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Suggestions for a Topgear style film(to be submitted to BBC)

topgear

topgear

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2004
Messages
61
Location
El Cerrito, CA
Car(s)
Cavalier Wagon 24 Hours of Lemons race car
:D

Ok, I've got the following: A 220hp, 1800lb ex postal jeep on drugs (see website link bottom of page or www.rotomoto.com/jeep ).

Two lipstick/bullet cameras and Hi8 recording gear, several digital cameras that can do decent movies, and the right topgear-style suction cup and clamp mounts for the cameras. (must have high quality video to be on bbc).
So that's the hardware then.

Access to some really cool fire roads in Nevada (including the Blackrock Desert).

The jeep's pretty entertaining on pavement, but I'm going to go for dirt road sideways action, since I'm good at that. It's got too much grip to be easy to slide on pavement. (and it's still a bit tall) I could put skinny tires on it.

And you've got to have cool music!
Any and all suggestions encouraged, maybe a more dramatic backstory...
:roll:
:shock: :driving:

Here's the first extremely rough draft of the script:
####################################
Introduction:
(opening shot of nevada empty road, maybe fence stretching to the horizon)
%orbital - the box 10-12 sec%

Welcome to the nevada desert.
While Clarkson can get away with never paying his Amercian traffic fines, those of us who live here need to take that

stuff a bit more seriously.

(med shot NHP car)
%Dragnet theme 9 notes%


While I HAVE had the pleasure of a chat or two with the local authorities, I also have on the order of 4000 miles at over

a hunderd miles an hour across the Nevada desert. Which I'll of course deny if queried by any official types.

#####
This film is my tribute to, and envy of, the blokes of Top Gear.

(Sweeping shot of Nevada skyline.)
%Top Gear theme%

Today's 'test' vehicle is a bastard amalgamation of bits from several decades of American cars.
It started as a postal delivery vehicle:
(med shot tracking around USPS postal jeep)

I have had a penchant for odd vehicles for a long time, and this was a bargain.
Four hundred dollars and it was mine.

Now by way of background, the United States Postal service stopped selling these things to the general public after a

spate of lawsuits from the jeep's tendency to roll over and play dead.
Leaf spring suspension at both the rear AND the front made for nervous handling, if it could be described as handling.
So, caught out by its tendency to wander, I rolled it. On the highway.
(shot of still of post rollover)


After climbing out and rolling it back on its wheels, I had a decision to make.
Most sane people would have called it a good run right there, and let the poor thing die a natural death.
Not me. It was time to go mental. (guitar riff of some sort) (satriani?)

I had a bit of a chop saw party, and off came the roof.
I sourced a roll bar from a scrapyard, a windscreen from the jeep aftermarket, and I was ready for open-air motoring.
All construction happened in my drive...
(shot of front of front driveway walkaround)
######

I wanted some more power, and the 95 horse stright six had to go. Thanks to the wonders of Ebay, a complete powertrain

from a V6 Chevy Camaro was obtained for $700 and slotted in. It's a pig iron 3.8 liter V6. I know the germans could get

350bhp out of 3.8 liters instead of 220, but it's a friendly, torquey engine.
(shot of Camaro RS TOPGEAR stylee)

Now to cure the handling, dramatic measures were called for: A scrapyard AMC Pacer front end was found and fabricated in.

This gave me disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, and real independent suspension. And left hand drive.
(clip of Topgear Olympics Pacer)

To match the newly wider front end, the rear axle from a Ford Explorer SUV was put in.

Now with 220hp and some semblance of handling, it was ready to test.
(clip buckling in)

Much better.
(clip deserted paved road closeup burnout shot to peel away)


To keep health and safety off my back, and to avoid further chats with the Nevada police, this test will be primarily off

the paved roads. While I can't hope to compete with real rally cars, this should be fun.

(shot of DJ5 sideways on dirt w/opposite lock)
(several sliding shots on hardpan)

(headon approach shot to over camera to speedaway)
(camera mounted looking down on front wheel as sideways action occurs)
(closeup of speedo over 100)
(camera at ground level, sideways jeep quickly through shot)

60 comes up in less than six seconds, mostly due to the three quarter ton weight of the thing.
Handling? well- not as such, but at least it didn't roll over this time...

And there you have it, a mongrel put to the test.

No real point other than to see if it could be done, but good fun nonetheless.
Maybe I can come over and have go in the Liana? Well, maybe not (grins).

And of course, no trip to the Nevada desert would be complete without some gratuitous gunfire.
(Glock shooting full soda cans)

(jeep driving into sunset)
%music tba%

ENDS (4min 18sec)
 
You should become a director :shock:
 
I like it. I have a few suggestions/constructive criticisms.

