'AUDIO VISUAL SPECIALIST' magazine Vol 88 May - June 2006.

Director of Photography; Tai Krige recently shot an interesting TV commercial using a remote controlled, 2-stage Jet turbine helicopter as his primary camera platform and two beautifull Cav GT 40 re-creations.

 "As a car fanatic he'd often thought about experimenting with different camera mounts and platforms and here he shares the experience. "

"Tai Krige was at home, licking his wounds after two months spent directing Vodacom TV commercials in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was looking forward to some quality time with his family when the phone rang. "We need you now." said the voice on the other end of the phone, before proceeding to detail shooting dates and departure times from Johannesburg International Airport. " But that's tomorrow"  he heard himself saying. "Yes, but you can sleep on the plane.....and its not going to be a long shoot."  came the reply. He was set to film two Ford GT40 re-creations racing along Chapmans Peak Drive. Through the fog of half dreams he heard someone agree to the job. He's still not sure it was really him but he was on the plane to Cape Town the next mornng.

"What really thrilled me was the fact that we would not be filming these gorgeous motor cars in the normal manner, but by mounting the camera onto a new, highspeed, remote controlled jet turbine helicopter."

                                     BAD MEMORIES SPRUNG TO MIND

Tai had tried working with remote helicopter systems early in his career and while it seemed a good idea at the time, they just did't crack it. "They were noisy, very unreliable and worst of all, they fell out of the sky alot." he recalls. "I remember shooting with one such system, which my late producer David Feldman had helped finace. We were filmimg a commercial in a large meadow covered in plastic flowers. Sheep were grazing around a Sealy Posturepedic bed complete with beautiful model feigning sleep.To everyone's horror, the chopper / camera rig came crashing down  - decapitating some of the flowers carefully planted by our art director hours before."  As he sat on the plane winging his way to Cape Town he thought back on his past experience and wondered whether his enthusiasm for the project was misplaced......

                                           THE CAPE TOWN EXPERIENCE

Being a total car freak and having directed and filmed a great many car commercials, Tai had often deliberated on how to get diffrent shots in the can. "A big breakthrough was the advent of Ken Eddy's Giraffe crane,( which has become the movie crane standard, used all around the world on movie sets), which enabled one to place and move the camera in unusual and cramped places, he says "but imagine .....fitting a camera to a small jet helicopter and chasing speeding sports cars down a mountain pass. The possibilities were boundless."

In the mother city Tai was introduced to Stephen Verheul, managing director of Visual Air Productions and Sean Russell, the pilot of the remote helicopter. "With ablade diameter of around 2 meters it looked the business, but would it carry the camera and give me the shots I was looking for?"  he wondered. - The helicopter chosen ( Visual Air have 12 ) for the job was powered by a smokeless 2-stage jet turbine motor, which is reliable, powerful and vibration free. "What really blew me away was how quiet the chopper is compared to all the others I had heard," says Tai, " it's powered by  jet turbine engine with a power output of 6 kilowats. This allows the helicopter to lift a payload of 10kg. The aircraft runs on illuminating paraffin, which means it can be deployed anywhere without the risk of running out of fuel."

The camera unit has a 360-degree continious pan, tilt up, down and roll. All of this is automatically stabilized by some fancy electronics ( Gyro stabilized) and controlled by cameraman, Shane Hodgson, who comes along with the gear as part of the flying team. "A video downlink allowed me to see through the camera lens and Hodgson was able to control the zoom, aperture and shutter speed remotely and/or at my command."   

                              A TREMENDOUSLY VERSATILE CAMERA PLATFORM

In two days, the production crew shot enough quality footage to make a music video, a 'behind the scenes' documentary and a pitch for a feature film. "All in all, a very successful weekend." says tai. "Without the versatility of the remote helicopter, it would have taken much longer and used a lot more equipment. The budget would have been blown on the camera hire alone and we just wouldn't have gotten the unique shots we did, sometimes flying over the cars with the chopper skids six inches over the car roofs. Hell, we even followed the cars though a tunnel with our helicopter. It's simply a tremendously versatile platform to shoot from." 

