In the Spring of 2009 after much research about cars and car culture in central Texas I begun to think about how the influences of my research on my video asthetics. Â As I thought about the influences I was reminded of Steve McQueens many movies such as Bullit, LeMans and other movies such as Two Lane Black Top and Grand Prix. All these movies contained a certain ability to look at automotive culture in such a natural and “realistic” way. Â The mis en se of the films were often constructed to convey the feeling of “being there”. Â Whether it was first person driver views of b-roll of the crowds or a mechanic turning a wrench, the feeling of being intrenched was evident. Â The audio played a big roll as well with subtle chatter, car noises and environmental circumstances being portrayed.
Surprisingly these motion picture experiences while sometimes exaggerated do coincide with actual events I attended while performing my research very well. Â Two Lane Black Top’s ability to show the small social happenings directly coincided with many of the social situations I experienced when attending street meets here in Austin, Texas.
The experience of watching these films had a profound affect on me and inspired me to experiment with making my own car movie. Â To do this I first decided to do a test scene. Â And being an personal/independent media maker I planned out the whole shoot while I drove to a driving location I frequented and for the good part of an afternoon shoot various shoots to compile a small driving clip that would convey speed