See if you can manage to drive (or ride in the postal van) and/or get some shots of it moving. You can add a bit of history of the vehicle during these motion shots (when it started service, number of letters vans like that have carried in it's lifetime, etc. -- a la Hammond talking about the 747 last year). Then you can cut to the static shot of it with you saying you wanted to buy one.

Not me. It was time to go mental. (guitar riff of some sort) (satriani?)
Click to expand...
I'd lay off the guitar riff here. It seems a bit cliche. Something more ominous would be my choice.

Oh and I'd consider moving the gun bit to the beginning. It's a bit random near the end and you might be able to tie it in with something like "so I was thinking what else could I do besides shooting cans..."
 
Thanks for the ideas. I agree that the gunfire might fit better at the beginning, but how to work it in to the story? Maybe the rough and tumble image of Nevada and a vehicle built for it?

Of course I spend a lot of time here in the Berkeley/Oakland area surprising riceboys in lowered Acuras who think it's a junky old jeep. Harder to work the 'sleeper' aspect in.

I've got a huge amount of info on the history of the postal jeep. I agree that it would be good to include some more info just to show the humble origins of the thing, but tricky to write it so it doesn't put the audience to sleep. I already glossed over a bunch of boring technical stuff that I had to do to make the powertrain etc. work, and it's already a bit technical as it is. :p

As for the guitar music as a stinger, good point- TopGear the show would go for the unexpected. What music to use for that scene bump?

-Anton
 
Those guys at Top Gear are nice enough to actually watch this thing and take it seriously.

To add some humour, I would mention during the leaf springs bit that it's the same suspension technology borrowed from the Corvette. So this certainly had to go.

For the music, I'd stick with an old western cowboyish theme like they did with the Toyota pickup. I think it'll go well for transitions into a desert background.

I think this is a very good idea. :thumbsup:
 
I think a good choice of music for that scene bump would be the opening music for that Porsche GT3 RS scene in TG, when they pitted it against the 360 CS. :)

I'm sure someone can do better tho :lol:

PS: I'm looking forward to this going into production, it should kick ass! :thumbsup:
 
Some of the easy photography is done, the local stuff I could shoot here. Principal photography will be in the next 2-3 weeks (to mid-June) on whatever weekends I can round up my friends to help shoot... Trying to plan some chase car shots now. I'm looking for 8-10+ hours of video to turn into a 4-6 minute piece. Nobody I know owns a pickup truck that can keep up with this thing. :mrgreen:

I'll have the first rewrite up Wed. night. Change the tune a bit and see who wants to dance. :bangin:

Thanks again for your suggestions and ideas! :thumbsup:

Oh yeah, anyone got a clean copy (no VoiceOver) of the 'jessica' TG theme I can use? BBC.co.uk guy? 8)

This thing's taking on a life of its own, my friends are coming up with more things to try, good thing the jeeps got a good rollbar...
 
Here's the second rough draft of the script:
music cues [%] refer to what plays after the cue.
#####
Introduction1:
%some kind of countryish music%
(opening shot of 4-5 people blazing away at tin cans with .45 pistols @scaly rocks, NV)

Welcome to the Nevada desert.
Few things are more fun than blasting innocent flora and fauna with lots of guns.
Something just about as fun is getting to the shooting and blasting location!
The question is, what vehicle do you choose to bring all your guns and ammunition TO the desert?
I've got just the thing:
(road-level camera with high speed driveby: two cameras forward/backward view. Jeep whooshes by.)
GOTO>SCENE 2

#####
Introduction2:
%orbital - the box%
(opening shot of nevada empty road, maybe fence stretching to the horizon)

Welcome to the nevada desert.
While Clarkson can get away with never paying his Amercian traffic fines, those of us who live here need to take that

stuff a bit more seriously.

%Dragnet theme 9 notes%
(med shot NHP car)

While I HAVE had the pleasure of a chat or two with the local authorities, I also have on the order of 4000 miles at over
a hundred miles an hour across the Nevada desert. Which I'll of course deny if queried by any official types.
GOTO>SCENE 2

##### SCENE 2
This film is my tribute to, and in envy of, the gentlemen of Top Gear.

%Top Gear theme%
(Sweeping shot of Nevada skyline.)

