Two Guys Rally

How To Film Your Driving: Interior Shots

Last time I went through a basic run-through of setting up the camera and what not. Now let’s figure out some angles to film with. If you pick the wrong angle your viewers stop watching for a number of reasons: the driving seems too slow, there is nothing interesting in the shot, it makes the viewer sick, they’re tired of the same view everyone else is showing. 

Picking the right angle(s) makes any footage that much better. The viewer will start to pick up on the feel of speed (matters in racing videos) and they will keep their attention focused on your video (rather than your YouTube comments).  

If you are filming racing events you are going to be limited to angles by how versatile they are. You can only put so many cameras on a car (or on a track) and editing in footage from non-race events would confuse people. If you are filming to cut pieces together for a highlight-esque reel you can get a lot more creative with your angles. First lets cover some basic effects of angles:

Basic Effects
The inside and outside of the car require different placements for the same effect, they’re essentially opposites. The higher inside the car you are, the faster it will seem, while being on top of the car will make it seem painstakingly slow. This is because you need a reference to feel speed. Inside the car, if the camera is in your lap you might have clouds or reflections off of the windows as a reference. Clouds are far from the car, making it seem slower. While if the camera (or even your eyes) were higher up and looking down onto the ground close to the car, the perceived speed increases because the speed reference is moving that much more.

Getting the camera too high outside the car results in cutting off the close speed references and again makes the viewer focus on the ones that are far away (horizon). Unless you angle the camera down and can include closer ground. 

I think of it this way: including mostly ground is like an extreme close-up, it increases the energy of the frame. Including mostly sky/non-moving parts is like a wide shot, it reduces the energy of the frame. 

Now lets cover your bread and butter angles:

Behind the Driver(s)
This is one of the more common, especially in Rally, shots to see. It includes both drivers from behind. But height placement and angle from vertical are the most important aspects of this shot. You will hardly ever see a non flat setup of this shot as it will confuse the viewer and make them feel like the car is rolling (even when it is not).

Most of the action comes from the windscreen and whatever is on the other side of it. However, the drivers do provide an acceleration reference with their heads, but that is besides the point. So getting the camera up high enough in the rear of the car is the best idea as you want to see some of the road and at least the horizon. A low shot with no horizon/ground is one of the more boring shots available. Not only can we barely see the human aspect of the racing, but there is hardly any perceivable speed.

Good example of this shot.
A great example incliding Colin McRae’s wild driving.

Cop Car Shot
The POV view, the driver/passenger view, whatever you call it, includes almost none of the interior and at least some of the car for reference. This angle is great because it lets the viewer think they are driving or a passenger. It includes a good amount of ground for speed and some of the car to remind the viewer that this was filmed in a car and not on Superman flying super-low.

This angle is subject to some problems. In bad weather much of the view can be obstructed by rain/mud/snow on the windscreen. The more centered this is in the windshield the less likely that problem is.

Example of this shot. I included too much of the interior and not enough of the outside in this shot, but it’s acceptable. The setup was largely due to the limitations of camera and camera mount. Now that I use a lipstick style camera much better shots can be setup.
Better framing of the same shot in the same car.

Facing the Driver(s)
One shot many people like to see is of the driver’s face. This even applies to full face helmets. Seeing the helmet, or the face connects the viewer with the driver. This shot is even more effective for open face helmets. It really highlights the driver’s concentration and sometimes hilarious facial responses. It can even show off the wheel work (which is plenty in most racing).

When framing people, the two thirds rule really helps. Keep their eyes about 2/3rd up in the frame. If the shot is from the side, give them what’s called lookspace. Lookspace means there is space in the frame in front of their face (to where they’re looking). It may seem obvious to put the back of their head at one end, but I’ve seen some awkward framings. A tip: don’t zoom in too much, get the bottom of the frame to include at least their shoulders or chest.

Looking up from below the people also makes people look better, to an extent. An extreme up shot would be awkward but a camera placement at around neck level or a little below aimed upwards could add some depth and perceived good feelings about the driver(s) to the shot. 

Example with lots of lookspace. It gave me enough room to fit in the pedal shot, but this is more of a “I need to talk to the viewer” shot.
Great example with some tilt. Notice the walls for a speed reference. Because of how close they get to those walls, they can use them as a speed reference. 