                                       SHOOTING WITH REMOTE HELICOPTERS

SCENE ONE. The four members of the punk-rock band EXTENTION 5 playing their song "FEELINGS" (To be seen & heard else where on this site, plus soon to come; "The Making Of"  this music video seen nation-wide last year) were gyrating on the rocks at the waters edge. Using the ground camera, we established a variety of shots. Then experimenting with the helicopter we tried a few moves. First was the simple flyover. Flying in from 100m away, just above the water and then up and over. Simple and effective to say the least. Next was a run over the rocks, followed by a run in from the sea. We then tried a slow flyover while rotaing and a few close-ups. This gave us valuble assitance in establishing technique and co-operation between pilot, cameraman and me. Iit was stable, verstatile, smoke free, quiet and it didn't fall out of the sky within five minutes.

SCENE TWO. Sunday started with cars chases around Ou Kaapse Weg and Chapman's Peak. We met up with the two magnificent Ford GT40 re-creations, designed and built by Jean Fourie and John Spence from AUTO FUTURA. The plan was for them to do a little racing, with our helicopter and chase car in tow. With driver and helicopter operator up front of the chase vehicle, I was in the back with a monitor to direct the action as best i could. It was an absolute blast. We shot the footage in the early morning with adrenaline coursing through our veins. When we stopped for breakfast and viewed the HD footage there was only one word we could use to describe it - unbelievable.       

SCENE THREE. A second beach scene was a simple enough test, where the versatility of the helicopter really shone through. In essence this shot was a group of actors on the beach having fun. One of the most striking shots was from the helicopter directly over the group about 50m up. We gave the camera a slow rotation. This gave such a serene and quiet feel to the shot, - just floating along. Other shots included fly-ins with low passes over the group and tracking shots from low over the water.........

 NB :-Photos of the above can be seen in the FREE WALLPAPERS section of this site...Also the "Feelings" music video under the VIDEO CLIPS section where one can see / hear the remote hellicopter footage shot  of the CAV GT's. "The Making Of" the music video will be up soon, where one can not only see these expertly constructed beauties in action, but also hear them............... 

VISUAL AIR PRODUCTIONS:-                                                                                                            RPV Turbine helicopters with 5 axis stabilised platforms for extreme POV shots. CONTACT:-           Stephen Verheul + 27 (0)11 640 1900. E-Mail :- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   www.visualair.co.za

CAV GT - AUTO FUTURA:- GT40 re-creations. Contact:- Jean Fourie or John Spence on:-   +27 (0)82 455 3248.  E-Mail:- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

 Website:-  www.cav.co.za       

More to come.... . ( Photos of the above to be seen in "Free Wallpapers ' section.)

                                        SINGULAR HONOUR FOR SA-BUILT CAR

"At this years world-famous Le Mans 24 hour race, racing legend Sir Stirling Moss and British ace Tony Dron were at the helm of an exciting South African built racing car.

The car is a CAV GT, a recreation of the Ford GT 40 which was king of Le Mans 40 years ago. The GT 40 is an iconic supercar of low-slung, muscular proportions that still turns heads four decades after its prime.

The South African built CAV GT was invited to lead the pack of pre-and post-war racing cars onto the track; as the official Pace Car for the Historic Races.     

The GT 40 - so named because it is just 40 inches high, ( #1. ..actually it was 41 inches high, but they felt that calling it a Ford GT 41 might sound a bit naff,...so it became the GT40 - ed.)....first sped to victory at Le Mans in 1966 in a spectacular finish with Ford taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. The French circuit had become a battle ground for supremacy between the big names of racing, with Ferrari's lead uncontested since the start of the decade.

The GT40 came about when Henry Ford, then head of the Ford Motor Corporation, was snubbed by Enzo Ferrari when Ford bid to buy the Italian sportscar firm. With the bitter taste of rejection still fresh, he set out to create a Ford-badged car that would beat Ferrari's.

Ford Advanced Vehicles was set up for just this purpose. Under the auspices of famed UK car builder Eric Broadley, based at Slough in the UK, the GT 40 project was born.

