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A Lot of Pull for Allison |
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Shooting in the southwest is a real treat. Cobalt blue skies. Clean and crisp air. Breathtaking scenery. And fresh steaks that give St. Elmo’s a run for its money. But on this budget it was chicken fried steaks at the Falcon Restaurant in Winslow, AZ. Dave Lehr, writer and producer at Quinlan Marketing Communications, turned to Rick Thompson and Richmarc to shoot a short film for Allison Transmission. The subject; a 375,000-pound power transformer. The transformer required two and a half days and a 96-tire, 250 foot-long rig consisting of three semi-trucks equipped with Allison AutomaticTransmissions, to travel 200 miles. And most of that on a one-lane road.
Obviously, shooting such a big rig with a tight schedule on a one-lane road would be no easy task.
There were four state police cars escorting the rig, and the crew had zero control, which meant zero retakes. If the crew opted to get a pass-by shot, that meant they had to go all the way to the back of the line and wait there until they could find a wide spot in the road for the rig to pull over and allow backed-up traffic to pass and the crew to get ahead of the rig. And that was no easy feat. It was usually a last second call by the crew . . . stay for the pass-by or pile back into the van after picking off a long lens shot or two, and hightail it down to the bluff in time to stay ahead of the escort. "Apparently, our Keystone cop act was a source of entertainment for the police and truck drivers," said Thompson.
Due to the extreme nature of this shoot and no preproduction opportunities, Rick used the F-800 camera for its versatility, film-like functionality and speed of use . . . one of the features of the F-800, called a “digital extender,” doubles the length of the lens with no loss of quality to the image and no loss of exposure. This meant our long shots were being made with the equivalent of roughly a 470mm telephoto lens. And with the pristine air in Arizona and 100 mile visibility, it worked great and allowed the crew to pick off several different looking shots, all from the same spot. The crew more than managed, and the shoot wrapped up with plenty in the metaphorical can for edit. “This was one of, if not the best, shoots I’ve ever had the privilege to be on. Between the subject matter, the location, and, of course, the incredible Richmarc production crew, it was truly amazing,” said Lehr after the shoot. “The best part of all, the final product has proven to be an exceptionally effective marketing tool for our client.”
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