Creative Inside Shots
There are so many interesting shots available to you, but most of them will involve either the moving components of the car (wheels, suspension, guages, etc…) or the people and the outside world. This is where your imagination as a producer comes into play. Some ideas for some more shots inside the car are:

• Pedal Shots - get that footwork on camera.
• Out Rear Window - if you’re kicking up a lot of dust, or leading the pack this shot can be really nice.
• Guages-to-Driver - look through the steering wheel at the driver’s face. 
• Helmet Camera - Strap the camera to the driver’s helmet. It shows you exactly where the driver is looking and how their head moves. You start to notice how far through the corners the driver is looking (quite far if they’re good).

So get at it and be creative. Just go out and play! Next time we’ll cover putting the camera outside of the car, but still attached to it.

How To Film Your Driving: Setting the Camera Up in the Car

This is a series on how you should film your driving and show the world what you’re doing. We’ve been getting lots of questions regarding camera setups and mounting options so what better way to exlpain it than with a series. In this entry you’ll learn how to setup a camera and explore some mounting options.

Camera Settings
When I refer to the camera I’m talking about a video camera, whether it is a camcorder, helmet camera, point and shoot digital camera in video mode or even a high end film camera. Our videos have been shot with a Canon Elura100 (camcorder) and a VIO POV.1 (helmet camera). We have used point and shoot cameras for pedal shots before we had the helmet camera but we were always disappointed with the quality.

Most cameras will have options either buried in software menus or are controlled by physical things (buttons, dials, rings). The most important one for driving is focus, specifically auto-focus. Turn off auto-focus. Since most of the shots you setup in a car are going to be static shots (the camera stays still in relation to the car) you just have to setup the focus of the camera once before you drive. With auto-focus on you can get all sorts of annoying focal length changes that may distract/annoy viewers. This gives you a chance to learn how to set focus on your camera too, which you must do if you turn auto-focus off.

Zoom out as far as you can. Zooming in multiplies the visual effect vibration of the camera has on the video.  Couple that with any camera that has digital zoom, in effect, lowers the quality/resolution of the video and you end up with some terrible looking video. You can always digitally zoom in later during editing.

Some cameras also have vibration compensation. Some do this really well, but most don’t. This is now in the realm of getting to know your camera, and the only way to know it is to use it. So here it is up to you, but try out both on and off and see which you prefer visually. For securely fastened cameras on stable mounts, vibration reduction usually does not help.

Mounting the Camera
Mounting the camera inside a car is a bit tricky. Most decent solutions will cost money. I forked over some dough for a Sticky Pod mounting system back when I bought the Elura. I am glad I did too, it has been more used than I thought it would be. I use the extra suction cup it came with to mount my helmet camera to the car. The full mounting system is still used for the Elura and has been used to make every single non-helmet cam video we’ve made (barring how to install vinyl stickers).  There is a downside to the suction cup style mounts: you have to have smooth surfaces like glass in and around the car.

However there are DIY mounting solutions far from the simplicity of duct tape. Threads all over the internet have talked about how to make a DIY headrest mount (fits on your head rest poles and is secured by the headrest). These provide 1 or 2 shooting positions but provide a “Driver’s View” for your video. These are also usually more secure than a suction cup mount.

If you’re filming with a full on race car I’ll assume you can make a mount that fits on your rollcage. Tube frames provide great mounting points using zip ties/clamps. Helmet cameras (lipstick cams) work great for tube frame mounts. This will let you get great shots of everything in the car including pedals, driver+dash, inside looking out shots, faces of the driver(s), etc… 

Sound Considerations 
On camcorders or any tape based camera there are spring loaded heads in there. Cars have a tendency to vibrate and those vibrations are passed through the mount to the camera. The big problem happens when your microphone is in the same area as the heads (such as with the Elura). The microphone picks up the vibration of the heads and any loose items in the camera, so consider picking up an external mic (example at amazon). I have, but before I did driving videos sounded terrible. Here is an example of the rattling:

Placing the microphone in different spots also gets you different sounds. With an external mic you can put it inside engine bays, near exhausts, near a window crack (so you get a wind buffeting sound for “speed”), etc… I’ve done it as an experiment inside the WRX’s intake and it ended up sounding pretty sweet. Here is that example:

So go grab your video camera and start playing! Make sure to focus on driving while driving and not the camera. You dont want to record a silly accident (but if you’re in one hope you’re recording).

