Classic Car Storage: a full day's filming in Hampshire
Drone, tripod, FPV Drone, handheld and stills. Every tool and technique we have, used in a single day to tell the story of storage, restoration and detailing at Classic Car Storage.
We headed up the road for an initial site visit and to see what they needed. John and Craig had ambitious ideas for several different films – some using drones and some with conventional cameras. The site was great with plenty of visual interest – a modern storage set up but in beautiful Hampshire countryside. They store a huge variety of vehicles and some truly stunning cars. But there were some really interesting interiors too – one of the films was to highlight the work on the on-site trimmers. We could have spent all day in their workshop watching them stitching leather together for seats and making other parts of the car interiors.
We went back and forth with some ideas for a film showing the day-to-day business of the store and choosing a car to film before deciding on a stunning McLaren Spider. We prayed the weather would be kind and that we could get some good shots in the ‘golden hour’ just before the sun sets. But we had a huge amount to capture so arrived early with a four-person crew to make sure we got what we needed on the day. We concentrated on interior shots first and kept our fingers crossed for the weather. As expected we got some great shots of the craftsmen at work.
After a dreary start to the day we lucked out – the sun came out towards the end of the afternoon giving us brilliant light for our tracking shots of the car and exterior of the store.
For the main event we planned a slightly crazy long drone shot going through the main workshop, through some cars, outside to fly over the detailer snow-foaming a car before circling through the main store and following the car as it departs. Despite the number of moving parts we got what we needed in two takes.
We finished up with a longer tracking shot to end the film showing the storage side of the business – with a customer arriving and then departing in their car. The sun appeared at just the right moment.
By 7pm we had everything we needed and were packed and ready to head home. A long day but we achieved everything that we’d planned and the customer had asked for.
Big thanks to everyone at Classic Car Storage, Vicki for great sandwiches and Bill for having the patience of a saint as we filmed the McLaren.
Pre-Production
Site visit ahead of the shoot to walk the location with John and Craig, assess the interior and exterior spaces, and understand what they wanted the films to do. Scope agreed across several films covering storage, the trimmers' workshop, detailing and a hero car piece. Hero vehicle selected: a McLaren Spider. Shooting order built around the weather, with interiors scheduled first and exteriors held for the best available light. Crew set at four to allow drone, camera and vehicle movement to be run in parallel. The continuous drone move through the workshop and store was planned in advance, including the sequence of actions it needed to fly through.
Production
One full filming day, on site from early morning to 7pm. Drone, tripod, handheld and stills used across the day. Interiors covered first: the trimmers at work stitching leather and building interior components, plus general workshop and storage coverage. Detailing captured in the wash bay. The main aerial sequence flown as a single continuous move from the main workshop, out past the detailer snow-foaming a car, back through the store and out with the departing hero car, achieved in two takes. Exterior and vehicle tracking shots taken in golden hour once the weather cleared. Day closed with a long tracking shot covering a customer arriving and departing.
Post-Production
Rushes from drone, ground camera and stills consolidated and edited into the set of films agreed at scope, delivered for use on the Classic Car Storage website.
Equipment Used
Filming Locations
"We were really impressed with the team from Solent Sky Services. We set them an almost impossible task with the outputs we wanted from just one day’s filming. But they delivered in spades and were a pleasure to work with."
John Oates
Managing Director — Classic Car Storage
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