Today's 'test' vehicle is a bastard amalgamation of bits from several decades of American cars.
It started as a postal delivery vehicle:
(med shot tracking around USPS postal jeep)
(maybe postal jeep driveby{talk to postman})

background%Marvelettes-Please Mr Postman%
These vehicles were built from 1967 to 1984 as humble transporters of letters and packages. Over a hundred and fifty
thousand were made over this 18 year period, and there are still a few in service today.
(med tracking walkaround of Berkeley postoffice DJ5 lineup)
The engineers never figured one might turn out like this...
[fade background music]

The United States Postal service stopped selling these things to the general public in the late Nineties after a
spate of lawsuits from the jeep's tendency to roll over and play dead.

Leaf spring suspension even worse than a Corvette at both the rear AND the front made for nervous handling, if it could be described as handling.
Caught out by its tendency to wander, I rolled it. On the highway. At 50 mph.
(tracking shot of stills post rollover)


After climbing out and rolling it back on its wheels, I had a decision to make.
Most sane people would have called it a good run right there, and let the poor thing die a natural death.
Not me. It was time to go mental.

%Mirwais-Disco Science%
I had an afternoon chop saw party, and off came the roof.
I sourced a roll bar from a scrapyard, a windscreen from the jeep aftermarket, and I was ready for open-air motoring.
All construction happened in my drive...
(shot of front of front driveway walkaround)

#####
I wanted some more power, and the 90 horse straight six had to go. Thanks to the wonders of Ebay, a complete powertrain
from a Chevy Camaro was obtained for $700 and slotted in. It's a pig iron underhead cam 3.8 liter V6. I know the
germans could get 350bhp out of 3.8 liters instead of 220, but it's a cheap domestic engine that was readily available.
(shot of Camaro RS TOPGEAR stylee)

Now to cure the handling, dramatic measures were called for: An AMC Pacer front suspension was found and fabricated in.

This slightly newer suspension replaced the oxcart leaf springs with smooth coil springs and gave me disc brakes, rack and
pinion steering, and real independent suspension. And left hand drive.

(clip of Topgear Olympics Pacer)

To match the newly wider front, the rear axle from a Ford Explorer SUV was put in.

Now with 220hp and some semblance of handling, it was ready to test.
(clip buckling in)

Much better.
(closeup shot of 'THIS DOES NOT HANDLE LIKE A NORMAL CAR' USPS warning plaque on dashboard)
(closeup shot of key in switch panel, flip safety toggle, push starter button)
(closeup of exhaust + big engine sound)
(clip deserted paved road closeup burnout shot to peel away)

To keep health and safety off my back, and to avoid further chats with the Nevada police, this test will be primarily off
the paved roads. While I can't hope to compete with real rally cars, this should be fun.

%Paul Oakenfold- This is Trance%
(shot of DJ5 sideways on dirt w/opposite lock)
(several sliding shots on hardpan)
(headon approach shot to over camera to speedaway)
(camera mounted looking down on front wheel as sideways action occurs)
(closeup of speedo over 100)
(camera at ground level, sideways jeep quickly through shot)
(long sliding shots from homemade steadicam chase vehicle)


60 comes up in less than six seconds, mostly due to the three quarter ton weight of the thing.
Handling? well- not as such, but at least it didn't roll over this time...

And there you have it, a mongrel put to the test.

No real point other than to see if it could be done, but good fun nonetheless.
Maybe I can come over and have go in the Liana? Well, maybe not (grins).


(jeep driving into sunset)
%music tba%

ENDS (5min 26sec)

:)

ignitioncloseup.jpg

jeepdashplaque.jpg
 
You should also add that you rolled the jeep in front of a passing FBI agent~
 
Yeah, forgot about that. Just a guy going to work, that I crashed in front of, who happened to be FBI. I'm not on too many lists, I hope :lol: 8) :mrgreen:
 
Here's the latest (and last!) script. Maybe a couple more tweaks for a better ending, but I really liked the qualities of the Maserati Bora film (06x03) and I'm going to do some cool desert backdrop shots. I also have better equipment, including a Canon GL1 'prosumer' camcorder and some wide angle lenses for the bullet cams.
I'll post some clips of rushes, my newest avatar is one of the pre-shoot clips.
:burnrubber:

Of course, it's not going as I'd hoped- it's been hard getting the crew together for a 4 hour drive to the desert. Yep, production delays, rewrites, over budget, just like Hollywood on 1000th the scale. I'm just trying to get on with it!

:blowup:

####
%Orbital-The Box%
THis film is my tribute to, and in envy of, the gentlemen of Top Gear.

Welcome to the Nevada Desert!
(4-5 guys w/pistols shooting tin cans in the desert; cans flying)
I wouldn't be doing my job as a proper American if I didn't try to live up to a few stereotypes.

So, shooting and blasting. Now something just as fun, in this case, is GETTING to the shooting
and blasting location.

THe question is, what vehicle do you choose to bring all of your guns and ammunition To the desert?