That’s it for this entry into How To Film Your Driving. Next time we’ll talk about angles and and their effects. 

Keeping Drivers Cool

The whole point of keeping a racecar cool is so you can keep the driver(s) cool. There are lots of neat ways that race teams around the globe do it. Here are a few of them:

Cut Back On Layers

This may sound obvious but most racing suits have three or more layers of material to them. Keeping the layers down to a minimum (safety still matters) will allow the air you bring into the car to do its job and cool the driver down. The Subaru World Rally Team cuts that down to 2 layers of outerwear for the really hot rallies. The neoprene underwear still restricts breathability but keeps the drivers safe from fire.

One of the neat things about Rally Racing is that short sleeved suits are allowed in the extremely hot rallies. Many famous world champs have rocked the short sleeves or rolled up sleeves during desert rallies. See Colin McRae and Richard Burns for prime examples.

Drink Lots of Water

Being properly hydrated keeps drivers cool for a few reasons. First of all they can sweat, and if the car is breathing right that sweat can evaporate and will take a large amount of heat away from the driver(s). You will also lose a large amount of water through sweating, especially in the heat of a cockpit.

Your body is mostly water, so any heat your body generates related to general metabolism gets dumped into that mostly water body of yours. Less water means higher temps for the same metabolism (when controlling for the effect of sweat).

Your blood volume is also 80-90% water and so losing water means your blood volume will go down. This makes your heart work harder (oh look more energy release) and you feel hotter for the same temperature. Petter Solberg has said that he and Phil Mills will drink 10 liters of hydration fluid (mostly water and some electrolytes) in a day. That works out to over 1 gallon per person on that day not including the water that is in the food they eat. So drink up before and on race days.

Put Things In Freezers

Put everything you wear in a freezer (except maybe the neoprene) as it will make it a little nicer for that much longer. Your clothes will absorb that much more heat before letting you heat up.

Throw in some towels sprayed with water. Freeze those puppies so when at service, or pre and post race, you can wrap one around your neck and keep cool.

Mix Alcohol and Water

I am not saying drink alcohol, but add water and rubbing alcohol together and keep that chilled in a spray bottle. When you can, spray some on your skin and lots of heat will be pulled away with the alcohol and water (so will the oils in your skin). This works so well that some racecars will put this mix in intercooler spray reservoirs. It really will make that much of a difference.

Drinking alcohol will actually hurt your ability to cool off as it is a diuretic. So that is just one more reason not to drink when racing (besides the many obvious ones).

Neat Technologies Help

A loyal reader Dustin Tarditi reminded me about things like UnderArmor (loved it for lacrosse) and their high tech cousins deemed Cool Suits. Under armor is great for wicking away sweat (and with that heat) from the body and allowing air to do its job.

Cool Suits are even cooler as they will run coolant (water or what have you) from a cooler that is in the racecar (or in the pits) through tubes and across your body. The tubes are zig zagged across your chest and they pull heat away from your body into the coolant (which goes into the cooler).

Newer styles of Cool Suits are focusing on the wrists and palms. Why? Because “in order to cool the body you must cool the blood”, and the blood is a lot closer to the skin around the hands. This is the same reason you treat heat stroke/exhaustion by cooling the hands and feet rather than the whole body (the latter is dangerous as it may make it harder for the body to cool itself as it will bring the blood into the core due to shock). The trick to the new technologies is making them lightweight and not interfere with the driver(s) control of the car.

Keeping Racecars Cool

While racecars are usually most definitely awesome, today’s weather reminded me they are pretty effing hot inside them. In the quest to save weight (translation: saving time on your laps/stages) common things are kept off the car. Air conditioning is gone, underbody/frame insulation is gone and the lexan windows usually dont roll down. Combine that with the fact that a racecar’s engine runs quite a bit hotter and cars with antilag systems (ALS) have exhaust temperatures above 1000 ºC the car’s interior will be hotter when running. However there are a few tricks to keeping the cabin temperatures survivable:

Air Vents

Racecars have a love hate relationship with air. At really high speeds it slows them down and sometimes even makes them crash, but it also cools their engines. In a similar fashion, it can help cool the cabin and driver(s). Keeping your drivers alive means getting them nice cool air to breath. Good helmets allow the driver to breath and it lets sweat do its work at cooling the driver(s) down. NASCAR likes to use forced air helmets that push air through the helmet, while Rally tends to use open face helmets (very breathable and you can yell at your driver in them).