In 1964 the first prototype was complete and by April of that year the Ford GT40 was unveiled to the press. It took another two years for the aerodynamic instabilities and transaxel problems to be fine-tuned for its first victory at Le Mans. ( #2. Read Editors Notes for more about this.)

Its June 1966 win was nothing short of dramatic, and earned the Ford GT 40 the "triple-crown" of Endurance Racing. (#3...but at what cost....ed.)

A few months later, testing of the GT 40 Mk.11 began and in June 1967 it once again sped to victory at Le Mans beating Ferrari by four laps. Driving the Mk.11 in the dramatic race were Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt. (#4.-See editors notes re. a fun quote from AJ FOYT. )

The Mk.11 returned to Le Mans for the 1968 racing season and claimed yet another win in the Gulf Oil livery that has forever since been associated with the Super Car.

The consecutive victories culminated in one of the most talked about events in Endurance Racing History. - Le Mans 1969, Jacky Ickx and Jacky Oliver won the race by a mere 2 seconds.
( Read more from Jacky Oliver re his time as Test Driver for Colin Chapman under "GREATS" section on this site. )
Bragging rights to the original GT 40 racing cars are the priviledge of a very select few super-rich private collectors. The cars are worth millions. Recognising a gap in the market for quality recreations, two South African entrepreneurs set out to build their own version of the Super Car, known as the CAV GT.

Jean Fourie and John Spence launched the business, Auto Futuro on a vision to retain the spirit of the original car with the pedigree features of its 60's( now retro ) styling - the brass grommets in the seats, original style Lucas switches and Smiths guages - and to refine other parts, such as the suspension and brakes. (#5- The one area the motoring industry has made leaps and bounds since "the good old sixties"...ed.)

A few concessions to luxury have been ensured through the creation of additional head and legroom, quality interior carpets, air conditioning and expensive leather seats.

The research and development to align the car with 21st. century technology for its customers, has been a winning formulae. - their cars are exported to the UK, USA, Europe, Dubai, Canada and Australia.

A limited edition of the CAV GT's built to the same specs as the Le Mans Pace Car, are on the production schedule. They will have unique chassis numbers with the exteriors painted in the famous Gulf colour livery. Each car is fitted with a 373kW 5.7 Ford V8 engine with Weber downdraft 48 IDA carburettors ( #6 ..IR Fuel injection from 4x downdraft throttle - bodies also available...ed. ) and mated to a ZF transaxle".

- Star Motoring, May 25 2006.-


EDITORS NOTES:-

#1:- By way of introduction re. this fascinating subject of Ford GT40's, I would like to quote the sage scribe, well informed motoring journalist; Jonathan Wood.:-
 "In the early 1960's the Detroit based Ford company shook off its entrenched, staid approach to car design and embraced a new policy under the Total Performance banner. As part of this strategy, the company decided that it must win at the Le Mans 24 hours race. The outcome was the Lola-derived, Anglo-American GT40 which gave Ford four victories in a row at the Sarthe circuit between 1966 and 1969. For a handful of lucky owners this successful sports car was available in roadgoing form and between 1966 and 1968, a tantalizingly small number of cars were produced."
-50 Years Of Classic Cars, Jonathan Wood.

 ( Ed:- I will be quoting more of this sage writer(and others..) in up and coming posts on this WebSite,- along with more interesting visuals and articles of the cars discussed. Plse see JPegs of Ford GT40's and the new CAV GT's in FREE WALLPAPERS section on this site. The CAV GT's are well featured in the Music Video "FEELINGS" by the punk-rock group EXTENTION 5...A miniature, remote-controled 2-stage Jet Turbine helicopter was used to capture visuals of these two CAV GT40's....See video/article/pics, and soon to be posted "The Making Of.")

