, turns out it wasn't and the second year we stayed at a site nearer to the circuit, which was less a campsite, more a field with a porta potty in and as many people you could cram into a small space as possible. Bo Peeps however is a great place to stay, it's quiet, relaxing and a great base to get to and from Silverstone as it is only about 20 minutes away.
We set up our site and I did a timelapse of us putting up our tent on my iPhone, as I wanted to use this in the film I was shooting. As we settled in for the night, I made a plan in my mind as to what I wanted to achieve tomorrow. I was conscious of striking a balance between work and enjoyment, after all I was there on holiday too! 
The next morning we awoke at around 5am and prepared for another day at the track. However, today wasn't any ordinary day, it was Armed Forces Day and I was wearing my uniform and flying the flag for the Armed Forces. Having come from a family that has a big Military contingent and being in the RAF myself, I am very proud to wear my uniform and in the wake of recent events, felt that it was important to do so. We got to the track at 7am and this time head to the Village section of the circuit ready for the days qualifying session. When we got there I was greeted by a Spectator Marshal who came over to shake my hand and explained that he was ex Army. I had a photo taken with him and wished him well for the rest of the weekend. It's always great to meet fellow members of the military old or current as their is a great sense of camaraderie that you don't get anywhere else. After setting up my kit the action started and I began moving around to get different shots on all my cameras both stills and video. Here was a good spot, there was a good spread of crowd and also some very good action shots with the backdrop of the pit straight stadium. The sun started to shine and the day began to heat up as did the action on track as Lewis Hamilton guided his Mercedes AMG Petronas car to the front of the grid to cheers from the home crowd. I knew tomorrow was going to be nothing if not exciting! Me and my brother then headed to Club corner to watch the first two races of the
weekend and whilst there I decided to ask the marshals for a photo with my flag, to which they agreed. These guys work very hard over the weekend getting to the track early and having to deal with annoyed racing drivers when they crash out or retire. I was extremely grateful to these guys for taking time out for this photo and it is one that I will cherish. Before we left the track I wanted to get one more shot with the flag and that was with the newly introduced "Race Makers". Off of the back of the success of the Olypmics' "Games
Makers" this team of volunteers were introduced this year to hand out maps, information and ear plugs to all the punters throughout the weekend. They were always enthusiastic and ever helpful and I hope that they will become a permanent fixture in the future. That night we returned to the campsite burnt, but happy and full of excitement for the Sunday.
4.30am Sunday we rolled out of bed and began collapsing our tent. This for me is the worst part of the weekend; one because it means it's nearly over and two I hate packing tents! How did we get this damn thing in the bag last year!? Once we were all packed away we headed to the track arriving at 6.50am, which may sound early, but when we arrived at Luffield corner we soon realised we were a little late. There wasn't much room left at all and luckily we managed to find a gap to put our seats and settle in for the day. I only wanted to use my iPhone and K5 today and mainly shoot crowd videos for my film. With Hamilton being on pole I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to get some good stuff with good emotion. The support races came and went and the Red Arrows did their annual display and
then it was time for the race, but not before my day was nearly ruined by 3 examples of ignorance! Due to the rising cost of tickets we had to go general admission this year, which meant that we weren't in a grandstand, but had to make use of the grass banks and public viewing areas. We had done this before and really enjoyed it as it is a chance to muck in with everyone and have a good laugh and chat with fellow F1 fans. This year however I found myself in disbelief at some people. As mentioned earlier me and my brother had arrived at 6.50am to the track and considering gates opened at 6am this was late. We had sat there all day and were actually sat by a walkway allowing people access to the rest of the viewing area. Next to us were two lads and a Mother and her son of around 10-12 years old at his first Grand Prix. With about an hour to go before the race two 25 year old guys turn up and stand directly in-front of the young lad and his mum (unfortunately I didn't see this) and claimed his spot from him. The mother politely explained they had been there since about 7.30am and her son could no longer see. Their response? "I don't see his name on the spot." If I had seen or heard this, I would have found it very difficult not to personally eject these two yobs over the rail and down the steep drop behind me! This however wasn't the only incident. The race begins at 1300hrs; here is a timeline of ignorance:

  • 1215hrs - A man arrives and stands directly in front of me, not only blocking my view, but also the walk way the EVERYONE is using. 
  • Me: "Excuse me mate, are you planning on standing there for the race?"
  • Him: "Yes is that okay?" 
  • Me: "Well no not really as I can no longer see and you are blocking a walk way! Me and my brother, along with everyone else here arrived at 7 this morning!"
  • Him: "That's not my problem I was somewhere else"
  • Me: "Well that is your problem, you can't rock up an hour before the race and expect to get a space!"  
Luckily for both me and him he moved, but he wasn't done their! Twice in the race he got up and had a cigarette and the second time, he was pretty much smoking it into my brothers ear! My brother told him to stop and he duly did!

  • 1245hrs  Two young chaps turn up and again stand directly in front of me, this time wearing back packs!
  • Me: "Excuse me chaps, are you planning on standing there for the race?"
  • Them: "Yeah is that okay"
  • Me: (Sigh) "Not really guys, we've been here since 7 and you've turned up with 15 minutes to go before the race and stood right in front of me!"
  • Them: "Oh sorry we didn't realise, it's our first year."
To which the mother stood next to me chips in and says "ours too!"
And finally..

  • 1255hrs Yes that right FIVE MINUTES before the race starts! Two gentlemen pitch up and stand again, directly in front of me. I ask the usual question and their response;
  • Them: "Yeah cheers"
  • Me: "Well I'd rather you didn't as I can't really see. I've been here since 7 mate."
  • Them: "That's tough ain't it. I didn't want to get here at 7! Anyway I paid to stand here!"
  • Me: (Biting my tongue) "Well all of these people got here early to get a good spot and for you to rock up FIVE MINUTES before the race starts is a bit stupid! I've paid for my place too mate!"
These guys stayed for about half the race and then luckily cleared off. I had to try my hardest not to really go at them and I was shaking with anger! I couldn't do anything after all I was flying the Armed Forces Day Flag and I didn't want to ruin the day for my brother and everyone around me, needless to say though I was pissed! 
That aside though the race was amazing! The drama provided was first class and the roller

coaster of emotion from Lewis winning, to blowing his tyre to fighting back to fourth was incredible, but cheer of the day had to be for when F1 Panto villain Sebastian Vettel broke down with 10 laps to go! The roar was unreal and you could hear it over the cars all around the circuit!
After the race we got chatting to the couple in front of us about the race and the ignorant people (so at least they agreed with me) and then we were privileged enough to walk on the track, before heading home.

So what will I take away from this weekend, well technically, my equipment works and is good! The iPhone stuff especially surprised me and is a great addition to my kit. 
Personally I will never do Silverstone that way again! It was too short and very tiring, with no time to relax! Next year I will revert back to the Thursday to the Monday!
Finally, some people are just inherently ignorant and disrespectful. I would never do that t someone and if the area had been full when me and Ben had arrived, we would have gone somewhere else. There is plenty of room on the circuit for everyone, you just have to get there early. 

I have already posted my photo's from the weekend on my website gallery, so head on over and take a look and today I will be posting my iPhone video on my YouTube page so stay tuned for that.

For the rest of this week I will be emailing the cast of Why Do We Do It regarding their parts in the film and also putting together a shooting schedule. I am still on the search for a person being tattooed and a Long Jumper so please if you are or know anyone who would be interested, get in touch at contactme@danielherrick.com.


Thanks for reading.

Dan

No comments:

Post a Comment