In order to let a helmet do its job air needs to be getting to the driver(s) from outside. Vents to the cabin are nice for this. Rally cars often have a vent on the top center of the car to let air in through a diffuser so the drivers can breath and cool off. Air also has to exit the cabin, but if your windows are closed how can it do that? Closable vents in the back windows help with getting air out of the car, however in a Rally application I would suggest a filter on them (dust likes to come into the car otherwise). Andrew Comrie-Picard’s Mitsubishi is a shining example of common air ducting.

Window Tint

Sunlight heats up the cabin majorly. Ever been burned by a seatbelt buckle that was left in sunlight on a hot day? I know I have. Tinting a racecar’s windows with reflective tint can reduce any sunlight that is causing the cabin to get real hot. While black tint works to combat cabin temperatures, mirror tint works better (more reflection, less absorption) as it will not radiate as much heat through the glass into the cabin.

Roof Paint

Another way to keep the cabin temperatures from skyrocketing due to sunlight is to paint the roof of the car. The roof of the car is often not seen by spectators, so diverting from your colorscheme is not as big a deal. Painting the roof white will keep it from absorbing as much heat from the sun and further lowering the temperatures in the cabin.

Interior Paint

The interior is exposed to light too! Roll cages and the inside of the car frame make up a large surface that can absorb even more heat. Painting them white keeps them from absorbing as much heat. Plus a consistent interior color makes the car look neater and better organized. Also white shows everything wrong(great trait in a racecar) like: all sorts of leaks including exhaust, cracks and where you dropped your notes pen.

Insulate Exhaust Pipes

Exhaust pipes in racecars get extremely hot. They get way hotter than the exhaust on a street car so there is a lot more heat that comes off of them and into the cabin. Wrapping the exhaust in heat insulation might add a couple pounds, but it might give you a better performing engine. Higher exhaust gas temperatures means higher exhaust gas velocity, and if you’re running a turbo this means a faster spooling turbo. Not only will you get a possible gain in your engine, the cabin temps will drop. A normal exhaust will radiate heat into the metal on the underside of the cabin (a good amount of it too) which will transfer into the cabin. 1000ºC exhaust gas will conduct massive amounts of heat through a thin piece of metal(exhaust piping).

Regardless of what you’re racing doing everything you can to combat high cabin temperature will make your racedays more enjoyable and more consistent. Heat fatigues people, and tired drivers are dangerous drivers. That one, came straight out of a DMV Manual.

How To Put Your Car On Jackstands

What You Will Need

• Jackstands
• Jack (either for your car or a general jack)

Putting Your Car on Jackstands

1. Put your car in gear (or park for autos) and make sure the parking brake is on.
2. Find a jackpoint on the car’s frame. It will be metal and solid, not flimsy.
3. Start jacking up your car from that point.
4. Slide the jackstand under the frame (not plastic!!!) or jackpoint.
5. Drop the jack to lower your car onto the jackstand.
6. Remove the jack from under the car.
7. Repeat on the other side of the car (LEFT-RIGHT, not front-back).

Put the car up on jackstands on both sides of the car (left and right) as it is safer. If you are going to be taking wheels off, break the lugnuts loose before you jack up the car.

Why Put Your Car On Jackstands?

Because it is the only safe way to work under your car. Never work under your car when it is only supported by jacks, they go down as well as they go up! If you have a hydraulic lift…I am jealous and you should be using that (also can we use that?)

How To Remove the Snorkus On a 2006 Subaru WRX

I was reading about an intake resonator that my car has called a “Snorkus”. It is technically referred to as a Helmholtz Resonator, but Snorkus is way cooler. Just think of it as an upside down snorkel on the intake, because that is what it is. The whole point of the snorkus is to reduce intake sound (and on the naturally aspirated version there is a resonance on the intake, because of valve movement, that it works to defeat). Where’s the fun in a quiet car? I didn’t see any.

So Mark and I took a look at the intake system of my WRX. We figured that I could get away with not having a Snorkus and everything I had read about the WRX intake helped confirm that. We decided to remove it.