Back to Mr Wood's article:-

Ed:- Great stuff, except that the illustrious Mr. Wood was being too kind I.M.H.O.(In My Humble Opinion) to the Ford mammoth. As we know it was an English, not American venture, except for the money, (not to forget the V8's) which of course came from the massive Ford coffers. However,Eric Broadley of Lola (see article on the Lola fame was the brainchild and Ford, feeling bad about all this 'Brit" involvement certainly caused a delay in the achievement of their goals by stipulating that at least the drivers were to be American, in an effort to regain some American credence and involvement in the project. Well,it took them a lot longer to win at Le Mans than it could have, had they perhaps used European or English drivers, - .....The American drivers, most used to going around in very fast large ovals, had to learn to drive around corners and bends competatively and yes, the cars were not 40 inches high at all,- but what the hell,...the old journo's maxim of: "Dont let the Truth get in the way of a Good Story..." agin prevailed and it became a Ford GT40.

Ed. #2:- Yes, there were aerodynamic concerns as the cars were threatening to become airborn down the long straight at Le Mans when exceeding 200 mph....and yes, the original fragile Italian Colotti transaxels were not coping with the torgue outputs from the V8s and the subsequent original order from Ford Advanced Vehicles for 10x ZF transaxels ordered from ZF in Germany was botched by the gentleman who ordered them. ( He was fired...and years later a friend of mine who builds GT 40's for a living here in Johannesburg, South Africa, benifitted enormously and managed to purchase these very expensive, but excellent 10x ZF gearboxes for his own GT 40 recreations, one of which I presently own,... but thats another interesting story which I'll touch on in another posting.) - Again I.M.H.O. I believe that the two years delay in winning was caused more by the American drivers not being up to scratch in their 'european' driving skills....than to the reasons mentioned by the esteemed Mr.wood. Who knows?

Ed, #3:- At what cost?
Mr. Wood has this to say:- "...it was the company's first win at the circuit ( Le Mans..) The cost of the entire programme since 1964, was estimated at $9 million ( 2.1 million Sterling.)"....


Ed, #4:- The quote from AJ Foyt comes from his oval-track racing days I imagine;- when asked how he managed to win so regularely,- he replied:- ".... so well, I figure that if you're in control of the car, you aint going fast enough!" - Nice one, AJ.

Ford GT40 - F for fake?
Ed, #5:- Regarding the oft repeated comparisons between the orginal cars and the many modern recreations, or dare we call them replicas?- I have this to offer. I have been very lucky to have driven both, several recreations/replicas over the years and one of the originals and by way of comparison I feel that I am in a very strong position to comment, since I drove the original on the same race track as i did driving the various recreations here in South Africa.( "Home of the Best GT40's in the World!")  - Since then I was fortunately enough to take my own car (a replica) to Germany with me for 2 years where I drove it on race tracks there and to top it all off, I have had the wonderful oportunity to experience the latest, new CAV GT40 as well, during the filming of the above mentioned Music Video. The obvious was noted with the recreations of course;- with their  more modern use of parts available to the constructors/builders now days, especially in the braking and suspension etc.- The interior cockpit design offering much more driving comfort, particullaly if one is well over six foot tall. ( To illustrate how practical this all is, is the fact that I drove my recreation on the streets of Johannesburg, as virtually a daily driver, for over six years..OH YES, IT HAD air/con...IT HAS TO.)    

Ed, #6:- CAV GT's options re. the induction systems on their cars offer the original type 4x quad 48 IDA Webers on a I.R. (independant runner) inlet manifold, but also offer 4x downdraught 48mm -52mm throttle bodies/injectors also of course on an I.R. manifold. This can all be ellectronically 'managed' via a plug-in laptop making setting up the induction real easy.....but since I have for many years, run 48 IDA Webers on my de TOMASO PANTERA Grp 4 replica or re-creation, or what ever you want to call it,- I have stuck to the old fashioned method; Carburation and I always drive with my head cocked out the window listening to the delightfull howling sound of the wailing Webers, inducting and exiting the spent gasses out the 180 degree exhaust system. Wonderfull. Music to the ears. An instant Adrenaline Pump of note. My pump starts working hard when i hear the sounds...oh boy,...........  ( a short 30 second video/audio clip of my Pantera having its throttle yanked during a Weber carbs tunning session is avaiable on this site.)