I've got just the thing.

(Jeep comes sideways over rise; slides to halt sideways)

My test vehicle for today is a bastard amalgamation of bits from several decades of American cars.

%Marvelettes-Please Mr Postman%
(Documentary style pans over stills of postal jeep pics; ends with AMG 1974 publicity pic)
It started as a postal delivery vehicle. These vehicles were built from 1967 to 1984 as humble
transporters of letters and packages. Over 140,000 were made over this 18 year period, and there are
still a few in service today. They have of course been almost entirely replaced by modern vans that
offer such things as antilock brakes and airbags and such. Today's postmen have NO sense of adventure.
(fade music)

The United States Postal Service stopped selling these things to the general public in the late 90s,
after a bunch of lawsuits springing from the jeeps tendency to roll over and play dead,and
sometimes make its occupants dead as well...

Leaf spring suspension even more crude than a Corvette at both the rear and the front made for nervous
handling, if it could be described as handling.

(Series of pans over stills of post-crash jeep)
So, caught out by its tendency to wander, I rolled it. On the highway. At speed. After climbing out
and rolling it back on its wheels with the help of a few passersby, I had a decision to make-
Most sane people would have called it a good run right there, and let the poor thing die a natural
death. Not me. It was time to go mental.

I'm pretty sure the design engineers never though one might turn out like this.

It did start out with right hand drive, but after the rollover I though I'd upgrade the chassis
a bit. Now to cure the handling, dramatic measures were called for. A scrapyard AMC Pacer front
suspension was found and fabricated in.
(Shot from 'topgear olympics' of Pacer long jump)
This slightly newer front suspension replaced the oxcart
leaf springs with smooth coil springs and gave me disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, and real independent suspension. And left hand drive.

To match the newly wider front end, the rear axle from a Ford Explorer SUV was put in.
All of this cutting and welding and such left me with a track about a foot wider than the original.

So with that sorted, it was time to attack the body. At this point the chop saw came out, and
off came the roof. Then I sourced a roll bar from a scrapyard, a windscreen from the jeep
aftermarket, and I was ready for some open-air motoring. Of course all of this construction
happened in my drive.

At the same time, since I was starting over, I wanted some more power. So the 90 horse straight
six had to go.
(Closeup of engine bay; linger on front tensioner pulley spring)
Thanks to the wonders of ebay, a complete powertrain from a V6 Chevy Camaro was
obtained for $700 and slotted in. It's a pig-iron underhead cam 3.8 liter V6. I know the Germans
would get 350hp out of 3.8 liters, instead of 220, but it's a friendly, torquey engine, and oh so cheap.

With the engine in place and some semblance of handling, it was ready to test.

While Clarkson can get away with never paying his American traffic fines, those of us who live here
have to take that stuff a bit more seriously. And while I HAVE had the pleasure of a chat or two with
the local authorities, I also have on the order of 4000 miles at over a hundred miles an hour, across
the Nevada desert. Which I'll of course deny if queried by any official types.

So, to keep health and safety off my back, and avoid further chats with the Nevada police, this test
will be primarily off the paved roads.

While it's not a proper rally car it does have lots of power, light weight, and a short wheelbase.
Which is either a recipe for casualty, a recipe for fun, or perhaps both!

It appears that I bolted together some kind of performance, as 60 comes up in less than 6 seconds.
Mostly due to the three quarter ton weight of the thing.
(Medium close shot of smoke boiling from rear tire start)

Handling? Well, not as such, the chassis is completely over whelmed by the power, but hey, at least
it didn't roll over this time.

And there it is, the mongrel out to the test.
No real point, except to see if it could be done, but good fun nonetheless.
Maybe I can come over and have a go in the Liana! Well, maybe not...
 
I can't wait, I'm seriously looking forward to this :w00t:

And I think I'm right in saying that the bloopers that must post along with actually vid will be a nice treat as well :thumbsup:

Luck with this *huge* project!
 
From a camera mounted on the back of the front bumper...
If anybody can think of some good music to go with this let me know!

suspensioncam.gif
[/img]
 
And another; this is just the 'disposable' digital camera that I've been using to frame shots.
rightrear.gif
 
Damn that is one awsome idea dude.

I have one suggestion, start the scene of the jeep at sunrise, park it in such a way that both the sun rising and the jeep are seen. You could do this by taking pics after every 15 or 20 mins. thus showing the sun rising a bit faster. As the sun is rising, show the jeep more closer.

Its a weird idea. but will look cool. Put the following Music : F.d. Project - Obsession :)
 
If you need a host for the video or any clips... let me know. I've got space and bandwidth that I can use :)
 
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