*DISCLAIMER* Removing your Snorkus may or may not VOID your warranty. I cannot be blamed for anything happening to you or your car related to this “mod” *DISCLAIMER*

Removing the Snorkus

Things you’ll need:

1. Jack
2. Jack Stands
3. Lugnut Wrench (19mm)
4. Small Flat-Blade Screw Driver
5. 10mm Socket w/ Ratchet
6. Foam Tape (1/4″)

We started off by removing the ram air intake portion. This requires a 10mm socket and fingers to remove the bolts. There are only two bolts holding this part on and they’re easily accessed. Mark is un-screwing the bolts in the picture below.

Next, loosen the lug nuts on your front right wheel and then jack up your car. Place the jack stand under your lift point. Go ahead and jack up the left side of the car and place it on jack stands too (safer to have both sides on jackstands). You might want to make sure your car is off, in gear and the parking brake is on. Finally once your front wheels are off the ground take the front right wheel off of the car.

Now with your jack stands safely supporting the car you have to remove three plastic pins from your front fender. This is so you can peel the wheel liner away from the fender temporarily. So using your flat-blade screw driver, pop the pins out (don’t rip them out). Here is a picture of two of the pins removed, the third one is further to the front of the fender.

Now with the pins out of your front fender, push your wheel liner toward the back of the car and peel it back and out of the way. It is pretty flexible, but your fender isn’t nearly as flexible (don’t try and bend your fender a lot). You should end up with something looking like:

The big white bulbous thing is the Snorkus. That is what we are here to remove. But there are two bolts holding it in place. One of those bolts is easy to get to, it is in the engine bay by the hole your ram air exits in to, but the other is in a not so nice place. It is on the front side of the big bulbous part inside the fender. You need a 10mm socket/wrench to loosen these bolts. Here is a picture of the bolts:

Remove the bolts, the suggested order is: remove the one in the fender first, so when you remove the last bolt, the snorkus doesn’t fall onto your face. Mark posed with the oddly shaped snorkus:

Now your car should be without a snorkus. So put the wheel liner back in its place and push the pins back into the fender (pull the center part of the pin out of the plastic housing a bit, makes it easier to push them back in). You have succesfully removed the snorkus. Put your wheel back on and tighten up the lugnuts (remember star pattern!). Take the car off the jack stands and tighten your lug nuts to the specified torque (read your owners manual).

We decided to leave the ram air on the car to push colder air into the fender, rather than the fender filling up with engine bay air (not much of a performance gain, but maybe some?). But if we left it there as it was, it would rattle against the ABS lines (you can see them above). Our solution was to use foam tape where the ram air would hit the ABS lines. It is cheap and easy (just the way we like it). So put some foam tape on the bottom of your ram air, it should look something like this:

Just reattach the ram air, make sure your car is in working order and BAM: Go drive your car and see what it feels/sounds like.

What I noticed driving around without a Snorkus is a much louder Compressor Bypass Valve. So when you come off the throttle, it sounds like you have a Blow Off Valve, but your engine is not going to be running really rich every time you shift. Low in the RPM range, when the engine is loaded, it sounds rumblier/growlier too. This ended up being a free way to make my car sound like a new machine to me.

How To Install Vinyl Stickers: The Video

Videos are becoming almost weekly. Hooray!

Read the text version here on Two Guys Rally.

Youtube video. Revver video.

How To Install Vinyl Stickers

Performing the Sticker Install

1. Gather materials
2. Clean application surface thoroughly with soap AND water
3. Use masking tape to secure sticker (Fully Intact) to surface
4. Use water (optional: and soap) to wet sticker
5. Peel backing of sticker away slowly WHILE pressing sticker flat to surface
6. Pull, do not push, the vinyl sticker to fine tune your placement (with top layer intact, this requires soapy water)
7. Squeegee bubbles out of vinyl (top layer still must be intact)
8. Wet the sticker down with just water, and squeegee again
9. Let the sticker dry (help it by removing excess water)
10. Remove the top layer slowly and at a diagonal angle (if the sticker comes with it, press it back down and wet a tiny bit more, let it dry)

I recently installed stickers from DirtyImpreza.com. Aaron, the mastermind of the site, sent me over the stickers and I think they look really good. This became the perfect opportunity to write up a How-To, Thanks Aaron.

The Steps Performed

I gathered a spray bottle of water, some dish soap (hand soap works too!), an old bank card (drivers license would work), an old shirt, masking tape and the stickers. You could also use a razor blade for the install (to remove stubborn bubbles and to cut stickers at gaps.

Next I started cleaning the surface where I wanted to apply the sticker. This is the most important part of the process. An unclean surface will result in many bubbles in the sticker and peeling. Peeling is the death of a vinyl graphic. Anyway, I sprayed the surface down with water and used a couple drops of dish soap on my fingers to clean the surface. For a bigger decal I would suggest a bucket with some soap and water in it. I then dried and scrubbed the surface with my old t-shirt (lint free because its been used so much!).

I placed the sticker onto the surface where I wanted it, then taped one edge of it with masking tape. The masking tape holds the sticker where I want it and acts as a third hand when peeling the sticker backing away. I wet the sticker down and removed the backing of the sticker starting first from the edge I taped. I kept applying pressure to the sticker while slowly peeling the back away.

I squeegeed bubbles out of the vinyl sticker, wet the sticker with just water and then squeegeed again. The top surface doesn’t matter so I focused on the vinyl, as should you. At this point you could use a pin or razor blade for any stubborn bubbles in the vinyl, but I didn’t have any. I removed the excess water with the worn out t-shirt by pressing and no rubbing! I was a bit impatient while applying the sticker and ended up with a slightly curvy decal, but I think it looks fine.

Let the vinyl dry for 30 or so minutes. Come back and peel the top surface of the sticker away, slowly and carefully. If the vinyl comes with it, put it back on the surface and wet it a little again, let it dry and retry. If you cross any gaps, cut and pinch the vinyl around the edge.

The key to having a long sticker life on the car is making sure the surface you’re applying the sticker to is dirt/dust free. Give it a good cleaning, any dirt specks will show up as bubbles on the stickers. Also, do not use Clorox and Lysol and stuff like that as it keeps the stickers from sticking to the surface and you will get peeling stickers. Happy Stickering!

Why Apply Stickers?

Because they add Horsepower DUH! Actually, they dont, infact they just add weight. However the weight they add is usually worth more than their weight in Gold. You’re putting your sponsor’s stickers on your car so they get some advertising for giving you whatever they gave you. Or you can tell everyone who looks at your car what you like (Like Colin McRae, DirtyImpreza or Team O’Neil).

How To Double Clutch: The Video

A video on how to double clutch:

Read the text version here on Two Guys Rally. Youtube video. Revver video.

How To Handbrake Turn

Performing the Handbrake Turn

1. Approach the Corner at 20-25mph (in 1st or 2nd Gear)
2. Turn Into the Corner with lots of Steering Input
3. Clutch In
4. Hold Button on the Handbarke In
5. Pull the Handbrake Up HARD
6. Wait for Car to Rotate
7. Drop the Handbrake (button still depressed)
8. Straighten the Wheels
9. Clutch Out and Go

The key to the handbrake turn is having enough speed to rotate the car and pulling up on the handbrake with enough force to break the traction of the rear wheels. Remember to Clutch In before you pull up on the handbrake in AWD and RWD cars. If you do not, the engine will stall or you will hurt your transmission and brakes.

The steps will blur together as you get better at this. Steps 3, 4 and 5 will be almost simultaneous and steps 7, 8 and 9 will start to blend together also. At first, focus on getting the car to rotate and learning how long you have to keep the handbrake applied before dropping it and getting your move on.

If the car is still not rotating, very light foot braking can help the car lose rear wheel traction as it unweights the rear end. As with any driving maneuver you must practice it to know how to do it right. So find a safe place to do it, preferably a loose surface. As always, with most sliding techniques, high center of gravity cars are more dangerous to do this in.

Why Perform a Handbrake Turn?

Sometimes the fastest way around a corner is to slide around it. This is especially true through a hairpin turn where a 180 degree rotation is required.

The handbrake is also used to correct mild understeer mid-corner and tighten up a sloppy wide corner. Although in North American rally races you do not see the handbrake used as widely as it is in the WRC races. I wonder why that is…

Anyway, with a FWD car you can actually apply power to the ground while the handbrake is up. This is very handy for getting the car to rotate without losing as much speed in very slippery conditions. Remember, stay safe and don’t keep repeating it too many times after you get it right.